In summer 2021, Maneskin, the world’s hottest new rock band, set a new world record for being the most-streamed Italian artist on Spotify. Maneskin was at #1 on the Spotify Global Top 50 Charts with Beggin and at #8 with I Wanna Be Your Slave. Who is Maneskin’s charismatic lead singer Damiano David? Who is his girlfriend? What do his tattoos mean? Where does he live? What’s his favourite sport? Discover 17 Facts About Maneskin’s Damiano David. (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!)
Damiano David was born in Rome on 8 January 1999. His parents, Rosa Scognamiglio and Daniele David (Facebook account), work as flight attendants.
Damiano has an elder brother named Jacopo who looks very much like him, but who’s taller (check out his Instagram account).
Damiano attended the Liceo Linguistico Eugenio Montale in Rome, a high school that focuses on literature, classical languages (Latin, Greek), history, philosophy and English. He didn’t pass the annual exams twice and therefore dropped out after two years. He’s the only member of Maneskin who didn’t graduate from high school, but he was the one who best knew how to play the game of press interviews in 2021. In spring and summer 2022, he often looked bored at interviews.
“I was a different person at that time,” he says, recalling his old school days. “I had short hair, I played basketball and I didn’t sing.”
Damiano has 5.1 million followers on Instagram, more than any other band member of Maneskin.
The 23-year-old singer has various tattoos, the most discussed one being “Je suis Christ” (I’m Jesus Christ in French). The biggest one is on his upper chest: Il BALLO DELLA VITA (the dance of life). It is the title of Maneskin’s first studio album which was released in autumn 2018.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Italia, Damiano said: “As a man, I’m privileged, the harassments I experience can’t be compared to the ones a woman has to endure. If I have a lot of sex, I’m a cool guy, if Vic does the same, she’s considered a b***.”
Damiano is in a relationship with Italian blogger Giorgia Soleri who has 653’000 followers on Instagram (she had 359’000 followers shortly after Maneskin won the ESC). They started dating eight years ago. On 25 April 2022, Giorgia posted a picture of them that was taken at the beginning of their relationship, when they were teenagers and went for long walks in Villa Borghese, Rome’s biggest park. In May 2022, the influencer published a poetry book, which got bad reviews. In mid-summer 2022, Damiano accompanied her to a lecture in Rome (pictures).
(Update 8 June 2023: Damiano has just announced on Instagram that he and Giorgia have split up.
Maneskin’s frontman has never had any relationship with bassist Victoria De Angelis, but they have a special bond.
Damiano writes most of the lyrics of Maneskin’s songs, Coraline being one of the best.
When Maneskin finally began to make money, the frontman bought himself a car.
He smokes five to ten cigarettes a day.
Even though Damiano’s “cocaine scandal”, which was fake news, made the headlines after the Eurovision Song Contest, the lead singer stated that he doesn’t take any drugs. In an interview with Vogue Italia, he said: “Creativity comes from a healthy, trained and lucid mind.”
Damiano is a big fan of Italian giants AS Roma. In May 2018, he posted a picture of him, his brother Jacopo and superstar footballer Francesco Totti on Instagram.
In the Italian version of the Disney movie Cruella, Damiano voiced Jeffrey (Andrew Leong), the assistant of the Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson).
On 17 November 2021, Maneskin won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Rock. Damiano held a brief speech at the MTV show in Budapest and said: “People usually told us that we were not going to make it with our music. I guess you were wrong.”
The 23 year-old front man recorded new songs with his band in Los Angeles in March and April 2022. In various interviews he later gave in Europe, he said that people in California were superficial. This fact is reflected in the lyrics of Maneskin’s hit Supermodel.
On 22 March 2022, the day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed the Italian Parliament, Maneskin finally showed their solidarity with the Ukraine in an Instagram post in which they announced their new tour dates.
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DAMIANO DAVID GETS MARRIED IN ROME
For the launch of their new album Rush (link to all the songs with lyrics), Maneskin organised a special event in Rome that was streamed live on Spotify. The four members got married in a fake wedding ceremony on 19 January 2023. Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s creative director who resigned, was the wedding officiant.
JANUARY 2023: MANESKIN LOOK BACK AT THEIR CRAZY LIFE IN 2022
DAMIANO DAVID SHOUTS “FREE UKRAINE! F*** PUTIN” AT COACHELLA
At the Coachella Festival 2022 in California, Maneskin gave a 45-minute concert. Before closing the live show with their new song Gasoline, in which they condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, frontman Damiano David held a brief speech with a quote from The Great Dictator, one of Charlie Chaplin’s most famous movies. Damiano said: “(…) You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. (…) Let us use that power. Let us all unite. Free Ukraine. F*** Putin!”
The video of Damiano’s speech has been removed from Youtube.
MANESKIN’S CONCERT AT THE CIRCO MASSIMO IN ROME
On 9 July 2022, Maneskin gave their biggest concert in front of 70’000 people at the Circo Massimo in Rome. Even Angelina Jolie and her daughter Shiloh attended the concert.
ACOUSTIC VERSION OF SUPERMODEL AND I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE
If you liked our article 17 Facts About Maneskin’s Damiano David, read our article 19 Facts About Maneskin.
[This article was first published on 14 August 2021 and updated ever since.]
Copyright Photos: Courtesy of EBU / Andres Putting; EBU / Thomas Hansens;
DAMIANO BREAKS OUT IN TEARS SINGING CORALINE AT THE SANREMO FESTIVAL 2022
Coraline is an amazing song with dramatic and poetic lyrics written by Damiano David. At the Sanremo Festival which took place from 1 to 4 February 2022, Damiano gave a very emotional performance of Coraline. RAI, the Italian TV channel which broadcasts the festival, prohibits the upload of videos on Youtube, therefore you can only watch the amazing performance by clicking on this official RAI link.
MANESKIN PERFORM SUPERMODEL AT THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2022
BEST MANESKIN VIDEOS 2021
DAMIANO DAVID AND HIS LONG-TERM GIRLFRIEND GIORGIA SOLERI
MANESKIN AT X FACTOR ITALIA IN 2017
MANESKIN: AN UNKNOWN TEENAGE BAND SINGING IN THE STREETS OF ROME
Needless to say that there’s much more to say about the charismatic lead singer than the 17 Facts About Maneskin’s Damiano David. Read our various articles about Maneskin.
