Call him a nepo baby or not — Matteo Bocelli has no issues following in the grande footsteps of his father Andrea Bocelli, the beloved Italian tenor.
“I’m proud to be a Bocelli, I’m proud of what my father has achieved in his career,” Bocelli, 27, told The Post. “I feel extremely lucky to have a very strong passion for music, and that’s what basically doesn’t let me really think of being ‘the son of.’ Because if you’re doing something that makes you happy and it satisfies you, you don’t really think of the negative aspects.”
And Bocelli is happy to inherit some of his 66-year-old father’s fans with his debut solo album “Matteo” and his “A Night with Matteo” tour that hits Manhattan’s Town Hall on Monday.
Matteo Bocelli is happy to embrace his father Andrea’s fan base: “You want to use that as a positive thing,” he said.Capitol Records
“I do know that the largest part of my fan base now, it comes from my father,” he admitted. “You want to use that as a positive thing and not as a negative.”
Indeed, just as his smoothly as he hits those money notes, Bocelli has been managing the expectations that come with being the son of his famous father.
“Obviously, they would love to see you performing opera, more [classical] crossover music, and then you may end up doing pop,” he said. “And so it might be like, ‘Oh, I wish he was doing the same things as his father.’ But in the end, everyone has his own path, his own journey, and that’s great.”
In fact, Bocelli brings more of a pop sensibility to “Matteo,” which was released in September 2023. The album even includes a single written by Ed Sheeran called “Chasing Stars.”
“He came for my father’s show in Lajatico [Andrea’s hometown in the Tuscany region of Italy] … and in the most humble way I asked him if he had some songs that could fit with [me],” said Bocelli. “And he sent me two, three ideas, but ‘Chasing Stars’ was the one that caught me the most.”
Matteo Bocelli recently appeared in his father’s 30th anniversary concert film “Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration.”Capitol Records
The song struck a major chord with Bocelli because of the special bond that both he and Sheeran have shared with their dads.
“The first line goes ‘When I was younger, my father was my hero/Put me up on his shoulders, we sang to the moon,’” he said. “His father has always been in love with music, and he’s the one that passed this passion on to [Sheeran].”
It’s a family legacy that Bocelli embraced with his father on their “Fall on Me” duet in 2018.
Matteo Bocelli attended the October premiere screening of “Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration” in New York.Getty Images for Mercury Studios
Matteo Bocelli’s debut solo album “Matteo,” released in September 2023, features the Ed Sheeran song “Chasing Stars.”Capitol Records
“Everything is special about that song,” said Bocelli, who made a demo for his dad to convince him to record it for his 2018 album “Si.” “And it turned the song into a father-and-son duet.”
Bocelli also paired up with his father and younger sister Virginia, 12, on their 2022 holiday album “A Family Christmas.”
But perhaps the biggest father-son moment happened when he sang his dad’s biggest song, “Time to Say Goodbye,” with him at the 2024 Academy Awards.
“I’m proud to be a Bocelli, I’m proud of what my father has achieved in his career,” said Matteo Bocelli of dad Andrea.AFP via Getty Images
“It was extremely emotional … singing the song that made your father successful all over the world. It was kind of stressful for that reason,” said Bocelli. “And also, it’s funny to say, but I never really liked singing that song … because we heard it so much.”
Now, singing in both Italian and English, Bocelli will be going solo in NYC after recently appearing in his father’s 30th anniversary concert film “Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration” — and two weeks before Papà plays Madison Square Garden on Dec. 18 and 19.
“I had the honor to be onstage with my dad at Madison Square Garden,” said Bocelli. “And it is definitely the venue where I hope to be one day on my own.”
