Giovanni Edgar Charles Galletto-Savoretti (born 10 October 1983), known professionally as Jack Savoretti, is an English-Italian acoustic singer, songwriter, and musician. He has released seven studio albums to date: Between the Minds (2007), Harder Than Easy (2009), Before the Storm (2012), Written in Scars (2015), Sleep No More (2016), Singing to Strangers (2019), Europiana (2021) and Miss Italia (2024). Singing to Strangers became his first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart.

Jack Savoretti
Jack Savoretti, 2019
Jack Savoretti, 2019
Background information
Birth nameGiovanni Edgar Charles Galletto-Savoretti
Born (1983-10-10) 10 October 1983 (age 41)
Westminster, London, England
Genres
Instruments
  • Acoustic guitar
  • electric guitar
  • piano
  • harmonica
Years active2005–present
LabelsEMI
Websitejacksavoretti.com

Early career

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Born in Westminster to an Italian father[1] and a mother of half Polish Jewish and half German descent,[2][3] Savoretti grew up in London,[4] before moving to Lugano, a Swiss city near the Italian border.[5] Moving around Europe as a child, he ended up at the American School in Switzerland where he picked up an accent he describes as "transatlantic mutt".[6]

As a teenager, he was interested only in poetry.[7] "I was writing all the time, it was the thing to do, sit under a tree with a notebook, go somewhere else in your head. I was in the clouds." When his mother gave him a guitar and suggested he try putting some of his words to music he was "surprised how much more people listen to you when you are singing than if you read a poem". "After that, I couldn't stop, it was constant writing, every day, it became almost a form of conversation, the way I interact with the world."

He began playing guitar at 16.[8] Savoretti did two duets with Shelly Poole called "Anyday Now" and "Hope", both of which appear on Poole's album Hard Time for the Dreamer, which was released in September 2005. Jack was signed to De-angelis Productions when he was 18 years of age and subsequently signed to De-angelis Records, a label set up by Anne Barrett and Eric Ramon. Rick Barraclough joined De-angelis in 2005 and produced the first two albums Between the Minds and Harder than Easy. The label contracted Nick Fleming's radio promotions company who introduced Savoretti to Radio 2 where his album Between The Minds became the album of the week. De-angelis then flew Savoretti out to the US where Sue Crawshaw, who was working for De-angelis publishing, set up a showcase at Fox film studios, where he performed and quickly became the darling for many film and television supervisors. During this time the label suggested to the MD of Caffè Nero Paul Ettinger (who had previously seen Jack perform at Tony Moore's venue in Hammersmith) that Jack do a tour of the cafés, becoming the first label to come up with this marketing idea. Graham Stokes who was consulting for De-angelis suggested that De-angelis should approach the new Grammy award-winner Corinne Bailey Rae's management to have Savoretti as the support act for Corinne's upcoming European tour. Further to that tour Jack also supported Gavin DeGraw on a European tour. Savoretti parted ways with De-angelis in 2010.

Career

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2006-2008: Debut

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Savoretti performing in 2008.

Savoretti released his first single on 9 October 2006, called "Without". The video, filmed in Mallorca was directed by Oscar-nominated director Bobby Garabedian. The single charted at number 90 in the UK Singles Chart and was B-Listed on BBC Radio 2. His second single, "Dreamers", was less successful, reaching No. 123 in the UK Singles Chart; it was also playlisted on Radio 2. Savoretti was then spotted by Corinne Bailey Rae, who invited Savoretti to perform with her on her European tour. His album gained support on Radio 2, where it was declared Album of the Week. The album Between the Minds was released in March 2007, and it débuted at number 5 on the UK indie charts. On 6 August 2007 he made his television debut on GMTV, where he performed "Dr Frankenstein". Throughout February and March 2008, Savoretti embarked on a solo mini-tour of Caffè Nero bars in the UK.

After his Caffè Nero tour he re-released his debut album Between the Minds with a bonus disc with unplugged versions of some of his songs, three new songs, as well as a live cover version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on 31 March 2008. Four days later, on 4 April 2008, he made another television performance, performing "Gypsy Love" on This Morning.

