Laura Pausini

Laura Pausini, omri is an Italian pop singersongwriter and record producer. As a child, she was encouraged by her father to join him during his performances in local piano bars. After competing in local singing contests, Pausini signed her first recording contract. She rose to fame in 1993, winning the newcomer artists section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with her debut single La solitudine, which became an Italian standard and an international hit, topping the charts in Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. Her eponymous debut album was released in Italy onApril 1993 and later became an international success, selling two million copies worldwide.

The elder of two daughters, Laura Pausini was born in Faenza, in the Province of Ravenna, Italy, to Fabrizio Pausini and Gianna Ballardini. She grew up in Solarolo, a small comune in the same region. Her father is a former pianist who also played as a sessionman for ABBAs Frida Lyngstad and entered a band whose members later founded the Italian pop group Pooh. After becoming a piano bar artist, he encouraged Pausini to start performing as a singer. Her first live performance was onMay 1985, when she sang together with her father in a restaurant in Bologna. Since then, her father started giving her singing lessons and she continued to perform alongside him in local piano bars. In the meanwhile, she also started singing in a church choir.

Source: Wikipedia