Never two without three. After winning the San Remo music festival in March 2021, an unmissable event in Italy, then the Eurovision Song Contest in May, here they are, on Sunday evening, November 14, the title of best rock group at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2021, shaking up much older bands such as Coldplay or Kings of Leon in their path. No wonder because it has been several months since the Italian group Måneskin (whose name has nothing Latin in it) conquered Europe.
And beyond. On October 26, the Italian rock quartet, made up of Damiano David, Thomas Raggi, Victoria De Angelis and Ethan Torchio, was a guest on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, a hugely popular American talk show that became a springboard for the stars. rising. A first appearance on American television which caused a sensation, since the video of their performance will be viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmUL_U9MYn0
And the craze was not long in coming since a few days later, the group announced that they would play in Las Vegas in the first part of the Rolling Stones. A meteoric rise for a group that five years earlier was still performing in the streets of Rome.
Indeed, if Måneskin is emerging today as the next generation of rock, in 2016 it was not yet the case. The group had just formed. The four Italians were just high school students. Very quickly, the group wanted to perform on a stage. Failing to find a place ready to welcome them, the promising nuggets of rock decide to invest the streets of Rome with their instruments.
A year later, they participated in the Italian version of X Factor and finished in second place. The group is certainly not the winner, but it is already attracting the attention of major record companies. Shortly after their passage in the musical tele-hook, Måneskin signs with the label Sony Music-RCA.
After a first album, the group aims higher and decides to try their luck at the Sanremo music festival. They win the competition which propels them onto the Eurovision stage where they win with Zitti e buoni, a hymn to anti-conformism and freedom.
“We have lost our minds, but we are not like them”, sings Damiano in this song that catapulted the group to success. This non-conformism, the group claims it to the tips of their nails painted black. Within the group, gender is no longer law.
Heels, ruffled shirts, sexy underwear, leather pants, make-up, corsets, fishnet… True genderfluid icons, they sensually wear outfits at the crossroads of genres. As during their visit last Sunday, November 14, at the MTV Europe Music Awards: Damiano David was dressed in studded leather briefs and a garter belt, reminiscent of the alluring outfit of Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
“The performance we offered (at MTV Ema, editor’s note) is the sexiest and funniest we’ve ever done and people got it. We made a promise to our fans: we’ll do our best to have fun. And we, the promises, we always keep them “, the group told the Italian daily on November 15 La Stampa.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI27oXm66rM
And it’s not just a question of style. Måneskin is committed to ensuring that the rights of the LGBTQI + community are recognized worldwide. In June, during a festival in Poland, the singer of the group Damiano David kissed the guitarist of the group, Thomas Raggi. “We believe that everyone should be allowed to do this without any fear. We believe that everyone should be completely free to be whoever they want! Thank you Poland! Love is never wrong!”, had then released Damiano David over the applause of a conquered audience.
An act of resistance in a country considered to be the most homophobic in Europe, according to a classification by the ILGA (international association of people, bisexual, trans and intersex).