Niccolò Fabi

Niccolò Fabi is an Italian singer-songwriter born in Rome on May 16, 1968.

He graduated with full marks in Romance Philology from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, with a thesis on codicology.

From a young age he started working as a stage assistant, on Alberto Fortis's 1986 tour. He got into the music scene thanks to his father, Claudio Fabi, a well-known record producer of the Seventies.

He was the drummer in Fall Out, a cover band that played only Police songs. Through live shows at various venues in Rome, he got to know Daniele Silvestri, Max Gazzè, Federico Zampaglione and Riccardo Sinigallia. It was thanks to the latter, who brought some demos to various record labels, that Fabi landed a record deal with Virgin.

The success of his first single “Dica...” (1996) opened the door to the 1997 Sanremo Festival, where he won the Critics' Award in the New Proposals category with the song “Capelli”.

Shortly after, his debut album “Il giardiniere” came out, followed by the title-track single released in 1997. The following year he was back at the Festival with “Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma”, followed by the album “Niccolò Fabi”. He recorded the song “Vento d'estate” with Gazzè, which won the “Un disco per l'estate” award.

Besides “Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma” and “Vento d'estate”, the album also features “Il male minore”, an Italian-language cover of Duncan Sheik's “Barely Breathing”, and a collaboration with Frankie Hi-Nrg Mc on “Immobile”, built on a track produced by DJ and beatmaker Ice One and producer Julie P.

In 2000 came “Sereno ad ovest”, led by the single “Se fossi Marco”.

In 2003 the album “La cura del tempo” was released, made up of eleven tracks, including the single “È non è” and “Offeso”, a duet with Fiorella Mannoia.

Niccolò's sound and conceptual outlook began to turn much more introspective.

The following year he took part in Lampedusa's second edition of the “O' Scià” Festival, invited by Claudio Baglioni to duet with him. The year after that, he contributed to Edoardo Bennato's album “La fantastica storia del pifferaio magico”, performing the track “Non è amore”.

2006 was the year of “Novo Mesto”, promoted by the singles “Costruire” and “Oriente”.

That year he also made another appearance at the Sanremo Festival as a guest of Zero Assoluto on duets night, for a reworking of “Svegliarsi la mattina”, as well as taking part in the MusicAfrica event.

On November 3rd Fabi released his first compilation, “Dischi volanti 1996-2006”, summing up the singer's first ten years of activity. The compilation's release was preceded by the single “Milioni di giorni”. Following its release, Fabi embarked on the “Dischi volanti tour 21”.

In February 2007 he released the album “Dentro” for the Spanish market, collecting Spanish-language versions of tracks from his previous works “La cura del tempo” and “Novo Mesto”. In the spring of that same year he took part in the Darfur Project in Sudan, getting involved in numerous concerts and acting as a spokesperson for Emergency's Salam International Hospital.

In November 2008 he released “Violenza 124”, the result of blending seven different musical entities, from Mokadelic to Boosta, by way of Roberto Angelini.

On April 21st 2009, together with 55 other Italian artists, he took part in recording the song “Domani 21/04/2009”, written by Mauro Pagani and reissued to support the reconstruction and restoration of the Alfredo Casella conservatory and the headquarters of the Teatro Stabile d'Abruzzo in L'Aquila.

On May 29 of the same year he released his sixth studio album, "Solo un uomo", preceded by the title track as a single.

On July 3, 2010, his 22-month-old daughter Olivia died of fulminant meningitis at the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome. In her memory, together with his partner Shirin Amini, he decided to organize a charity concert (Parole di Lulù) on August 30 in Mazzano Romano (Rome), which featured a great many artists from the Italian music scene.

On November 18, 2010, in Ancona, he received the Premio Zamenhof 2010 – Le voci della pace for lending his music and his voice to Africa, to its poorest communities and especially to its most vulnerable members, children, by staging shows and writing songs to help build 20 schools in Sudan and a new pediatric hospital in Angola.

He wrote the song "Lontano da tutto" for Serena Abrami, with which she took part in Sanremo Giovani 2011.

April, May and June 2011 were the months of the "Solo Tour". For the first time, Fabi performed solo, aided only by instruments and a loop station.

On May 4, 2011, the book "30.08.2010 Immagini e parole di Lulù" was published by Kowalsky, edited by the singer together with Shirin Amini, photographer and Olivia's mother.

In 2011 he co-wrote with Laura Pausini the unreleased track "Nel primo sguardo", included on the Romagna-born artist's album Inedito.

In July 2012, in Marina di Carrara, he received the Premio Lunezia Elite – an anthological mention for the musical and literary value of the song "Costruire".

On September 7, 2012, the single "Una buona idea" was released to radio, preceding his seventh album "Ecco", out on October 9, 2012. The album was promoted with an unprecedented live set featuring him alongside Pier Cortese and Roberto Angelini, friends and exceptional musicians.

In May 2013 he was invited by the President of the Senate to the day against the mafias in Palermo. He was nominated for a Nastro d'Argento for the original song "Il Silenzio", co-written with Mokadelic for the film "Pulce non c'è".

In October 2013 his album "Ecco" won the Targa Tenco (awarded following a vote held by Club Tenco among around 200 Italian music journalists) as best album of the year.

In 2014, together with Daniele Silvestri and Max Gazzè, he founded the supergroup Fabi-Silvestri-Gazzè, releasing the album "Il padrone della festa", followed by a European tour in September 2014 and a tour of Italian arenas between November and December 2014.

In April 2015, together with Daniele Silvestri and Max Gazzè, he released a new version of the single "Canzone di Anna", included on the live album "Il padrone della festa – Live".

Since February 2016 he has taught in the Canzone (Songwriting) section of the Officina delle Arti Pier Paolo Pasolini, an advanced training project run by the Lazio Region in the fields of song, theatre and multimedia.

On April 22, 2016, Niccolò Fabi's tenth album, "A sum of small things", was released, preceded on March 18 by the single "Ha perso la città".

On July 15, 2016, in Marina di Carrara, he received the Premio Lunezia Canzone d'Autore for the musical-literary merit of the album "A sum of small things".

On September 20, 2016, with "A sum of small things" - later also certified Gold - he won the Targa Tenco once again for best album overall.

On April 2, 2017, he was the face of the national campaign "#sfidAutismo17", performing on the stage of the Teatro Politeama in Palermo and singing "Il Silenzio" live for the first time.

On June 13, 2017, "Il giardiniere 2017" was released, a new version of the 1997 song that would be included on the compilation "Diventi Inventi 1997-2017", out on October 13.

On August 30, 2017, during the tour celebrating his twenty years in music - a date that coincides with his late daughter's birthday - he is said to have announced he wanted to take a break from his artistic life.

On October 11, 2019, his eleventh album "Tradition and betrayal" was released.

On October 2, 2022, he gave his first concert at the Arena di Verona to mark 25 years in music, accompanied by an orchestra for the first time.

This event served as the prelude to a new collection released on December 2, 2022, titled "Less for less", and to a theatrical tour of the same name planned for April and May 2023.

In 2025, "Libertà negli occhi" was released, an intimate work born out of an artistic residency in a mountain hut in Val di Sole.