Artist 101: Mahmood

This Artist 101 guide contains everything you need to know about the Eurovision 2019 act, who is representing Italy, Mahmood.

When is his birthday?

Mahmood’s birthday is 12 September 1992.

What is his most popular song?

His most popular song, to date, is “Soldi” which will be the track that he’ll perform in Tel Aviv at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in May.

What else should I know about Mahmood?

He was born in Milan, Italy, to an Italian mother and an Egyptian father and given the name Alessandro Mahmoud. His parents split when he was five years old, where he was then raised by his mother. The first step of his career was in 2012 when he auditioned for the sixth season of the Italian version of The X Factor, where he was initially eliminated during Judges’ Houses, but he later returned as a wildcard but subsequently got eliminated the following week, placing 11th overall.

Following on from The X Factor, he attended music school and he also dropped his debut single “Fallin’ Rain” in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2016 when he came into the spotlight again. He debuted at the Sanremo Music Festival in the Newcomers section with the song “Dimentica”, which was selected alongside Miele’s “Mentre ti parlo” through the competition Area Sanremo. He placed fourth in the Newcomers Final.

From then to 2019, Mahmood has released a fair few singles and a debut EP, titled Gioventù bruciata (which means “Burnt Youth” in English) – which was a teaser of what was to come from his debut album of the same name. The album has been a quick success ever since he went on to win the Sanremo Music Festival 2019 with the song “Soldi” (which means “Money” in English), quickly soaring to number one on the Italian album charts; the single also has done very well, peaking at number one in his home country. The song has also charted in a few other countries, although we expect it to chart all over Europe after he performs the track on the Eurovision stage. It has been 29 years since Italy won the contest, can Mahmood bring it back?