Born in 1968, Sabrina Salerno, better known as Sabrina, is an Italian singer, but also an actress and TV host, since the mid 80s.
After winning two beauty contests at the age of 16, Sabrina began her career on Italian TV in 1985 before her breakthrough as singer in Italy the following year and around the world in 1987, thanks to her smash-hit Boys written by Claudio Cecchetto. The song even peaked at #3 in England, a feat for a non-Anglo-Saxon singer. Sabrina became a real phenomenon and collaborated with Stock, Aitken, Waterman or Giorgio Moroder. Her success extended to Eastern Europe, Turkey, Asia and South America. In 1989, she sang in front of 50,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. In 1991, she participated in the Sanremo Festival with Siamo donne, a duet with Jo Squillo. After changing team in the early 90s, Sabrina continued her singing career, especially with Massimo Riva and Vasco Rossi. She also made her theater debut successfully.
After moving away from the music scene in the 2000s especially because of the birth of her son Luca Maria, she had a successful comeback in 2008 thanks to a new album and her participation in the French tour Stars 80. In 2010, she covered Blondie's Call me with Samantha Fox, her ex-rival, which met success. Her participation in the French movie, Stars 80, which reached 2.5 million admissions, consolidated her popularity.
In 2014, Sabrina released a new song, Colour me, produced by Rick Nowels who had previously worked with Lana del Rey and Madonna. In May 2015, she will perform at Le Stade de France as part of the Stars 80 tour, a headliner of which Sabrina has been for many years.
She should be back with a new album soon.
Sabrina sold between 15 and 20 million records around the world.
She recorded many singles:
- Sexy girl (1986)
- Boys (1987)
- Hot girl (1987)
- Lady Marmalade (1988)
- The Sexy Girl Mix for Boys and Hot Girls (1988)
- Multimegamix (1988)
- All of me (1988)
- My chico (1988)
- Like a yo-yo (1989)
- Funky girl (1989)
- Sex (1989)
- Guys and dolls (1989)
- Pirate of love (1989)
- Doctor's orders (1989)
- Gringo (1989)
- Yeah Yeah (1990)
- Siamo donne, with Jo Squillo (1991)
- Shadows of the night (1991)
- Cover model (1991)
- Rockawillie (1994)
- Angel boy (1995)
- Fatta rifatta (1995) promo-only single
- Maschio dove sei (1995) promo-only single
- Boys 95 (1995)
- Numeri (1997) promo-only single
- I love you (1999) promo-only single
- You and me (2003) promo-only single
- I feel love (2006)
- Erase / Rewind (2009)
- Call me, with Samantha Fox (2010)
- Call me 2K12, with Samantha Fox (2012)
- Colour me (2014)
...and 6 albums:
- Sabrina (1987)
- Super Sabrina (1988)
- Over the Pop (1991)
- Maschio dove sei (1995) aka Numeri (1997)
- A flower's broken (1999)
- Erase / Rewind Official Remix (2008)
She also featured in:
- Per te Armenia (1989), multi-artists charity-single
- Emozioni (2002), album of the eponymous musical
- This Christmas night (2012), The Jam Band feat. Sabrina
- Shopping (2013), Neon Neon feat. Sabrina
Feature films, TV and theatre
Actress in feature films, television and theater, Sabrina was awarded "Best actress' in 2004 for her role in Cristiano Cerriello's Colori at the Salerno Film Festival (Italy).
- Ferragosto Ok (Sergio Martino, 1986) TV
- Grandi Magazzini (Castellano and Pipolo, 1986) CINEMA
- Le foto di Gioia (Lamberto Bava, 1987) CINEMA
- Professione vacanze -2nd episode (Vittorio de Sisti, 1987) TV
- Tutti in Palestra (Vittorio de Sisti, 1987, broadcast in 1989) TV
- Fratelli d'Italia (Neri Parenti, 1989) CINEMA
- I cavalieri della Tavola Rotonda (Alessandro Capone, 1995) THEATRE
- Uomini sull'orlo di una crisi di nervi (Alessandro Capone, 1997) THEATRE
- Tutti gli uomini sono uguali (Alessandro Capone, 1998) TV
- Jolly Blu (Stefano Salvati, 1998) CINEMA
- Emozioni (Eduardo Tartaglia, 2001-2003) THEATRE
- Colori (Cristiano Cerriello, 2004) CINEMA
- D (Cristiano Cerriello, 2006) CINEMA
- Taglia e cuci -7th episode (2009) TV
- Stars 80 (Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann, 2012) CINEMA
As TV host, Sabrina participed in several programs in Italy:
- Premiatissima (Canale 5, 1985)
- Grand Hotel (Canale 5, 1986)
- Sandra e Raimondo Show (Canale 5, 1987)
- Odiens (Canale 5, 1988-89)
- Ricomincio da due (Rai Due, 1990)
- Bellezze sulla neve (Canale 5, 1991-92)
- Il grande gioco del mercante in fiera (TMC, 1996)
- Cocco di Mama (Rai Uno, 1998)
- Matricole & Meteore (Italia 1, 2002)
- Estate 101 (Radio 101, 2008)
- Mitici 80 (Italia 1, 2010)
- La Pista (Rai 1, 2014), as coach