Savoretti joined Steve Booker (writer of Duffy's "Mercy") to write the A-side to his single, "Gypsy Love", which captures the sincerity of Savoretti's song-writing. Songs such as the A side of his single "One Man Band" are a testament to how he spent the beginning of the year, and an expression of his ability to showcase his voice without the support of a full band.[9]

Two of his songs featured in series 5 of the hit TV series One Tree Hill. "Between the Minds" was featured in the episode "Cryin' Won't Help You Now", and "No One's Aware" was featured in the episode "What Do You Go Home To?" "No One's Aware" was also featured in the film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, which was released in August in the US and was released in the UK in January 2009. His song "Chemical Courage" was featured on the A&E television series The Cleaner. The track "Soldier's Eyes" from Between the Minds played over the closing credits of the second episode of the fifth series of Sons of Anarchy.

Savoretti toured Europe with Gavin DeGraw after he approached Savoretti asking him to be his support act. To coincide with Savoretti supporting DeGraw, Savoretti's debut album, Between the Minds, was released on all European iTunes stores.

2009-2013: Harder Than Easy and Before the Storm

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Savoretti's second album, Harder Than Easy, was due for release on 6 July 2009. The album release was postponed and it was finally released in North America on 15 September 2009. On 14 April a new song called "Him & Her" was released through gigwise.com as a free download to launch the new album.[10]

Savoretti wrote the track "One Day" specifically for the American film Post Grad, and a version of "One Day" is performed in the film by Zach Gilford's character. A "One Day" music video featuring Post Grad footage was released.[11] The film was released in the USA on 21 August 2009.[12]

On 2 November 2010, Savoretti announced via Facebook that he was in London working on his third album.[13] He spent most of 2011 touring and working on his third album, debuting many new songs.

 
Savoretti performing in 2014.

On 2 February 2012 Savoretti released the song "Hate & Love", featuring Sienna Miller, followed by the first single, "Knock Knock", on 12 February.[14] On 3 May Savoretti released a third single called "Take Me Home" along with a music video. A competition was set for fans to cover this song and submit to the Facebook page in order to win the chance to tour with Savoretti. The third album, Before the Storm, was released on 4 June. With his band, The Dirty Romantics, they recorded at Kensaltown Studios and mastered the LP at Abbey Road Studios.[15] The album showed a new side to Savoretti, yet kept the same poetic charm seen in previous albums. Starting his UK leg of the tour at The Borderline, Savoretti showcased the new material whilst also appearing to have something else up his sleeve with a song called "Crazy Town". In the autumn of 2012, Jack co-wrote songs with Janet Devlin for her upcoming debut release.[16]

2014-2018: Written in Scars and Sleep No More

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Before the Storm re-ignited Savoretti's passion for songwriting, taught him how to put himself in his songs and, crucially, led him to the musicians who helped him helm Written in Scars – his fourth album and his first to be released by a major label, BMG Chrysalis, with whom he signed in 2014. Many of the songs on the album were co-written with Samuel Dixon and Matt Benbrook.[17] The track "Wasted" featured Lissie and a deluxe version contained three acoustic tracks.[18]

The singles "Tie Me Down", "Home" and "The Other Side of Love" were playlisted and championed by BBC Radio 2, where Savoretti appeared as a guest on the shows of Dermot O'Leary, Chris Evans and Richard Madeley.[19] Savoretti also appeared on BBC One's The One Show on 20 February 2015 to perform his single "Home".[20]

The official video for "Home"[21] was filmed during a football match at the stadium of Genoa, Jack's hometown; fortunately Genoa won.[22]

The official video for "The Other Side of Love" premièred in March 2015,[23] and stars the actor Rafe Spall.[24]

Written in Scars was released on 9 February 2015 on BMG Chrysalis. The album peaked in the official UK Albums Chart at number 7, registering 41 weeks to date.[25] BBC Radio 2 made Written in Scars their Album of the Week on 1 February 2015,[26] and Tesco also made it their Album of the Week on 10 April 2015.

