Marco Mengoni (December 25, 1988) is an Italian pop singer whose breakthrough came after winning the Italian version of X-Factor in 2009. He was born in Ronciglione, Viterbo, and then moved to Rome to undertake a degree in languages. While singing in Rome's piano bars, he auditioned for X-Factor's third series and won. His pop covers included a number of English language songs, such as “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean.” He followed up his national television success with the Number 1 hit single “Dove Si Vola,” written by Bungaro, and then in 2010 the successful EP Re Matto. His first full album Solo 2.0 snatched the top spot of the Italian Albums Chart in 2011 and featured the hit single “Solo.” His second album in 2013 #prontoacorrere contained the chart-topping hit “L'essenziale,” which he performed while representing Italy in the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, finishing seventh. His third album Parole in Circolo (2015) included the hit single “Guerriero,” followed by his fourth album La Cose Che Non Ho later in the year. 2018 saw the release of his next album Atlantico, containing the single “Hola (I Say)” featuring Tom Walker. After promoting the album through an extensive European tour, documented on the live album Atlantico/On Tour (2019), Marco Mengoni returned to the charts with his sixth full-length, 2021’s Materia (Terra), which went to Number 2 in Italy thanks to singles like Stasera, Cambia un Uomo, and “Mi Fiderò,” a duet with rapper Madame that peaked at Number 54 on FIMI's Singles Chart.