Laura Pausini: The biggest artist you’ve never heard of?
“To become universal, you must first become ultra-local,” as the Bard of Salford, John Cooper Clarke, once declared.
In fairness to Clarke, the music industry is practically bursting with artists who are colossal stars in their locality but virtually unheard of anywhere else, and Italian pop vocalist Laura Pausini is from camp hidden gems.
In her native Italy, she participated in the Sanremo Music Festival contest, a big deal in Italy, its cultural relevance rivalled only by the Eurovision Song Contest, marking her entry into the music industry in 1993, the same year she released an eponymous debut.
With that balsy move, Pausini was swiftly crowned one of Italy’s defining pop stars, but she was no flash-in-the-pan. As the decade hunkered on, she continued to glide through a deluge of recordings and releases of new material, taking on Spanish-language pop in addition to her usual Italian stylings.
The performer has worked tirelessly since those early days, expanding her musical repertoire more often than some folks change their socks. To date, she has released 15 studio albums, duetting with an unbelievable roster, including Luciano Pavarotti, sensation from ‘Down Under’ Kylie Minogue, Gloria Estefan, Christmas in a nutshell Michael Bublé, the beautiful James Blunt, and, most impressively of all, pioneer on the keys Ray Charles.
Her fellow artists, regardless of nationality or language, respect and appreciate the incredible vocals and tireless artistry of Pausini, and rightly so. Outside her many duets, the performer has also crossed paths with pop titans like Phil Collins and Madonna, who have both written material for her, and Barbara Streisand, for whom Pausini served as talent once upon a birthday party.
It goes without saying that, had any of these many accolades and accomplishments been won by an English-language performer, she would be hailed among the greatest pop stars. The multilingual performer can boast of having worked in English, German, Portuguese, Romanian, Latin, and even Chinese, but remains a virtual unknown in the mainstream of the UK and USA. Why?
The uncomfortable truth is seated in the power centre of the music industry are those two nations rarely receptive to foreign-language artists. Nevertheless, her reputation, particularly in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, has only grown since the 1990s.
Today, Pausini remains one of mainland Europe’s biggest pop powers, a title which she has certainly earned since her 1993 introduction. The fact that English-speaking audiences remain largely ignorant of her exuberant quality is a crying shame; there is a whole world of incredible music out there for those with ears, and as far as pop audiences are concerned, people are missing out on Laura Pausini.
