Loredana Bertè (Italian pronunciation: [loreˈdaːna berˈtɛ]; born 20 September 1950) is an Italian singer, songwriter and actress. She has worked with prominent Italian songwriters such as Pino Daniele, Ivano Fossati, Mario Lavezzi, Mango and Enrico Ruggeri, among others. She has experimented with different genres, from rock to reggae, from funk to pop. Bertè is known for the eccentric clothing she wears onstage for her performances.
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Early life
Bertè was born in Bagnara Calabra, Province of Reggio Calabria, in Southern Italy, the third of four daughters, three years after her sister Domenica. Her parents, Giuseppe Radames Bertè and Maria Salvina Dato, were both school teachers. Loredana spent her childhood in Porto Recanati and then in Ancona. After her parents separated, Bertè moved with her mother to Rome where she attended the local Art Institute.
Career
In the early 1970s, she performed as a go-go dancer in television and radio shows such as "Bandiera gialla" and "Stasera Rita!". She later joined the dance troupe of the Piper Club in Rome, where she met Renato Zero. In 1969, both Bertè, Zero and Teo Teocoli starred in the Italian edition of the musical "Hair". In 1970, Loredana and her sister Domenica, who had by then changed her name to Mia Martini, performed as backing vocalists for Chico Buarque de Holanda. While Martini would consequently start a successful music career, recording songs like "Piccolo uomo" and "Minuetto", Loredana continued to pursue theatre. In 1972, she performed in "Ciao Rudy" and "Orfeo 9". In 1974, producers Alfredo Cerruti and Enrico Riccardi persuaded Loredana to record her first album, Streaking. Bertè's second album, "Normale o Super" included "Sei Bellissima", Bertè's first domestic hit. In 1978, Bertè started a relationship with Ivano Fossati. Fossati produced the single "E la luna bussò", which is considered one of the early mainstream reggae songs in Italy.
In the early 1980s, Bertè spent a year in New York to work on her next album. Elio Fiorucci introduced her to Andy Warhol at the Factory. Warhol and Bertè collaborated on the music video for her song "Movie". In 1982, she won Festivalbar with "Non sono una signora". In 1985, she recorded the album Carioca in collaboration with Djavan. In 1986, she participated in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Re". In 1988, she met and married Björn Borg. The marriage would end in 1992. In 1993, Bertè and Mia Martini collaborated on the song "Stiamo come stiamo". On 12 May 1995, Martini was found unresponsive in her apartment in Cardano al Campo (Varese). Martini's death proved to be a devastating moment in Bertè's life.
In the early 2000s, Loredana returned to theatre, performing with Carla Fracci in "Gerusalemme" at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. She entrusted the direction of the three video clips that are part of the mini-CD "Dimmi che mi ami" of 2002. Two years later, she took part in "Music Farm", the first reality show on Italian TV involving famous singers. Thanks to the show's proceeds, she produced the new album "Babybertè" (2005) by herself.
In April 2010, she suffered a bad fall, and the related surgery forced her to a lengthy hospitalisation. She returned to the Sanremo Music Festival the following year, finishing fourth with the Gigi D'Alessio song "Respirare". Her following tour, "Bandabertè", ended up in Russia, where she participated in the international White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.
In 2015, she played the judge's role in the talent "Friends of Maria De Filippi". In 2017, she recorded the songs "Allegria" with J-Ax and Fedez and "Occhi di Gatto" with Cristina D'Avena.
In 2016 Bertè staged a big show at the Verona Arena called "Amiche in Arena", performing a series of duets with other Italian female artists, including Fiorella Mannoia, Gianna Nannini, Patty Pravo and Irene Grandi.
Bertè's song "J'adore Venise" was included in Luca Guadagnino's Oscar-winning film's soundtrack, Call Me By Your Name (2017).
In 2018, she topped the Italian charts again with "Non ti dico no", a song made in collaboration with the reggae dancehall band Boomdabash. She also duetted with Fabio Rovazzi and J-Ax in "Senza pensieri".
She competed in the Sanremo Music Festival 2024 with the song "Pazza", finishing in seventh place but being awarded the Critics' prize, named after her sister Mia Martini. Shortly after, she was selected to compete in the final of Una voce per San Marino 2024, the Sammarinese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, with the same song; she placed second.
Personal life
Bertè was married to tennis star Björn Borg from 1989 to 1993.