Musician Matteo Bocelli is best known for performing duets with his even more famous father, Andrea Bocelli. Here, the 28-year-old discusses the important women in his life, including why his mother might have encouraged him in music more than his famous dad – at least to begin with.
My maternal grandmother, Giuliana, was a quiet person – a classic Italian mum. She loved to cook and was always preparing meals for us. She was always very sweet to me. She died when I was about 10 years old.
My paternal grandmother, Edi, was a strong character. My father inherited her energy and strength. She is the one who encouraged him to reach for something in life with his musical ability, and not to become a lawyer – his first intended profession. She was quite a courageous woman and died in 2022.
My mum, Enrica, is very young on the inside; it’s good to be like that, but in other ways you wish she was more mature sometimes! She is obsessed with cooking healthy meals. She had another child – my sister, Ludovica – after she split with my dad, Andrea.
I have another sister, Virginia, from my father’s marriage to Veronica Berti; she’s 14 years younger than me. I spent a lot of time with both my sisters when they were little. I have memories of changing diapers and seeing them walk for the first time.
People tell me I smile a lot, like my mother. She taught me to stay optimistic and to approach life with a smile because it’s also good for those around you. We share the same positive energy.
I want to believe that [Dad] was trying to protect me, but I felt like I was missing an opportunity.
My mum took me and my brother, Amos, on my father’s first tour when I was just a baby. My parents divorced when we were young, and we stayed with Mum. She’s been very good at raising two boys. Her priority was to always be present with us.
I had a celebrity crush on Angelina Jolie when I was eight years old. My father took me to an event in Rome and told me she would be there. I thought I’d faint if I met her. A few hours before the event, my father told me she wasn’t going to make it. I was sad. Then, as we arrived, she was getting out of her car. I was paralysed from the shock and excitement.
I was offered the opportunity to make a record when I was 16 through music producer David Foster. It was a big deal because I knew how important he was in my father’s career. Dad discouraged me because he wanted me to stay in school. It was probably the right decision, and I want to believe that he was trying to protect me, but I felt like I was missing an opportunity.
Mum has always been supportive of my music career. She would have let me go and make music really young. Of course, she was afraid of letting me go, too, but she also knows it’s stupid to hold someone back.
I met singer Silvia Colloca in Australia while on a promotional tour for my father’s A Family Christmas album in 2022. When I came back to tour on my own in 2024, she joined me on stage and performed with me. It was good to reconnect. Silvia is caring and sweet, and I hear she’s a great cook.
I’ve had a few serious relationships in the past 10 years, but I prefer to keep my personal life separate from work. Sometimes friends come to me and tell me I could have this and that in life, but I have always been a quiet person and never a playboy.
When you find someone who feels special, it’s important to invest time and really get to know them. For me, a great relationship is someone you can talk to without being afraid of sharing your thoughts, not someone who gives you feelings of doubt or uncertainty.
I’m in a relationship now and would love to have kids. At the same time, I know what I experienced with a father who was travelling a lot for work, and that made me realise you need time for your kids. Ideally, you have them when you can stay with them and not give them to a nanny.
Matteo Bocelli is touring Australia throughout April and May.
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Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.Connect via X or email.