To mark the album's release, Savoretti embarked on a sold-out headline UK and Ireland tour, which took in cities including Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and Leeds before finishing with a sold-out show at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, which was given a four-star review by Emily Jupp of The Independent.

In 2016, Savoretti recorded a duet with Elisa, called "Waste Your Time on Me", on her album, On. He also had a sold-out show at the Hammersmith Apollo, and played at a special event in the centre of the elegant small Italian village of Portofino.

 
Savoretti performing in 2019

Savoretti's fifth album Sleep No More was released on 28 October 2016.

In 2018, he featured on Kylie Minogue's album Golden, where he dueted with her on the song "Music's Too Sad Without You".[27]

2019-2022: Singing to Strangers and Europiana

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Promoted by an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Singing to Strangers became Savoretti's first number-one album on 24 March 2019.[28]

Europiana, Jack's seventh studio album, was released on 25 June 2021 through EMI. It was preceded by the single "Who's Hurting Who", which was the only track on the album produced by Nile Rodgers and Mark Ralph. The album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, becoming Savoretti's second number-one album in the country.

2024-present: Miss Italia

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On 17 May 2024, Savoretti released his seventh studio album, Miss Italia, which was the singer's first album to consist mostly of tracks sung in Italian. The album debuted and peaked at number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.[29] Miss Italia produced three singles: "Come Posso Raccontare", "Senza una Donna" (a collaboration with Zucchero) and "Ultime Parole", featuring Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. On 6 June 2024, Savoretti performed "Soldier's Eyes", from his debut album Between the Minds, as part of the BBC's coverage of the eightieth anniversary of the Normandy landings.[30][31] The track debuted at number 87 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart after just one day of renewed interest.[32]

Personal life and family

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Savoretti's grandfather led the Italian partisan movement in Genoa that fought German occupation during World War II. He was posthumously recognised by the city[33] and a street in Genoa has been named in his memory.

A fluent Italian speaker, Savoretti is a fan of the Italian football club Genoa C.F.C., which appears in the video of the single "Home". Savoretti is married to the British actress Jemma Powell. They live in Oxfordshire with their three children. Savoretti also has a house on Formentera in the Balearic Islands.[33]

Discography

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Studio albums

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Soundtrack

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Films

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Year Film Song
2008 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 "No One's Aware"
2009 Post Grad "One Day"
2013 Universitari "Changes"

TV shows

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Year TV show Song
2008 One Tree Hill "No One's Aware"
"Between the Minds"
"Dreamers"
The Cleaner "Chemical Courage"
EastEnders "Gypsy Love"
2009 One Tree Hill "Wonder"
Grey's Anatomy "Songs from Different Times"
One Tree Hill "Mother"
2010 Grey's Anatomy "Breaking News"
"Wonder"
2011 "Harder Than Easy"
Greek "Ring of Fire"
2012 The Vampire Diaries "Hate and Love"
One Tree Hill "Changes"
Sons of Anarchy "Soldier's Eyes"
2016 Teen Wolf "Fight Til' the end"
2017 The Royals "Deep Waters"

Video games

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Year Game Song
2019 Days Gone "Soldier's Eyes"

TV appearances

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Year TV show Song
2007 Top of the Pops 2 "Dreamers"
GMTV "Dr Frankenstein"
2008 This Morning "Gypsy Love"
MDA Telethon "Dr Frankenstein"
2012 Got to Dance "Knock Knock"
Morgan Spurlock's New Britannia
The Xtra Factor "Lifetime"
"Take Me Home"
"For the Last Time"
Freshly Squeezed "Breaking the Rules"
Sunday Brunch
2013 BBC Breakfast "Not Worthy"
MOTD Kickabout
Sunday Brunch
2014 Life's a Pitch "Sweet Hurt", "Broken Glass"
Vintage TV "Sweet Hurt"
2015 Sunday Brunch "Written in Scars", "Back Where I Belong"
2016 The Graham Norton Show "Catapult"
2016 The London Palladium "Catapult"
2017 The Graham Norton Show "Only You"
2018 Michael McIntyre's Big Show "Music's Too Sad Without You"
2018 Jonathan Ross "Music's Too Sad Without You"
2019 The Graham Norton Show "Candlelight"
2019 Soccer AM "Candlelight"
2019 Saturday Kitchen "Singing To Strangers"
2020 Saturday Morning with James Martin "Singing To Strangers"
2021 Loose Women "Who's Hurting Who"
2021 Martin & Roman's Weekend Best! "Who's Hurting Who"
2021 The Graham Norton Show "Who's Hurting Who"
2024 BBC D-Day 80th Anniversary "Soldier's Eyes"
2024 The Graham Norton Show "Bada Bing, Bada Boom" (with Miles Kane)

