Multi-Platinum Italian singer Elisa was only 16 when her raw talent was discovered by music producer Caterina Caselli, who encouraged her to move to the United States to become fluent in English and help her broaden her skills as a songwriter and artist.
In 1996, her debut album Pipes & Flowers was released under Caselli’s label, Sugar Music, and produced by Corrado Rustici. It took only a few months to win important awards in Italy including the prestigious Premio Tenco award (Best Record of the Year awarded by the critics) and the PIM award, the Italian Music Award. Soon after, the album was released in several European countries and Elisa toured throughout Europe as the opening act for international pop star Eros Ramazzotti.
Why did Elisa, an Italian singer, write her songs in English? She wanted to protect her inner world, a world that she herself still needed to understand and consolidate fully. Ironically, English is also one of the most spoken languages in the world and the passing of years has turned this attempt to hide and protect into an opportunity, one that made her music reach more people beyond the Italian borders.
