Pinguini Tattici Nucleari

Pinguini Tattici Nucleari are an Italian band formed in 2010 in the province of Bergamo.

The band achieved mainstream success in 2020 with their appearance at the 70th Sanremo Music Festival in the “Campioni” category, competing with the song “Ringo Starr” and finishing third overall.

The band was formed in late 2010 in the province of Bergamo, with an initial line-up made up of Francesco Bernuzzi, Claudio Cuter, Cristiano Marchesi, Lorenzo Pasini and Riccardo Zanotti.

The band's name was inspired by the Scottish beer called Tactical Nuclear Penguin.

Pinguini Tattici Nucleari started out as a comedy metal band.

Their first self-produced EP, titled “Cartoni animali”, was released in 2012. It was only after drummer Marco Sonzogni joined the band, however, that Riccardo Zanotti became frontman and sole vocalist.

In 2014 they released their debut studio album, “Il re è nudo”, made up of seven tracks plus an intro.

The following year saw some line-up changes within the band, with Elio Biffi and Matteo Locati joining the fold. With this line-up, on 18 December 2015 they released their second album, “Diamo un calcio all'aldilà”.

In 2016 the band settled into its current line-up with the addition of Nicola Buttafuoco on guitar and Simone Pagani on bass.

In June 2016 they took part in the seventh edition of the “Musica da Bere” competition.

The band's third album, titled “Gioventù brucata”, came out on 17 April 2017.

In August of the same year, they took part in the 25th edition of the Sziget Festival in Budapest, performing on the Light Stage.

On April 5, 2019, Sony Music released the album "Fuori dall'hype", preceded by the singles "Verdura" (released on January 18), "Sashimi" and "Fuori dall'hype".

On April 26, 2019, the band took part in the project "Faber nostrum", a tribute album to Fabrizio De André, contributing a personal reworking of the famous song "Fiume Sand Creek".

On May 1, 2019, they took part in the traditional Concerto di Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, performing the songs "Verdura" and "Irene".

In September of that year, FIMI awarded gold record status to the single "Irene". Two weeks later, the single "Verdura" received the same accolade.

In February 2020, they took part in the 70th edition of the Sanremo Festival with the song "Ringo Starr". On the second night they reached third place in the partial ranking, as well as fourth place in the overall standings after the first two nights. During the third night of the event, dedicated to covers, the band performed a medley titled "Settanta volte", featuring "Papaveri e papere", "Nessuno mi può giudicare", "Gianna", "Sarà perché ti amo", "Una musica può fare", "Salirò", "Sono solo parole" and "Rolls Royce". That performance propelled them to third place in the evening's ranking.

On the final night, with the ranking based on votes from the demoscopic jury, press room and televote, the group finished third overall.

On February 7, the updated reissue of "Fuori dall'hype" was released under the new title "Fuori dall'hype – Ringo Starr", naturally including the Sanremo entry "Ringo Starr", the previously unreleased tracks "Ridere" and "Bergamo", as well as the live version of "Cancelleria" (taken from the debut album) and the acoustic version of "Irene" (from the album "Gioventù brucata").

On February 17, 2020, the album was certified gold and subsequently platinum. A week later, the single "Ringo Starr" was also certified gold and then platinum.

On February 29, 2020, PTN played a concert at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago. Given the sales success (sold out within weeks), further live shows were immediately scheduled at arenas in various Italian cities, as part of a tour called the "#machilavrebbemaidetto tour", an open reference to their single "Verdura".

On February 24, the postponement of all tour dates was announced as a precaution, due to the spread of COVID-19 in Italy.

On the following April 17, "Ridere" was released, the second single taken from the reissue of the album "Fuori dall'hype – Ringo Starr", whose music video came out on April 28.

On August 27, 2020, the band's frontman Riccardo Zanotti took part as a judge at the Castrocaro Festival 2020. The following day, the new single "La storia infinita" was released, a track later certified gold within a few months.

On November 13, "Scooby Doo" was released, a single that preceded a new EP titled "Ahia!", set for release on the following December 4. That same month, the singles "La storia infinita" and "Scooby Doo" were certified gold.

On January 25, 2021, the EP "Ahia!" was certified gold, and subsequently the singles "Scooby Doo", "Verdura" and "Ridere" were certified platinum (double platinum for the latter), as well as the album "Fuori dall'hype".

In March, on the occasion of the 71st Sanremo Festival, they return to the stage of the Teatro Ariston, joining Bugo on the third night, dedicated to cover songs, performing “Un’avventura” by Lucio Battisti.

On March 15th, the song “Tetris”, taken from the album “Gioventù brucata”, is also certified gold. Still in 2021, they team up with various artists for a few featured collaborations: the tracks “Ferma a guardare” with Ernia, “Meglio” with Bugo, and “Babaganoush” with Madame.

In October, the single “Scrivile scemo” is certified triple platinum, as is the previous “Scooby Doo”. Later, the EP “Ahia!” and the latest single taken from it, “Pastello bianco”, achieve double platinum status.

In 2022 they kick off the “Dove eravamo rimasti tour”, a series of arena shows replacing the earlier “#machilavrebbemaidettotour”, which had been postponed by over two years due to the pandemic.

On May 27th, after announcing they were at work on a new album, the band releases the single “Giovani Wannabe”, which proves a huge success, topping both the FIMI charts and the radio airplay charts, earning double platinum status within just a few weeks.

On August 19th, “Dentista Croazia” comes out, an autobiographical single that looks back on the band's early days.

On September 23rd, the single “Ricordi” is released, also topping the FIMI chart.

On November 13th, the band received the MTV Europe Music Award 2022 for Best Italian Act.

On October 17, 2022, the group announces a concert at Milan's San Siro Stadium for July 11, 2023. Tickets sold out within just twelve hours, prompting the addition of a second date, this time at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, which also sold out completely.

On November 11, 2022, their first stadium tour is officially confirmed; it will consist of ten dates across seven different Italian stadiums between July 7 and August 13, 2023.

December 2, 2022 is instead the release date of their fifth studio album, titled “Fake News”, ironically picking up on a story - later proven false - that had circulated the previous summer claiming the band was about to split up.