Italian singer-songwriter Emmanuela Marrone (May 25, 1984), simply known as Emma Marrone, took her first steps in the early aughts with the all-girl group Lucky Star and then rose to national stardom as a highly-celebrated solo artist. Born in Florence but raised in the province of Lecce, Marrone was heavily influenced by her father, who played guitar in a rock band named Karadreon. In 2003, she took part in the second season of reality show Popstars, finishing up in first place and forming Lucky Star alongside Laura Pisu and Colomba Pane. The group went on to score a hit single with 2003’s “Stile” and released a dance-pop album before disbanding shortly after. After a brief stint as frontwoman for the bands M.J.U.R. and Anonimo Soul, Marrone won the Amici di Maria de Filippi contest in 2009 and kicked off her solo career with the EP Oltre (2010), which shot straight to the top of the Italian charts, propelled by the hit single “Calore.” Hot on the heels of her newfound success, Marrone delivered A me piace così (2010), her official studio debut, debuting at Number 2 on the Italian Albums Chart. The singer’s hot streak continued with Sarò libera (2011) and Schiena (2013), both of which reached the top of the charts in Italy and received triple platinum certification. Following her participation on the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “La mia città” in 2014, Marrone released the albums Adesso (2015) and Essere Qui (2018), both of which peaked at Number 2 on FIMI’s charts. Preceded by the singles “Stupida allegria” and “Io sono bella,” Fortuna saw the light in 2019 and became Marrone’s third album to top the Italian charts, followed by the standalone single “Pezzo di Cuore” (2021), a duet with Alessandra Amoroso that hit Number 2 on the singles chart.
