“Rock’n’roll never dies!” shouted lead singer Damiano David when the band received the iconic glass microphone trophy of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 on stage. But it wasn’t only the song that was headline news in Europe, but also their stylish glam-rock outfits, their bohemian look, their rock’n’roll attitude and the cocaine scandal (fake news).
Curious to know more about the four Italian rockers? Check out our 29 facts about Maneskin. (Read more about the Italian rock band in our Maneskin special. And don’t miss our upcoming Youtube videos on Maneskin’s glam-rock make-up looks with an international make-up artist!)
29 FACTS ABOUT MANESKIN
Italy has won the 65th Eurovision Song Contest with the song Zitti e buoni performed by Maneskin. It’s the 3rd win for Italy that last triumphed in 1990. 26 countries took part in the Grand Final of the world’s largest live music event, which took place on 22 May 2021 in Rotterdam. An estimated audience of nearly 200 million have seen this year’s contest which was broadcast live in the 39 participating countries and online on Youtube.
Maneskin wrote the winning song which finished the night with 524 points, 25 points ahead of 2nd placed France represented by Barbara Pravi singing Voilà. Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears with Tout l’univers finished in third place.
A Youtube video which apparently shows lead singer Damiano David sniffing cocaine caused a scandal. The band denied using drugs during the following press conference.
Moreover, the video shows that the artist had both hands on his knees, which makes it quite impossible to sniff cocaine on a table.
On Sunday afternoon, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) released a press release to put an end to the speculation surrounding the video clip. “The band have strongly refuted the allegations of drug use and the singer in question will take a voluntary drug test after arriving home. (…) The band and their management have informed us that no drugs were present in the Green Room and explained that a glass was broken at their table and it was being cleared by the singer. The EBU can confirm broken glass was found after an on site check.” On Monday, the EBU stated that Damiano’s drug test had been negative: “No drug use took place in the Green Room and we consider the matter closed.”
Maneskin is an Italian rock band that was founded by Victoria De Angelis (bass guitarist) and Thomas Raggi (guitarist) in 2015 when they were in high school in Rome. Damiano David (lead singer) and Ethan Torchio (drummer) joined the band in 2016.
The four members of Maneskin are from Rome and they all live there.
In Italy, Maneskin rose to fame in 2017 when the band took part in the talent show X Factor, even though they didn’t win.
In March 2021, they won the San Remo Festival, Italy’s most important music festival, with the song Zitti e buoni. Three months later, they performed the song at the Eurovisian Song Contest in Rotterdam. The musicians didn’t perform live, only Damiano sang live.
Maneskin has 4.6 million followers on Instagram (on 23 May, the band had 2 million followers). Each member also has an individual Instagram account. Lead singer Damiano David has 4.4 million followers (on 23 May, he had 1.7 million), Victoria De Angelis has 2.5 Million followers (on 23 May, she had 906’000 followers), Ethan Torchio has 1.5 million followers (he had 468’000 on 23 May) and Thomas Raggi has 1.2 million followers (he had 385’000 on 23 May).
Victoria De Angelis, Maneskin’s 21-year-old bassist and leader, graced the cover of Elle Italy’s May issue. In the interview she says that as a girl, she had short hair, dressed like a boy and loved skate boarding. She was inspired by Kim Gordon, the bassist, guitarist and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth.
Victoria used to have panic attacks when she was 14. She couldn’t get out of the house anymore and lost a school year. “I used to feel ashamed of it, but I don’t hide it anymore,” she says in the interview with Elle.
Victoria’s mother, who died five years ago, was Danish, and Måneskin means moonlight in Danish. Victoria, who speaks Danish fluently, learnt to play the guitar and the bass at school. She’s single. She says that she’s never been in a relationship with lead singer Damiano, but that their relationship is very special: “We’re more than brother and sister, we’re more than friends.”
Lead singer Damiano David (22) has a strong “raggamuffin” voice tembre. He hated school and therefore has only a high school degree. Damiano, who loves the Seventies fashion and looks, has various tattoos, the most discussed one being “Je suis Christ” (I’m Jesus Christ in French). Read more about Damiano David in our new article.
Drummer Ethan Torchio (21), whose long, shiny hair is the envy of each woman, is quite a mistery, very little is known about him. Damiano calls him The Guru, because his perception is based on objectivity. He’s the son of a film director and has nine siblings from three different mothers. Ethan’s eldest sister is 41 years old. He joined Maneskin after having responded to a Facebook ad.
Thomas Raggio (20), the youngest member of the band, learnt to play the guitar as a child. He met Victoria at the high school Liceo Kennedy in Rome. His nickname in the band is The Cobra. As a teenager, he used to work at the Hard Rock Café in Rome. Even though he plays various guitars, his favourite one is the Fender Squier Japan 1983.
Except for Damiano, no member of Maneskin is in a relationship right now. Damiano has a girlfriend called Giorgia Soleri, an influencer who streamed her reaction to Maneskin’s victory live on Instagram at the ESC finale in May 2021 (video; some influencers’ narcissim has no limits). The couple has been in a relationship for eight years.
In the Italian version of the new Disney movie Cruella, Victoria lent her voice to a fashion reporter, while Damiano lent his voice to Jeffrey (Andrew Leong), the assistant of the Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson).