References

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  1. ^ The Graham Norton Show, BBC, 15 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Talking point: Jack Savoretti All Areas • Round & About Magazine". 28 October 2019.
  3. ^ https://wayback-api.archive.org/web/20160215000000*/http://www.radiomontecarlo.net/audio/erina-martelli-e-stefano-gallarini/191558/JACK-SAVORETTI-ospite-in-studio.html [bare URL]
  4. ^ Rickard Holmgren. "Interview with Jack Savoretti". Melodic.net. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Singer-songwriters: One vision". The Independent. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  6. ^ "Premiere: Jack Savoretti - 'Back To Me'". Clash Magazine. 6 November 2014.
  7. ^ Louise McCudden. "Jack Savorett: Harder than Easy". Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  8. ^ Colin Polonowski. "Jack Savoretti – Between the Minds in March". CD Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  9. ^ "Jack Savoretti – UK tour in May". CD Times. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  10. ^ "Exclusive: Jack Savoretti video blog and download". Gigwise. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Post Grad Sounds". Antimusic.com. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  12. ^ Post Grad at IMDb. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  13. ^ Jack Savoretti on Facebook. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  14. ^ "Jack Savoretti announces new album Before the Storm". Contact Music. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  15. ^ "From Sienna Miller to Bob Dylan: A conversation with Jack Savoretti". Out of Order. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  16. ^ "Former X Factor star Janet Devlin launches début album campaign with Pledgemusic". Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  17. ^ Alexander, Ella (16 January 2015). "Jack Savoretti interview: The former 'new Paolo Nutini' on finding success the hard way". The Independent.
  18. ^ Written in Scars at Discogs. Retrieved 27 February 2015).
  19. ^ "Jack Savoretti live in session". Madeley on Sunday. BBC. 4 January 2015.
  20. ^ "Jack Savoretti singing 'Home'". The One Show. BBC. 20 February 2015.
  21. ^ Jack Savoretti – Home on YouTube. Published 18 December 2014
  22. ^ "Jack Savoretti comes 'Home', unveils stunning new video". Sportsvibe. 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  23. ^ "Jack Savoretti: Seeing Rafe Spall with my wife in video was like an out-of-body experience". London Evening Standard. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  24. ^ "Exclusive: Jack Savoretti's new music video". Glamour. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  25. ^ "Official albums chart results matching Written in Scars". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  26. ^ "Jack Savoretti and Ward Thomas Return to Radio 2 Playlist". Absolute Label Services. 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  27. ^ "Kylie Minogue's Next Single Is "Music's Too Sad Without You"". idolator. 2 October 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  28. ^ Sexton, Paul (22 March 2019). "Jack Savoretti Is 'Singing To Strangers' With First U.K. No. 1 Album". Billboard. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  29. ^ "Jack Savoretti Chart History". Official Charts. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Jack Savoretti - Soldier's Eyes (Live BBC's D-Day 80th Anniversary)". YouTube. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  31. ^ "BBC announces top names to star in its coverage of D-Day 80 commemorations on BBC One and iPlayer". BBC. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  32. ^ "Jack Savoretti - Soldier's Eyes". Official Charts. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  33. ^ a b "My Beach Love: Formentera, Ibiza by Jack Savoretti". Beach Tomato. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
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