Laura Valente

Laura Valente, stage name of Laura Bortolotti (born 3 September 1963 in Milan), is an Italian singer and musician. Early solo career After winning a songwriting contest with a song about a young victim of drug addiction as a teenager, Valente collaborated with Gianni Bella on his album G.B. 2 (1984), which led to her getting her first recording contract soon thereafter. In 1985 she met singer Mango, starting a partnership in both music and life: he not only had Valente provide vocals for his albums Australia (1985), Odissea (1986), Inseguendo l'aquila (1988) and Sirtaki (1990), but also produced her first studio album Tempo di Blues (1986), which despite not selling well, was met with good reviews by the critics. With Matia Bazar In 1990 she replaced Antonella Ruggiero as the lead singer of the famed group Matia Bazar; her first album with the band is Anime Pigre (1991), marking a switch to a more modern, rocking style.