Goodbye to Paolo Benvegnù

Paolo Benvegnù passed away today, December 31st. The news of the musician’s death, which occurred at the age of 59, was given via a note issued by his press office.

The press release reads:

It is with great sorrow that family, friends and collaborators announce the premature death of Paolo Benvegnù.

Companion, father, songwriter and musician loved by anyone who was lucky enough to meet him on their path, Paolo Benvegnù passed away today at the age of 59.

Paolo was a man capable of infusing beauty and poetry into everything he did as demonstrated by his long career and the songs he published in recent years.

Winner of the Targa Tenco 2024 with ‘It’s useless to talk about love’ as ‘Best Album ever’, he had just released “Piccoli fragilissimi film – Reloaded”, a new version of the album that marked his solo debut in 2004 and which this year he turned 20.

For now, no further details on his untimely death have been provided.

Protagonist in the episode broadcast last night of the program “Via dei matti n.0” (here the video), Paolo Benvegnù had this to say to Rockol last October about the victory of the Targa Tenco with “It’s useless to talk about love” (here the our review) as “Best Album ever”: “It may seem like a stupid moment of freedom, but the most difficult thing for human beings is to accept their own freedom”.

He added: “Perhaps, never more than in this moment, really thinking about the relationship with the other – not a two or three relationship, not gender relationships – but also otherness in general, is a revolutionary act in the proper sense of cleanliness that exists in that type of relationship. That is, I take care of myself and only in that moment can I be useful to you, because loving means going to intercept the mystery of the other”.

Born in Milan on 14 February 1965, Paolo Benvegnù created the Scisma project in 1993. The group, for which he is composer, guitarist and singer, released three albums (“Bombardano Cortina” in 1995, “Rosemary Plexiglas” in 1997 and “Armstrong” in 1999, the last two published with the EMI/Parlophone label) followed by numerous concerts throughout Italy and Europe. In 1998 the album “Rosemary Plexiglas” won the Ciampi Award.

Since 2000, once the Schism experience ended, Paolo Benvegnù has dedicated himself to various artistic activities: he is an actor and musician in the theater (“Pinocchio” with the Mannini-Dall’Orto Company of Florence; “Presepe Vivente Cantante” with Stefano Bollani and David Riondino), producer for Italian and European artists (including Perturbazione, Terje Nordgarden, Brychan) and author and composer for artists such as Mina, Irene Grandi, Marina Rei. At the same time, the live activity continues together with artists such as Marco Parente, Tuxedomoon, Otto’P’Notri.

In 2004 he made his debut with a solo project of the same name, releasing his first album “Piccoli Fragilissimi Film”, preceded by the single “Suggestionabili”.

This first album was followed by a long tour of over 150 dates which received the award for Best Tour 2004 at the MEI. In the following years he released 8 LPs and several EPs, which earned him the nomination as a finalist for the Targa Tenco five times. In 2008 the new EP entitled “500” was released and in 2009 together with Marco Parente he participated in the “Proiettili Buoni” project, from which a homonymous album and a tour were born. In 2011 Paolo Benvegnù released the album “Hermann” followed by “Earth Hotel” and “H3+”, in 2014 and 2017 respectively, both for the Woodworm label. Paolo Benvegnù continues to perform live between Italy and Europe, also participating in events organized by the Italian Cultural Institutes of Paris and Montreal with the musical-literary project “I Racconti delle Nebbie” published with the Woodworm label.

In 2020 the album “Dell’odio dell’innozione” was released, followed in 2021 by “Delle amministrazione premonizioni vol. 1”, an acoustic collection of some of the most significant songs from his repertoire. On 5 April 2022 he is among the guests of “Tocca a noi – Musica per la pace”, an event in Bologna organized by various entities in the Italian music scene and by local authorities on the initiative of La Representative Di Lista to raise funds for Save The Children , committed to providing support to child victims of the conflict in Ukraine.

In June 2022 “Of useless premonitions vol. 2”, album which revisits in an acoustic version some of the most emblematic tracks of the new wave of the 80s, which marked the artistic nature of the singer-songwriter. On April 28, 2023, the EP “Solo Fiori” was released, which contains 5 unreleased tracks: “Italia Pornografica”, “Our Love song”, “27-12” and “Tulipani” and the collaboration with Malika Ayane in “Non Existence Altro ” – among the five finalists of the Targhe Tenco in the “Best single song” section. On May 1, 2023 he performed on the stage of Primo Maggio in Rome.

Since June 24, 2023 he has been touring Italy with his “Live Estate 2023”. On the following 19th January the album “Èaiuto Parla d’amore” was released, anticipated by the single “Canzoni Brutti” and containing two special collaborations with Brunori Sas in the song “L’oceano” and Neri Marcorè in “27/12”. On the 11th October 2024 Benvengù then publishes “Piccoli fragilissimi film – Reloaded” to celebrate the twenty years of the album which marked his solo debut in 2004.