The challenges encountered by aspiring musical artists during their formative years are diverse, and can make or break their dreams and ambitions. The story of popular Italian female singer and songwriter, Giuseppa Gaetana Ferreri, begins with her birth in Palermo on April 18, 1979, which was immediately complicated when doctors discovered that she was born with a congenital heart birth defect. This deformity remains, to this day, a constant reminder of both the fragility of her health and the good fortune she has experienced along the way. She is better known as "Giusy" to her family, friends and fans.
While growing up in the comune (village) of Abbiategrasso, located on the western periphery of the province of Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, she showed an early interest in music. She nurtured this talent by participating in singing competitions throughout her preteen years; continuing with her later enrollment in formal piano and voice educational programs. Giusy further honed her musical skills by joining various cover bands that specialized in a broad spectrum of melodic styles including pop, rock, rhythm and blues, and soul. She also showed a predilection for writing both lyrics and music to her own compositions.
Two of her earlier pieces, "Who is Me," an alternative, rock-flavored tune and "Won't U Be," an acid jazz-oriented number, caught the attention of talent scouts at Warner Music Italia who immediately signed her to a recording contract in 2003. Two frustratingly uneventful years passed before her first true single, "Il Party" would be released. This would only happen after she signed on to her new label, BMG Ricordi under the pseudonym of "Gaetana." The song was submitted and rejected by the 2005 Sanremo Music Festival Selection committee. Undeterred, the diminutive singer competed in the RAI Due 2008 television music talent competition "X Factor" with the song "Non ti scordar mai di me," written by Tiziano Ferro and Roberto Casalino. Her performance earned her a second place finish and a new recording contract with the Italian BMG affiliate of Sony Music International. This hit single would become the title track of her first EP, and eventually achieved multi-platinum status. Building upon her momentum, increasing confidence and growing popularity, Giusy released her full-length recording, "Gaetana," in November 2008, only five months after her smash debut. The results were astonishing and immediate as the recording, dedicated to her grandmother, would eventually achieve diamond status selling over 500,000 copies. The album yielded three hit singles, "Novembre," "Stai fermo li" and "La scala." The songwriting tandem of Ferro and Casalino authored the majority of the compositions. The album was also surprisingly successful abroad, finding its way onto the charts in Greece, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Belgium, achieving unusual international notoriety. The following year, she set out on a successful spring tour throughout the Italian peninsula. A lengthy and successful summer tour, that continued on into the early fall, followed the release of her recording of a stirring version of Luigi Tenco's evergreen "Ciao amore ciao" that was virtually recorded with the vocals of the late, great singer.
Controversy would follow the success that she was experiencing, however, as one of her previous independent labels chose to market some of her earlier, unreleased songs, capitalizing on her recent success. The unauthorized "Supermarket" (2009) listed her under the pseudonym of "Gaetana" and featured Giusy at her earliest beginnings, displaying a hard-edged, grunge-flavored recording that marginally appealed to only the hardcore and most curious of her fans. In spite of this ordeal, Giusy made her debut appearance at the 2011 Sanremo Music Festival competing in the "Artisti" (Established Artists Category) and presented the song "Il mare immenso" which achieved an eighth place finish. This song would find its way onto her third recording "Il mio universo" (2011) that featured Giusy writing five of the songs contained therein. The album displayed a more rock-oriented sound and achieved gold status, but was, by far, her least commercially successful album to date. She immediately embarked on an international six month tour in support of the release. After returning from the road, Giusy spent the next two years collaborating on outside projects with various musical colleagues and gained some much needed time off from the limelight. During this time, she made her cardiac medical condition public, and chose to return to the music scene by making her second appearance at the 2014 Sanremo Music Festival presenting two new songs, "Ti porto a cena con me" and "L'amore possiede il bene." These recordings made their way onto her fourth album, "L'attesa" (2004), and signified a change in her approach towards musical production, as she composed the majority of the songs and spent significant time in recording studios in London and Los Angeles. The album has yielded three singles and has attained platinum status.
For more information you can visit her website at www.giusyferreriofficial.it.
Photo courtesy of www.giusyferreriofficial.it
