Italian pop star Fiorella Mannoia started getting involved in show business while participating in a movie called Non Cantare, Spara! at the age of 13. She recorded her first single shortly afterward in 1969, and her debut album, Mannoia, Foresi Co, was released by RCA in 1972. Mannoia made an appearance at the prestigious Sanremo Festival in 1981 singing "Cafe Nero Bollente," and returned to the same event in 1984 with "Come Si Cambia." A year later, Momento Delicato was released by Ariston, followed by a self-titled record in 1986 and Di Terra Di Vento in 1989, featuring Chico Buarque's classic "Oh Che Sara." In 1994, Mannoia teamed up with another famous Brazilian singer/songwriter, Caetano Veloso, to record "Il Culo del Mondo."

During the 2000s, Fiorella was slightly less busy on the recording front, but albums like Fragile and Onda Tropicale were very popular, and she released three concert albums between 1999 and 2004. Sud, released in early 2012, included several songs written by Mannoia herself, and by the end of the year she had released the concert album Sud il Tour to a positive reception. In 2013, she saluted Lucio Dalla with the full-length tribute A Te.

Fiorella, released in November 2014 to commemorate her 60th birthday, debuted at number one in Italy and spent the rest of the year in the Top Ten. With songs specially chosen by Mannoia herself, the double-disc version included a parade of career favorites and duets with the cream of the Italian music world: Laura Pausini, Daniele Silvestri, Adriano Celentano, Claudio Baglioni, Franco Battiato, Tiziano Ferro, Ligabue, Renato Zero, and Pino Daniele. ~ Drago Bonacich, Rovi