NEK

Biography 1972 Filippo Neviani is born on January 6th (Epiphany) in the province of Modena, Italy.Mother - Vittoria Father - Cesar Older Brother - Gaetano Grandfather - Orfeo, who played the violin Grandmother - played the violin 1976 4 year-old Filippo starts playing his brother's drums. 1978 6 year-old Filippo gets his own set of drums.1980 8 year-old Filippo gets a bass guitar.1983 11 year-old Filippo forms his 1st band, Winchester with friend Gianluca Vaccari. They draw from the country music repertoire of John Denver, Alabama, and Simon & Garfunkel.1985 Winchester is paid $50 for its first performance for family members at Christmas. The members of the band promptly spend their earnings - a night of videogames and junk food with friends.1989 Filippo forms his 2nd band, The Sun. The Sun changes its name to White Lady later this year. The band's repertoire includes many songs from the Police. White Lady's performance at Filippo's school at Christmas time is received with great enthusiasm.1990 White Lady performs a series of concerts in Emilia Romagna after releasing 'White Lady - the Demo Tape '90', which is given out free to friends. Massimo Varini becomes the band's guitarist. Massimo and Filippo begin an artistic collaboration that remains strong and deep-rooted to this day.1991 Filippo choses the artistic name of Nek. Nek participates in a singing contest, Castrocaro, and wins 2nd place with the song 'Io Ti Vorrei' (I Wish You Were Mine).1992 Nek records his 1st album, 'Nek'. The record company does not promote the album very well.Note: 'Nek' is hard to find in America but is available online from cdbox.it.1993 Nek records his 2nd album, 'In Te' (In You). Nek writes 'Figli di Chi' ('Sons of Who') which Mietta sings at the San Remo Festival. Also at the San Remo Festival, Nek comes in 3rd place with his song, 'In Te' (In You).Note: 'In Te' is hard to find in America but is available online from cdbox.it.1994 Nek records his 3rd album, 'Calore Umano' (Human Warmth). Again, the record firm fails to fully promote the album. Nek wins 2nd place at the Italian Festival with the song 'Angeli nel Ghetto' (Angels in the Ghetto).Note: 'Calore Umano' is a really nice album - available online from cdbox.it. 'Calore Umano' (Human Warmth) and 'Cuori in Tempesta' (Stormy Hearts) are still heavily requested on private Italian radio stations.1995 Nek's artistic career hits a turning point. Rolando D'Angeli becomes Nek's manager and Nek's team collaborates with the lyricist A. De Sanctis.Note: In a 2000 interview with MTV Italy, Nek relates that when his lyricist collaborates with some of the local wine, the most beautiful lyrics are produced.1996 Nek releases 4th album, 'Lei, gli Amici e Tutto il Resto' (She, the Friends and All the Rest), which sells more than 120,000 copies in a few months led by the song 'Dimmi Cos'è' (Tell Me What It Is). The most successful songs of the album are 'Tu Sai Tu Sei' (You Are You Say), and 'Vivere Senza Te' (Living Without You). Nek tours all over Italy.Note: This is a great album, but very hard to find in America - available online from cdbox.it. Many of the songs were released in a Spanish version, 'Nek' - the blue-colored case, which is easier to find in the U.S.1997 Nek participates in San Remo Festival with 'Laura Non C'è' (Laura Isn't Here) from the album, 'Lei, gli Amici e Tutto il Resto' (She, the Friends and All the Rest). 'Laura Non C'è' along with 'Sei Grande' (You Are Great) became number one hits all over the world. In two years, the album sells 3 million copies in Italy, Europe, and South America.1998 Nek releases 5th album, 'In Due' (In Two), which sells one and a half million copies in 32 nations. Its most successful songs are 'Se Io Non Avessi Te' (If I Didn't Have You) and 'Se una Regola C'è' (If a Rule Exists).Note: This album was also released in Spanish as 'Entre Tu Y Yo'.2000 Nek releases 6th album, 'La Vita È' (Life Is). The title song, 'La Vita È' (Life Is) wins the Grammy Award for the best song of 2000 in Russia. Other hits are 'Ci Sei Tu' (There You Are) and 'Sul Treno' (On the Train). The texts of the songs are deeper and more social with musical arrangements that go from the Latin to the electronic-pop rock sounds.Note: The Spanish version is called, 'La Vida Es'.2002 Nek releases 7th album, 'Le Cose da Difendere' (Things To Defend). The album includes 'Sei Solo Tu' (It Is Only You) - a duet with Laura Pausini and 'Cielo e Terra' (Sky and Land) - a duet with Dante Thomas.Note: The Spanish version is called, 'Las Cosas Que Defenderé'.2003 Nek performs his Fans Club concert in Sassuolo, Italy in January. 'Le Cose da Difendere' hits the top 20 on Radio Italia for several months. Nek records 8th album, 'The Best of Nek: L'anno Zero' which releases in October and hits the top 20 on Radio Italia for the remainder of the year.2004 Nek prepares for a concert tour of Italy in February and March. His 8th Spanish album, 'Lo Mejor de Nek: El Año Cero', is scheduled to be released in the Latin American territories on March 23, 2004 and in Spain on March 30, 2004.