In September 2021, Gucci launched a new ad campaign featuring the four members of Maneskin. Two ad campaign pictures and a video were released.
On 14 November 2021, Maneskin won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Rock. At the MTV show in Budapest, they performed Mammamia” (see video below).
Maneskin played several concerts in Europe and the U.S. in fall and winter 2021. On 24 January 2022, the band announced that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the tour dates for Italy and the rest of Europe had to be cancelled. The new dates of the Loud Kids On Tour were announced in March 2022. It will start in Seattle on 31 October 2022.
On 17 April 2022, Maneskin gave a 45-minute concert at the Coachella Festival in California. They closed the show with their new song Gasoline, a tribute to wartorn Ukraine.
Supermodel, Maneskin’s new song, was released on 13 May 2022. The Italian band performed it for the first time at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin on 14 May 2022.
Maneskin signed up with Sony Music. Unfortunately, the band doesn’t have an international press agent, which makes it nearly impossible for journalists and international magazines to request an interview or a photo shoot.
Do you want to know more than 29 Facts About Maneskin? Don’t miss the videos on Victoria De Angelis, Ethan Torchio, Thomas Raggi and Damiano David that VERTIGO Mag will publish on its Youtube Channel in 2023.
Photos: Courtesy of European Song Contest; NPO/NOS/AVROTROS Nathan Reinds; EBU / Andres Putting
DAMIANO DAVID BREAKS OUT IN TEARS SINGING CORALINE AT THE SAN REMO FESTIVAL 2022
Coraline is an amazing song with dramatic and poetic lyrics written by Damiano David. At the San Remo Festival which takes place from 1 to 5 February 2022 in Italy, Damiano gave a very emotional performance of Coraline surrounded by an amazing orchestra. RAI, the Italian TV channel which broadcasts the festival, prohibits the upload of any content on Youtube, therefore you can only watch the amazing performance of Maneskin’s frontman by clicking on this official RAI link. The same evening, Maneskin also performed Zitti e buoni (video link).
On 22 March 2022, Maneskin announced the programme of the new concert tour in 2022 and 2003. The US tour will start on 31 October 2022 in Seattle (see all the new tour dates).
Maneskin performed at the Coachella Festival in California in April 2022.
On 13 May 2022, Maneskin released their new song Supermodel without any official video. On 14 May 2022, they performed the song at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy (see video below). Some people criticize the band for having “copied” the guitar riffs of the Nirvana song Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Maneskin are currently performing at open-air festivals in Europe (June, July, August), Japan (mid-August) and South America (September).
The official video of Supermodel, which was shot in London, was only released on 31 May 2022. It is very similar to the Mamma Mia video (the second part looks like a copy) and, to be honest, the acting of the four band members and the model, a copy of the young Amber Valletta, is awful. Victoria runs around with an open werewolf mouth! And wearing a (fake) fur coat in spring. Thomas looks lost in space. Damiano looks shy. And Ethan squints his eyes as if he was asking himself: “Ma che cavolo sto facendo qui?” (“What the hell am I doing here?)
MANESKIN PERFORM LA CAMISA NEGRA
In September 2022, Maneskin performed La Camisa Negra in Spanish. It is the biggest international hit by Juanes, a Colombian superstar.
MANESKIN ON THE ROAD – THE SERIES (AUGUST 2022)
Listen to this great unplugged live version of Supermodel and I Wanna Be Your Slave, which was recorded in Paris in May 2022.
MANESKIN LIVE CONCERT AT THE CIRCO MASSIMO IN ROME (JULY 2022)
MANESKIN AT THE IHEART RADIO AWARDS IN LOS ANGELES ON 22 MARCH 2022
MANESKIN’S LIVE PERFORMANCE AT XFACTOR ITALY IN DECEMBER 2021
I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE BY MANESKIN
MAMMA MIA BY MANESKIN (OCTOBER 2021)
Mamma Mia, Maneskin’s new single, was released on 7 October 2021 without an official video. They presented the song at the SO36 club in Berlin with a live performance.
The official video of Mamma Mia was launched on Youtube on 19 October 2021. The video was shot by Rei Nadal and produced by Prettybird. In the video, Ethan, Victoria and Thomas kill lead singer Damiano. Ethan drowns him in the toilet bowl, Victoria stabs him with a knife after he suprrised her kissing a woman, and Thomas kills him with his guitar.
ZITTI E BUONI: LYRICS AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION
MANESKIN’S X FACTOR AUDITION IN 2017
HOW IT ALL BEGAN – THE SUCCESS STORY OF MANESKIN
MANESKIN’S FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR IN 2019
MANESKIN AS TEENAGERS / THEIR FIRST VIDEO IN 2016
A KID’S BEGGIN’ DRUM COVER
If you liked our article 29 Facts About Maneskin, read our three other articles about Maneskin (see pictures below) and our article about Mahmood, the Italian singer who nearly won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.
This Maneskin article was first published on 23 May 2021. It has been updated regularly ever since.
Needless to say that there’s much more to reveal than 29 Facts About Maneskin. Stay tuned for more articles about Damiano, Victoria, Ethan and Thomas.
