Homophobia, alcoholism ... Tiziano Ferro indulges in a documentary

Singer Tiziano Ferro in Milan in 2019 -

• Tiziano Ferro, 40, is a star of Italian song, particularly known in France for his song

  Perdono

  (

  Xdono

  ), awarded a gold record in 2002.

• In the documentary,

  Ferro

  , which is dedicated to him on Amazon Prime Video, the singer explicitly mentions his flaws.

• “Every time I have shared my truth with others, relatives or the public, my life has become easier.

  The truth allows a dialogue to be opened, ”he explains to

  20 Minutes

  .

In France, Tiziano Ferro is known for

,

of the year 2002, crowned with a gold record and from the album

, 25th best

in France that year.

“I know how lucky I am to have had such success in your country.

France was the first country outside Italy to welcome me.

I remember taking part in a show in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower with many other artists.

I felt in paradise, I looked at the tower and I had the impression of having conquered the world ”, tells the transalpine singer to

.

If the ears of the French general public have hardly heard of him since, the artist has become a respected star in Italy, where his six opuses subsequently released - including

last year - have all been numbered. 1. His fame extends to Switzerland, French-speaking Belgium and Spain where all his songs are released in Spanish.

Watching

, the documentary uploaded to Amazon Prime Video on Friday, is a perfect catch-up session to pick up the pieces with the star of the Italian scene.

The dreaded hagiography shatters from the first seconds: the film begins in Los Angeles - where the artist now lives - in the midst of a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.

In the hour and a quarter that follows, Tiziano Ferro continues to expose his feelings, to expose his flaws, to ward off his traumas.

"Take care of the soul of the public"

“Every time I told myself the truth, I felt more free, lighter.

Every time I have shared this truth with others, loved ones or the public, my life has become easier.

The truth allows to open a dialogue, he advances to

.

People will respond by expressing love or hate, but no one can take or deny me my experience.

"

The neo-quadra did not hesitate to engage so intimately.

“People need compassion, protection.

But if an artist always shows himself as a perfect person, like a superhero, that reassurance is impossible.

An artist has a moral duty to take care of the soul of the public, as a doctor heals a body.

"

So Tiziano Ferro speaks from an open heart.

First of the harassment of which he was the victim in adolescence - he was insulted for his overweight, his effeminate attitudes -, then of his career which only started after having gone from 110 to 70 kilos.

His first steps towards success, he lived them at the age of 20, in a daze, in a body that he did not spare and in which he struggled to recognize himself: "I dressed in thin".

He also speaks of his homosexuality which terrorized his professional entourage.

He was offered to make paparazzades, to invent feminine conquests.

He always refused, preferring to lie by omission.

At

, he tells an edifying anecdote going back to one of his first visits to Paris.

“My French record company found my way of dressing too 'fluid' [in the sense of androgynous,

].

I had to go do a TV show right after I got to the airport.

No sooner had I collected my luggage than a stylist took me to the bathroom where he opened my suitcase and said: “Put this on.

Put that on.

No, no.

Honestly, I don't remember wearing such gay clothes.

But they thought it was.

They dressed me in dark colors, in jeans.

I found it humiliating, but I didn't dare say anything.

I felt privileged to have a career, to seize the opportunity that was offered to me.

I might do the same again.

At 21, you trust and respect those who work for you.

"

Coming out

His nascent success contrasts with his deep discomfort.

He who had never drunk a drop of alcohol until then, is encouraged to taste it by his musicians on tour.

He discovers drunkenness.

He becomes an alcoholic.

He will end up turning away from this addiction by finding a lifeline with Alcoholics Anonymous.

At the turn of the 2010s, he came out.

He remains to this day one of the few Italian celebrities to explicitly mention his sexual orientation.

He speaks out for the rights of LGBT people.

On Monday, he appeared in a video supporting the Zan law against homophobia and transphobia in Italy.

Among the artists in his personal Pantheon, he sites Pasolini, Morrissey, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, but also the painters Michelangelo, Botticelli, Canaletto, Giotto… “Artists who have always given a damn about conventions”, summarizes- he.

He too disregards his propriety in his own way.

Whoever was the guest of honor at the last Sanremo Festival, a revered event for Italian music, feels especially at ease in the anonymity offered by his life in California.

"Today, I share my life with a very shy man, hating to be the center of attention, whose international reserve is illustrated on the cover of

 ", joked her husband Victor Allen in his wedding speech. last year.

The star is not at a ready paradox.

While its name means "iron" in Italian, it stands out, not for its hardness, but for its great softness.

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"Truth Seekers", a paranormal comedy as funny as it is frightening

Some songs to familiarize yourself with Ferro's repertoire

Besides the well-known

(also titled

), we advise you to give an ear to

, taken from the first album, which also exists in a bilingual version in French and Italian.

is in a way the archetype of the Italian ballad.

If Tiziano Ferro has collaborated with several artists including Mary J. Blige or John Legend, but let's privilege the "made in Italy" with

, song by the rapper Fabri Fibra on which the singer appears in featuring.

On Tiziano Ferro's latest album, released in 2019 and produced in particular by Timbaland, we have a preference for

and the song giving its title to the opus, 

.

• Singer

• Italy

• Alcoholism

• Homophobia

• Music

• Amazon Prime Video

• Culture