“The artist is born alone and dies alone. He is a soloist. A little narcissistic, a little exhibitionist. He rarely has a spirit of service.” Claudio Baglioni talks about his origins and his life in a long interview with Corriere della Sera.
“I have never voted for Berlusconi. But when I wrote to all the leaders to ask the question of Lampedusa, where I then organized the O’ Scià festival for ten years, the first one who phoned me after three hours was him: “Baglioni, you and I do the same job”. I replied, believing myself to be casual and witty, that I had never been Prime Minister”.
On the birth of This Little Big Love:
“I wrote it like you write a will. I didn’t think of doing this job, I didn’t have the skin for it. I was sentimental like my father, while I would have liked to be determined like my mother. And I was shy: a boy from the suburbs who didn’t beat nail with the girls. We were waiting for the opportunity, and our waiting room was the RCA bar.”
In America he discussed with Battisti
“The RCA manager proposed a toast: “To our singer who is first in the hit parade in Italy!”. Lucio thought he was referring to him; instead, that time, it was me. He was very disappointed.”
The spat with De Gregori:
“He said in an interview, with Re Nudo or Mucchio Selvaggio, that he wanted to “pollute the calm and reassuring sea of Mino Reitano and Baglioni”. I replied to him, not from an alternative magazine but from Sorrisi&Canzoni, that not even “Goodnight little flower” “It was a revolutionary anthem that brought together an impresario from Cesena, Libero Venturi”.
Baglioni became a singer, but he wanted to become a priest:
“At the age of 12 I was a catechist for six-year-old children. At 14 I felt the vocation, in short the call, and I seriously thought about becoming a priest. But my mother, who was also very devout, was not convinced. On the other hand, later, he recommended me to sing because studying ruins your eyes.”
