Loredana Bertè

Loredana Bertè (Italian pronunciation: [loreˈdaːna berˈtɛ]; born 20 September 1950) is an Italian singer, songwriter and actress. She has worked with prominent Italian songwriters such as Pino Daniele, Ivano Fossati, Mario Lavezzi, Mango and Enrico Ruggeri, among others; her sister Mia Martini (Mimì Bertè) was also an acclaimed singer. She has experimented with different genres, from rock to reggae, from funk to pop.^[1] Bertè is known for the eccentric clothing she wears onstage for her performances.

Loredana Bertè
Bertè in 1986
Background information
Born	(1950-09-20) 20 September 1950 (age 75) Bagnara Calabra, Reggio Calabria, Italy
Genres	Pop rock reggae
Occupations	Singer songwriter record producer actress
Years active	1969–present

Early life

Loredana Bertè (right) and her sister Mia Martini

Bertè was born in Bagnara Calabra, Province of Reggio Calabria, in Southern Italy,^[1] the third of four daughters, three years after her sister Domenica. Her parents, Giuseppe Radames Bertè and Maria Salvina Dato, were both school teachers. Loredana spent her childhood in Porto Recanati and then in Ancona. After her parents separated, Bertè moved with her mother to Rome where she attended the local Art Institute.

Career

In the early 1970s, she performed as a go-go dancer in television and radio shows such as "Bandiera gialla" and "Stasera Rita!". She later joined the dance troupe of the Piper Club in Rome, where she met Renato Zero. In 1969, both Bertè, Zero and Teo Teocoli starred in the Italian edition of the musical "Hair". In 1970, Loredana and her sister Domenica, who had by then changed her name to Mia Martini, performed as backing vocalists for Chico Buarque de Holanda. While Martini would consequently start a successful music career, recording songs like "Piccolo uomo" and "Minuetto", Loredana continued to pursue theatre. In 1972, she performed in "Ciao Rudy" and "Orfeo 9". In 1974, producers Alfredo Cerruti and Enrico Riccardi persuaded Loredana to record her first album, Streaking. Bertè's second album, "Normale o Super" included "Sei Bellissima", Bertè's first domestic hit. In 1978, Bertè started a relationship with Ivano Fossati. Fossati produced the single "E la luna bussò", which is considered one of the early mainstream reggae songs in Italy.

In the early 1980s, Bertè spent a year in New York to work on her next album. Elio Fiorucci introduced her to Andy Warhol at the Factory. Warhol and Bertè collaborated on the music video for her song "Movie".^[2] In 1982, she won Festivalbar with "Non sono una signora". In 1985, she recorded the album Carioca in collaboration with Djavan. In 1986, she participated in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Re". In 1988, she met and married Björn Borg. The marriage would end in 1992. In 1993, Bertè and Mia Martini collaborated on the song "Stiamo come stiamo". On 12 May 1995, Martini was found unresponsive in her apartment in Cardano al Campo (Varese). Martini's death proved to be a devastating moment in Bertè's life.

In the early 2000s, Loredana returned to theatre, performing with Carla Fracci in "Gerusalemme" at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. She entrusted the direction of the three video clips that are part of the mini-CD "Dimmi che mi ami" of 2002. Two years later, she took part in "Music Farm", the first reality show on Italian TV involving famous singers. Thanks to the show's proceeds, she produced the new album "Babybertè" (2005) by herself.

In April 2010, she suffered a bad fall, and the related surgery forced her to a lengthy hospitalisation. She returned to the Sanremo Music Festival the following year, finishing fourth with the Gigi D'Alessio song "Respirare". Her following tour, "Bandabertè", ended up in Russia, where she participated in the international White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.^[3]

In 2015, she played the judge's role in the talent "Friends of Maria De Filippi". In 2017, she recorded the songs "Allegria" with J-Ax and Fedez and "Occhi di Gatto" with Cristina D'Avena.

In 2016 Bertè staged a big show at the Verona Arena called "Amiche in Arena", performing a series of duets with other Italian female artists, including Fiorella Mannoia, Gianna Nannini, Patty Pravo and Irene Grandi.^[4]

Bertè's song "J'adore Venise" was included in Luca Guadagnino's Oscar-winning film's soundtrack, Call Me By Your Name (2017).

In 2018, she topped the Italian charts again with "Non ti dico no", a song made in collaboration with the reggae dancehall band Boomdabash. She also duetted with Fabio Rovazzi and J-Ax in "Senza pensieri".

She competed in the Sanremo Music Festival 2024 with the song "Pazza",^[5][6] finishing in seventh place but being awarded the Critics' prize, named after her sister Mia Martini.^[7] Shortly after, she was selected to compete in the final of Una voce per San Marino 2024, the Sammarinese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, with the same song; she placed second.^[8][9]

Personal life

From 1988 to 1992, Bertè was married to the tennis star Björn Borg.

