Sanremo without Al Bano: "I wanted to be there, but I would never have gone to pass exams"

Sanremo without Al Bano? For many, it is a difficult idea to accept. Cellino San Marco’s powerful voice marked festival decades, bringing songs to Ariston that have become part of the Italian musical heritage on stage. Yet this year Al Bano is not there. An absence that weighs, but that the artist faces with the usual irony and determination.

“I wanted to close my career as a competitor this year, in 2025,” he tells AGI. “Obviously my accounts did not return with the accounts of Mr. Conti. Did you like this?” joke, making a game of words with the surname of the artistic director.

“I would never have gone to spend exams with anyone, I know my job well. I have never passed the exams in Sanremo – then says firmly, returning seriously – My artistic quality speaks for me, I travel in three quarters of the world thanks to mine Music.

Net words, which do not sound like a bitter farewell, but rather like the thought of an artist aware of his own value. And that does not deny anything about his long Sanremese journey: “All the festivals I have made have always given me a perfect and indescribable emotion”. And he does not intend to choose a heart edition. Because, after all, every Sanremo for Al Bano was special.

But if this year is not there, Sanremo still remains an event to follow, even at a distance. “I didn’t see the first evening. Not for snobbery, rather for lack of time, I was on the way. But I read everything this morning in the newspapers,” he says. And some things hit him. One of the most significant moments was Pope Francis’ video message, who spoke of peace and the need to break down the walls of hatred.

“Music is a social factor. And if it launches from good music, it is a very important and indispensable social factor too”, reflects Al Bano, who has always believed in the strength of music as an instrument of union. And speaking of music and commitment, another moment that made the discussion was the duet between Noa and Mira Awad on the notes of ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon. Two artists, one Israeli and a Palestinian, together on stage for a message of peace.

“Even the small steps that underline the desire for peace are fantastic. It cannot be more than this word, of this human blasphemy called war. It cannot be more. You have to erase it from the vocabulary, from the minds of the inhumans,” he says forcefully The Apulian singer. On the musical front, something has captured his attention.

“I saw only a few sections, I noticed a song that seemed identical to me to that of the Morandi-Ruggeri-Totzzi trio, ‘can you give more” coincidence? Chissa ‘, “he comments with a smile. As for Giorgia, one of the most anticipated voices,” they told me that his song is beautiful. I am in love with his voice. I can’t wait to hear it. And I would love to make a duet with her. “Sanremo changes, he transforms himself, every year he brings news. But one thing is certain: Al Bano remains a symbol of Italian music and his name is inevitably linked to the history of the Festival. Also when it is not in the race.