• Bossa nova awards, vallenato, reggae and many tears: this was the tribute to Laura Pausini, the Person of the Year for the 2023 Latin Grammys
  • Laura Pausini 30 years after his first success: "Marco keeps saying that he didn't cheat on me, but he did"

In 2018, an executive hinted to Laura Pausini (49) that her career was over. The Italian does not deny that it hurt her, but she fought against what she believed was her destiny and today celebrates 30 years of career. After winning a Golden Globe, being nominated for an Oscar, presenting Eurovision and releasing Almas paralelas, her latest album, the singer was honored, last Thursday, as the Person of the Year at the Latin Grammys. Laura says she's suffered a huge emotional hangover. Despite this, this Monday, he arrived triumphantly in Madrid and spoke with LOC about his future plans and his peculiar way of seeing life.

"In Seville I enjoyed myself like never before. I don't normally enjoy awards, because I'm very nervous. I go weeks without eating and get hysterical. But this time, I enjoyed it! And that's what it looked like the day my friends honored me. I was very happy. I know a lot of people thought I was drunk or smoked when I gave the speech. But I don't consume any of that. I was just happy! I have felt very loved. That's why I was so crying, it's just that I'm not able to hide my feelings!" she commented, before landing on the set of El Hormiguero.

On the day of his tribute, he told me, "When I woke up in the morning I thought, 'Is this really the Person of the Year?'" Now that five days have passed, do you believe it any longer?Yes... [Falls silent] Look, I'm going to tell you something: in 2018, the Academy nominated me and a man from Warner Italia told me "we're not going to pay you for the ticket to go to the awards, because you're at an age when it's impossible to win". And that moment was very complicated. I didn't expect my company not to believe in me. Still, I took money out of my pocket and paid for the trip. Why? Because I thought it was the last time something like this could happen to me... And that was the war I had against the mirror last week. I heard that voice, which has bothered me for years. That man made me believe that it was all over, that I wasn't capable. And now I know that anything is possible. Exactly... Do you realize that thanks to you the Latin Academy has honored for the first time a woman who was not born in Latin America or in Spain?And it's wonderful! Because inside of me I've always felt Latina... Although I used to hide it a bit, because I didn't want to look smug. In fact, when I got the call from the Academy, I said, "Are we sure?" And I think yes, they were. So much so that I have now been legally adopted as a "Latina." And that's something I love. Because I was only 100% Italian for 18 years... The other 31 years I've been both: Italian and Latin. And, finally, I can say it with propriety. Now every day I wake up and say "I'm the Person of the Year" [laughs]. You are incredibly sincere, transparent. Haven't you thought about writing a book about the immense journey that has been your career?Mmmm... Do you know that in the last few years I've started to get scared of doing new things? I've tried different things. For example, I made a documentary and presented Eurovision... But when those processes are over, I think, "What do I do now?" And I'm afraid of that question. That's why I don't want to make a book. Because I don't want to finish writing it and think "now what?". Can I give you ideas? You can launch a line of home appliances, children's music records, and beauty products... [Laughs a lot] No! You don't know how embarrassed I would be to do those things... Because I feel like I'm not capable, that I don't deserve it. I don't know if I'm explaining myself well. There are celebrities who believe they can do everything. I don't, because my thing is to work with the vocal cords. Also, I don't want to explore other disciplines, in depth, because I feel like they would lose the magic for me. When I listen to an album I think "this was recorded with a Gibson guitar" or "this has such an effect" and I don't want that to happen, for example, with cinema. I've been offered some papers, but I've refused. I want to be able to get excited about movies and literature [He stops and stares for a few seconds] Let's see... I'm going to tell you the truth: in my will it does say something about a book. How? That you have already made your will?I've always written it down... And in that testament there are 15 pages of a book that I've already started, but haven't finished. But now, with this conversation, I've started to think that it wouldn't be a bad idea. Do you think my story can help anyone? I've been very lucky, you know? I was born in a village and, on my side, the lucky train passed. I took it and sat down with girls with the same talent or more talent than mine, but they didn't want to get off, because they were tired or they didn't know what to do. They felt ready, but I decided to take a chance. I started studying and working... And now I'm here. He talks a lot about luck, when a lot of what has happened to him has been because of his work... It's hard for me to understand why I can't see it. It's just that I don't have a lot of self-esteem and I've had to work a lot on that. Especially when my career started and I went to live on my own. I was dizzy, I was scared, I cried, I felt useless. And, because of that feeling, I like to control everything that happens around me, so that others don't suffer like I do. Above all, my family. They never thought they would have a famous person in their home and they have had to sacrifice a lot of things for me. That's why I wrote the will, to have everything in order... And because I've always thought that I'm going to die before them, maybe because I don't want to think about the suffering that it would cause me if they left first. Laura, may I ask you what your will says?Unfortunately, it has instructions for my family. When you die in Italy, all the singers make a tribute album to you. And I don't want some people to sing my songs! And I wrote the names in the will. Like, "I don't want them to sing to me, because I'm offended." There are also instructions on what to do with the fan club. Look, in my parents' house I already look dead. They've turned that house into a museum. There are mannequins in dresses that I've worn on important occasions, like the one I wore on Wednesday, at the tribute they made to me at the Grammys. So I've asked my parents to open it up for the fans. I've also asked my sister to take care of the club... and my daughter Paola too! I thought I wanted Paola to be a singer... Would you tell a daughter of yours to become a journalist? I assume not, because it's hard. This is the same thing. Inside of me, I think "I wish I did something quieter". Although, with the character he has, he will obviously do whatever he wants. But it scares me. You know why? Because it's harder for young people now than when I started. In the nineties, you didn't know what people thought of you right away. And now you find out about everything. Fake news comes out and you can't even answer it, because the algorithm is uncontrollable. And that drives me crazy. I've cried a lot because I couldn't deny certain things... And that my daughter has to go through something like that, it terrifies me. So I better be the head of the fan club [laughs].

  • Grammy
  • Seville
  • The Anthill
  • Eurovision