ROME – She is one of those women who remain eternal girls: Alexiaat the registry office Alessia Aquilanifrom Arcola (La Spezia), has just turned 58 and is getting back into the game. «The DNA is good but I work on it», he says; «I go to the gym, I eat very healthy. I have never smoked or drank.” Four Sanremo festivals (in 2003 he won with To say no), participated in the Festivalbar nine consecutive times. Over 10 million records sold worldwide, ten singles in the Top ten. She returned to the scene with dance music on the Tomorrowland stage, the most important electronic music festival in Belgium, last summer, with the Australian DJ twins Miriam e Olivia Nervo; he proposed in November I feel feelings written by Dragonette. The new single is Follow. On March 26, 2026 he will be at the Fabrique in Milan for the great concert The party – Back to the dancefloor. Many successes: Summer is crazy, Uh la la la, Think about the way with the rapper Ice Mcmade famous by the film Trainspotting.
New music: what’s it like to be 58 again?
«The best thing is feeling resolved. For me it means taking this passion as such, and carrying it forward with the spirit of when I was a little girl who dreamed of becoming someone. Very effective method: it allows you to enjoy the audience and what you do in life.”
Why “Follow”?
«To tell that the person who wanted to make people dance has not disappeared. I’m at an age where I’ve seen it all, there are things that touch me more than others: helping lift people up, making them dream. I mean, to those who give me positive energy, I am there and I hold out my hand. That I listen and don’t judge, that I understand moments of difficulty and fears. Social media is judgmental: in the best sense, you are beautiful-good-legend, but also arrogant.”
Did you feel judged? She was “the club girl”.
«Judged by the person closest to me ever. I felt an enormous burden, the thing that hurt me the most was having to live up to the situation; not so much for the public but for the people who were close to me. They should have supported me, but instead they were manipulative, judging me and always making me feel inadequate. I felt this way until recently. Then I said to myself: but of what? But why?
Was she able to leave everything behind?
“Yes. I did a great job and I got help, I say this without shame. There’s nothing wrong, you need to ask for help.”
In 2003 he won the Sanremo Festival with “Per dire di no”, written with Alberto Salerno.
«I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone, the song was born in English. I met Mara Maionchi and her husband Alberto during the rehearsal of the text, in the recording room. They arrived together, two incredible characters. I thought: I want a dad and a mom like that. Maionchi is wonderful. On the evening of the final, in Sanremo, mum and my sister go to watch the festival in the TV room in the hotel. Mara and Alberto were there, and my mother kept saying to my sister: “Can you tell that lady to shut up?”. And she: “No, mom”. Then she went: “Excuse me, can I hear from my daughter Alexia?”. Mara hugged her, a celebration.”
Who was the smiling Alexia of 22 years ago?
«The Sanremo victory led me to take stock of my private life and, fortunately, I diverted towards a healthier path. I was in a toxic relationship, it was an addiction that I deluded myself into making me feel protected. But there was no respect, the pain dragged me down. When I won the festival, my father was no longer there: an immense pain. He sang and encouraged me. Mum also always made me feel her support, she was a pre-manager.”
The Festivalbar marked your career: what memories do you have?
«At the festivals I tour abroad, in the summer, there is the same exhilaration. It was nice to be part of the Festivalbar family: you felt like someone. As a very young girl, crazy cool. When the season ended I thought: now how can I start again?”.
Were you never afraid in those squares full of people?
«A few seconds before going on stage, it’s instinctive. Afterwards I’m in seventh heaven.”
Do you have friends in the music world?
«I started with a few colleagues, now we are all mothers, it is difficult to fit together commitments. A friend is Syria».
Do you like duets?
«I find that they have lost their artistic and poetic nature. Nowadays they calculate how much they take from you and how much they give you, I find it obscene. I happened to do a duet at O’ Scià, the event he organised Baglioni in Lampedusa. With Claudio we improvised, the island came down, it was beautiful and dictated by a need. Duets don’t have to be planned, they have to be done.”
Today freedom is also that of showing off your body: did you feel at ease?