Discography

Albums

• Streaking (1974)
• Normale o super (1976) Italy: Gold
• TIR (1977) Italy: Gold
• BandaBertè (1979) Italy: Platinm
• Loredana Bertè (1980) Italy: Platinum
• Made in Italy (1981) Italy: Platinum
• Traslocando (1982) Italy: 5× Platinum
• Jazz (1983) Italy: Platinum
• Lorinedita (1983)
• Savoir faire (1984) Italy: Platinum
• Carioca (1985) Italy: Platinum
• Fotografando (1986) Italy: Platinum
• Io (1988) Italy: Gold
• Best (1991)
• Ufficialmente dispersi (1993)
• Bertex, ingresso libero (1994)
• Ufficialmente ritrovati (1995)
• Un pettirosso da combattimento (1997) Italy: Gold
• Decisamente Loredana (1998)
• BabyBertè (2005) Italy: Platinum
• BabyBertè – special edition Buch+cd+dvd (2006)
• BabyBertè live 2007 (2007)
• Bertilation (2008)
• Lola & Angiolina project (2009)
• LiBerté (2018) Italy: Gold

Singles

• "Volevi un amore grande" (1974)
• "Sei bellissima" (1975) Italy: Diamond
• "Meglio libera" (1976) Italy: Platinum
• "Fiabe" (1977) Italy: Platinum
• "Grida" (1997) Italy: Platinum
• "Decisamente Loredana" (1977)
• "Dedicato" (1978) Italy: Diamond
• "E la luna bussò" (1979) Italy: Diamond
• "In alto mare" (1980) Italy: Diamond
• "Movie" (1981) Italy: Platinum
• "Non sono una signora" (1982) Italy: Diamond
• "Per i tuoi occhi" (1982) Italy: Platinum
• "Acqua" (1985) Italy: Platinum
• "Re" (1986) Italy: Platinum
• "Io" (1988) Italy: Gold
• "In questa città" (1991)
• "Stiamo come stiamo" (1993)
• "Amici non ne ho" (1994)
• "Portami con te" (1998)
• "Dimmi che mi ami" (2002) Italy: Gold
• "Sarà perché ti amo (chi se ne frega!!)" (2004)
• "Strade di fuoco" (2006) Italy: Gold
• "Musica e parole" (2008) Italy: Gold
• "Cattiva" (Loredana Errore feat. Loredana Bertè) (2011)
• "Respirare" (with Gigi D'Alessio) (2012) Italy: Gold
• "Ma quale musica leggera" (2012)
• "Non ti dico no" (with Boomdabash) (2018) Italy: 2× Platinum
• "Cosa ti aspetti da me" (2019) Italy: Platinum
• "Tequila e San Miguel" (2019)
• "Senza pensieri" (2019) Italy: Platinum
• "Figlia di..." (2021) Italy: Gold
• "Tuttapposto" (with Giordana Angi) (2021)
• "Che sogno incredibile" (with Emma) (2021) Italy: Gold
• "Pazza" (2024)
• "Una stupida scusa" (with Boomdabash) (2025)

Filmography

Films

Title	Year	Role(s)	Notes
Basta guardarla	1970	Red dancer	Uncredited
Quelli belli… siamo noi		Silvia
The Boss and the Worker	1975	Mariagrazia Marigotti
Eye of the Cat		Prostitute	Cameo appearance
Movie Rush - La febbre del cinema	1976	Martine
The Story of Piera	1983	Herself	Cameo appearance
Un altro giorno ancora	1995	Performer	With the song "Amici non ne ho"
Io sono Mia	2019	None	Consultant writer
The Addams Family		Grandmama Addams	Italian voice-over role
Addio al nubilato	2021	Herself	Cameo appearance
The Addams Family 2		Grandmama Addams	Italian voice-over role
Positivə		Herself	Documentary
Still Out of My League		Delfina Meier

Television

Title	Year	Role(s)	Notes
No, No, Nanette	1974	Pauline	Television movie
Orfeo 9	1975	Narrator (voice)	Television movie
Bambole, non c'è una lira	1977	Dori	Variety show
Fantastico	1984–1985	Herself / Performer	Musical/variety program (season 5)
Risatissima	1985	Herself / Performer	Variety show (season 2)
Sanremo Music Festival 1986	1986	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Re" (9th place)
Non necessariamente	1986–1987	Herself / co-host	Variety show
Sanremo Music Festival 1988	1988	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Io" (16th place)
Sanremo Music Festival 1991	1991	Herself / Contestant	Performing "In questa città" (18th place)
Sanremo Music Festival 1993	1993	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Stiamo come stiamo" with Mia Martini (14th place)
Sanremo Music Festival 1994	1994	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Amici non ne ho" (13th place)
Domenica in	1994–1997	Herself / Recurring guest	Talk show (seasons 19–21)
Sanremo Music Festival 1995	1995	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Angeli & Angeli" (19th place)
Sanremo Music Festival 1997	1997	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Luna" (20th place)
La notte vola	2001	Herself / Contestant	Talent show
Sanremo Music Festival 2002	2002	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Dimmi che mi ami" (17th place)
Music Farm	2005–2006	Herself / Judge	Talent show (seasons 2–3)
Sanremo Music Festival 2008	2008	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Musica e parole" (disqualified)
X Factor	2008–2009	Herself / Performer	Talent show
Sanremo Music Festival 2012	2012	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Respirare" with Gigi D'Alessio (4th place)
Amici di Maria De Filippi	2015–2020	Herself / Judge	Talent show (seasons 14–15, 18–19)
Standing Ovation	2017	Herself / Judge	Talent show
Sanremo Music Festival 2019	2019	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Cosa ti aspetti da me" (4th place)
The Voice Senior	2020–present	Herself / Coach	Talent show
Non sono una signora - Loredana 70	2021	Herself / Headliner	Special
The Voice Kids	2023	Herself / Coach	Children's competition
Sanremo Music Festival 2024	2024	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Pazza" (7th place)
Una voce per San Marino 2024	2024	Herself / Contestant	Performing "Pazza" (2nd Place)

Stage

Title	Year	Role(s)	Theatre
Hair	1970	Jeanie	Teatro Sistina
Ciao Rudy	1972	The Fan
Gerusalemme	2001	Performer	Teatro dell'Opera