In 2012, after Michele Grandinetti’s stint at the sixth edition of the Italian edition of X Factor, the Italian singer started sharing his passion for singing via a YouTube channel. Little did he know then that more than just sharing his singing, he’d end up helping push for LGBT awareness via his posts/uploads.
“I believe that when we have the opportunity to be heard by a lot of people, we have a duty to promote what we believe in. Especially if it helps to bring awareness on social issues,” Grandinetti said to Outrage Magazine.
And so the openly gay Grandinetti has been uploading LGBT-centric content. Last year, for instance, he released a “gay” cover of “Say Something”.
With this cover, “what I really want to say is that we should never be ashamed of, or feel guilty about loving,” Grandinetti said.
For Grandinetti, including LGBT-centric content is important as a form of normalization. “I believe that it is very important to talk ‘normally’ about LGBT issues even in songs,” he said. “For example, why not clearly sing ‘he/his’ in love songs if you’re a gay guy, or ‘she/her’ if you are a lesbian girl? We should never be ashamed of loving.”
Grandinetti is not exactly new to the music scene.
When Grandinetti was 17, he studied singing at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in the US, where he lived for three years. In his third year in the US, he met the producer Corrado Bacchelli, who proposed that he record an album in English at Murlyn Songs in Stockholm. It was in that studio where he met Thai superstar Tata Young, who offered to present his first album in Thailand. In January 2006, Grandinetti signed a record deal with Sony BMG Thailand and recorded the album “Clue”. Three singles came out of the album, one of which was recorded in Thai language.
In 2012, back in Italy, he auditioned for the Italian edition of X Factor.
Grandinetti said that producing LGBT-related content is not necessarily more challenging. “I believe that nowadays we are used to sexually explicit contents and we’re not shocked or touched by them as before,” he said.
With his uploads, therefore, he focuses on “what really matters… which is love and the civil rights that LGBT people deserve to achieve all around the world.”
For Grandinetti, hard sell is not necessary. “I believe that sometimes an intimate and sweet look between two guys – or two girls – can help the LGBT cause as well as other ‘stronger’ images or videos.”
One of Grandinetti’s original songs, “Our Story”, was chosen to be the song that best represents the love story between Giulio and Tommaso, who are the main characters of G&T, considered the most famous Italian gay Web series.
“I’m very proud of it!” Grandinetti said.
As he continues to produce LGBT-related content, Grandinetti is open and “ready to go wherever I can be helpful to promote the LGBT rights.”
“We should never be ashamed of or feel guilty about loving. And if we experience discrimination, we should never answer with hate or anger but we have to give the best example we can with our lives,” Grandinetti ended.
To hear more from Michele Grandinetti, visit:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/michelegrandinetti
Spotify: http://bit.ly/MicheleonSpotify
Instagram: http://instagram.com/michele_grandinetti
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelegrandinettiofficial
