As musical a language as Italian is, few associate Italian music with rock ’n’ roll — until they hear Zucchero.
Zucchero is to Italy what Bruce Springsteen is to the USA or Bono is to Ireland. The difference is that outside of his homeland, where he’s more popular than the Pope wrapped in pasta, Zucchero is relatively unknown. But what he lacks in a mainstream following, he more than makes up for with rock star friends who adore him.
He enjoys the title of godfather to Sting’s daughter, pals around with Eric Clapton and “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson was in his band. On his new record “Chocabeck,” Bono and Iggy Pop sing with him.
On Tuesday, NYC gets a spoonful of Zucchero (which means “sugar”) when he plays at the Beacon Theatre.
“Nobody in my family wanted this for me,” Zucchero, 56, tells The Post. “My father wanted me to get a real job. He say, ‘Music is not a real job. I tried to please him by going to university, but it was always the music that was important — and the girls.”
Born Adelmo Fornaciari, the singer grew up in Reggio Emilia, a small farming town. “There was a church in front of my house, and I used to go there and play the organ every day before I went to school,” he recalls. “That’s where I learned I loved music.”
After hearing Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” Zucchero tried to figure out how to play the song on the church organ. As he got deeper into soul music and blues, he did the same with Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones and Sam and Dave, little known in rural Italy. “Everybody thought I was a little strange,” he says. “but nobody minded because I’d try to do it after Mass was over, when the priest wasn’t around.”
Zucchero started his own band in 1970 and built a huge following. His 1987 album, “Blue’s,” became the best-selling album in Italian history. That’s when Clapton saw Zucchero’s show and went backstage after the set.
“The security guy says to me, ‘Eric Clapton wants to meet you,’ ” Zucchero recalls. “I said ‘What, are you on drugs, Stop joking.’ He wasn’t.’’