"Ti amo" (pronounced[tiˈaːmo]; Italian for "I love you") is a 1977 song recorded by Italian singer Umberto Tozzi from the album È nell'aria...ti amo. It achieved success at the time, becoming a hit in many European countries, including Sweden and Switzerland where it topped the charts. A Spanish version was released as "Te Amo", and had a good success in Spain and Latin America. Within the German-speaking countries a German version by Howard Carpendale also received a great success in 1977, peaking at number two in Germany and number ten in Austria.[1]
A duet version of the song featured Monica Bellucci was used for the 2002 film Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra,[2] and the English versions "I Love You (Ti Amo)"[3] and "You and I (Ti Amo)"[4] were also released. In 2002, the song was overdubbed as duet with singer Lena Ka under the title "Ti amo (rien que des mots)", with Italian and French lyrics. This version was a success in France and Belgium (Wallonia), reaching the top three. At the time, the original version was re-released and achieved a moderate success in France. As of August 2014, it is the 52nd best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 393,000 units sold.[5] A French version of this song was recorded by Dalida in 1977. An English version was also recorded by Laura Branigan in 1984, which, most notably, was a hit in Australia (reaching No. 2). In 2011, Sergio Dalma took a Spanish-language version of the song to the Top 10 in Spain. In 2017, to celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the song, Tozzi released an Italian-English version and music video featuring Anastacia.[6][7]
Ti amo was written by Tozzi and Giancarlo Bigazzi and produced by Bigazzi. It is about a blue-collar worker whose job has taken him away from his home and his wife. As he is about to return for Labor Day (May 1), he says goodbye to his lover, confessing that he is torn between her and his wife. Reunited with his wife, he realized how much he has missed her and asks her to forgive him his infidelity.
In 1984, American singer Laura Branigan covered "Ti Amo" for her third studio album, Self Control, with English lyrics written by Diane Warren. Her version was released as the album's third single, and was particularly successful in Australia and Canada, where it reached numbers two and five, respectively. Branigan would later perform her version of "Ti Amo" with Umberto Tozzi for a live Italian television show where Umberto played guitar.
In 2011, popular Spanish singer Sergio Dalma included a version of the song on Via Dalma II, his second collection of Italian songs performed in Spanish. Issued as the second single from the disc, "Te Amo" rose to No. 10 on the official chart released by Productores de Música de España and spent 14 weeks on the chart.[51] The iTunes edition of the single featured a duet version with Argentine-Spanish singer Chenoa as well as the original album version. The single was promoted with a black-and-white video clip in which Dalma performs the song dressed in a suit while interacting with an actress.
The song's parent album spent five weeks at No. 1 in Spain, achieving quadruple platinum status after spending 49 weeks on the chart.[52]
^"Umberto Tozzi prepara un 33 giri con i migliori musicisti del mondo, Ti amo million italy". Corriere Della Sera. 13 February 1980. Retrieved 21 September 2022. E poi c'è questo "difetto": vende milioni di dischi. Esordio con "Ti Amo Ti": 8 milioni di copie, più di un milione in Italia, numeri record in Francia e Germania, Spagna e Sud America. l'anno dopo "Tu" arrivano sei milioni e mezzo di copie, con il boom del Nord Europa. Terzo colpo con Gloria: otto milioni. Tre dischi per un totale di 23 milioni di pezzi.