(Laughs) «Never. Only uncomfortable, I covered myself. Except for the belly button. I dressed like a thirteen year old, I would never have had the courage to do like my young colleagues, I’m happy that they have so much confidence. I don’t want to dwell on how the way of performing has changed. I don’t listen to everything that comes out during the week, but I often struggle to recognize the artist: I took him for Tizio, Caio, Sempronio. There is approval.”
Why, in your opinion?
«Because if things work, we continue in the same direction».
Often those who are successful come from the province, like her. How much grit does it take?
«So much hunger for self-determination. I studied a lot – singing, piano – this allowed me to feel confident. I made great sacrifices, with the fear that everything could end. I didn’t even have a plan B. If you have a plan B, you’ve got your back. I knew I had a fakir’s bed, made of nails, I had to try everything. I started working with cover bands at 19, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We left in the van, dismantled the stage, returned on Sunday night or Monday morning. I did my real apprenticeship with 30-year-old guys. I once sang in a club for 45 evenings. I promised myself: if I’m still here next year, I’ll spit in this mirror.”
She is married to Andrea Camerana, Giorgio Armani’s nephew. How did you meet?
«He was a fan. She had learned that I was going to try on some clothes in the style office for Sanremo 2003, a mutual friend had asked me: would you like to dress in Emporio Armani? We have dinner, a particular understanding is born, he reminded me of my dad, he had a way of doing things from times gone by. He wasn’t like the guys I hung out with. I was fascinated. Nothing happened, we saw each other again in June, he wrote me a little message: “My dad also died, two years ago. Can you see that we have so many things in common?”. He had evidently read the news. We continued to send each other thoughts, poems. Then one day we wrote to each other: why don’t we tell each other these things in person?”.
Did you feel intimidated when you joined King George’s family?
«They are friendly. Paradoxically, I was a celebrity too when I took a step back to dedicate myself to my daughters. They never made me feel in difficulty, but I found myself dealing with a new situation. I lived in a city that isn’t mine, Milan, I felt alone, I clung to them in the hope of being part of the family. Today if there is an important event, I am there.”
With your daughters (Maria Vittoria, born in 2007, and Margherita, in 2011), is she a friendly or strict mother?
«Andrea and I decided from the beginning that, despite our privileges, we would live a low profile life. My husband likes understatement, when we were looking for an apartment, there are four of us, the houses were never good. He wanted them smaller. He can’t stand the idea of having the court, too many helpers and superstructures. This has made it easier for us to educate girls. My daughter wanted to eat sushi for her party, she invited friends and didn’t want help. She organized everything, I just told her: tidy up. I was away, he tidied up, then explained to me: “Not everyone has someone to help at home.” I was pleased. As a teenager I lived a hard life, in a family that struggled. I don’t forget my origins. My husband can’t stand having superstructures, we organize our lives ourselves.”
Music Corner con Alexia
What relationship does it have with social media?
«I look at them but I don’t deal with them personally. I said it right away: don’t make me post a photo of me drinking coffee or making an omelette every day. Social media is not part of my generation.”
Have you missed Sanremo in recent years?
«I would go back to the festival. Even though every time I look at it, I see tiredness in the eyes of my colleagues. In the eyes of Naomibeautiful, of incredible elegance, I saw it. I tried to send her my energy, I cheered. I miss Sanremo regardless, if you’re doing something else, you want emotions. It’s a mechanism that overwhelms you.”
It’s changed a lot, the rappers have arrived, the very young people, Lucio Corsi with Topo Gigio. A natural evolution?
«They had to modernize it, remove the patina of dust, to win over other audiences but we should take a little step back. It’s fine to modernize it, but not just giving space to a certain type of music. Once upon a time there were 15% of very young people, another percentage of young people, and an authorial panorama. In recent years it had lost a bit of institutionality, this year Carlo Conti he gave it back to him. But there are too many singers, you risk not seeing them all: I saw fifteen, twenty per evening. And I wasn’t able to follow the final evening in its entirety.”
Related News :