Adelmo Fornaciari was born in Roncocesi (Reggio Emilia) on September 25th 1955. His family then moved to Forte dei Marmi in Tuscany where, between 1970 and 1978, he formed his first R&B bands: Le Nuove Luci, Sugar & Daniel and Sugar & Candies.  By this time, he was already known as "Zucchero", a nickname given to him by one of his school teachers.
In 1983 he recorded his first studio album entitled ‘Un po' di Zucchero’. In 1984 he went to San Francisco to meet producer and guitarist Corrado Rustici, who introduced him to Randy Jackson. In 1985 he returned to Italy with a new band comprising Randy Jackson on bass, Corrado Rustici on guitar, Walter Afanasieff on keyboards and Giorgio Francis Perry on percussion. He took part in the Sanremo Festival with the song "Donne" (Polygram) and later released Zucchero & The Randy Jackson Band.  The following year Zucchero released the album Respect, which was a huge chart success, and again took part in the Sanremo Festival with "Canzone Triste".
In 1987 Zucchero recorded Blue's with Corrado Rustici and David Sancious, to be joined by Clarence Clemons and Memphis Horns for the album recordings. The album sold over 1.3 million copies making it the biggest commercial success ever achieved by a rock music record in Italy.  
In 1988 he wrote two tracks for the soundtrack of the film "Snack Bar Budapest", directed by Tinto Brass and, in the same year, he also recorded a new version of the song "Dune Mosse" with Miles Davis.
In 1989 he released his fifth studio album, Oro incenso & birra, a collaboration with Eric Clapton and the musicians he’d worked with on Blue's - and it was Clapton’s guitar solo on the song "A Wonderful World" that made it so unique. This album sold over 1 million 700 thousand copies in Italy, breaking the record set by Blue's. Zucchero then embarked on a tour with Joe Cocker and Miles Davis.
1990 saw the UK release of Oro incenso & birra and to promote the album Zucchero joined forces with Eric Clapton for a double-billed European tour. He became the first rock artist ever to perform at the Moscow Kremlin and during the concert, which was broadcast throughout Europe, he teamed up with Randy Crawford for a duet version of the song "Imagine" and with Toni Childs singing "Many rivers to cross". That same year the album Zucchero, a collection of hits sung in English, was released worldwide, followed by a European tour that ended with two historical concerts at the Kremlin (8th and 9th December).
1991 was the year Zucchero recorded "Senza Una Donna" with Paul Young. The single topped the charts in Europe and the US. The next single "Diamante", was equally successful, again topping the European charts. Zucchero wrote the lyrics and sang the Italian version of "Mad About You" on Sting's album, The Soul Cages.  That same year Zucchero returned to Moscow for the International press presentation of the album Live At The Kremlin.                                                                                                                                               In addition to this, Brian May invited Zucchero to join him and the other members of Queen performing at London’s Wembley Stadium on the occasion of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert, where he sang "Las Palabras de Amor" (1992).
Miserere, his sixth studio album, was released internationally on October 1st, 1992 in both English and Italian. The title track is a duet with Maestro Luciano Pavarotti and the lyrics for the English version of the album were adapted and written by U2’s Bono. The tenor parts for the album demos were sung by Andrea Bocelli, with Zucchero thereby discovering him and launching his music career.                                                                                                                                                 1992 was also the year Zucchero and Luciano Pavarotti first shared the idea of doing the Pavarotti & Friends charity gala. The first edition, broadcast live worldwide, kicked off a series of annual charity concerts that would continue until 2003.
On January 25th, 1993 Miserere was certified multi-platinum and Zucchero was awarded World’s Best-Selling Italian Artist at the World Music Awards. After four sold out concerts (January 25th and 26th in Milan, January 28th and 29th in Rome) L'Urlo Tour took to the road to visit other major European and Italian cities.
In 1994 Zucchero released the album Diamante, a collection of hits with translations by Fito Páez, for the South American market only. During the summer Zucchero was the only European artist to appear at the second Woodstock festival and take part in the film of the event:  ‘My Generation’.
The album Spirito DiVino was released worldwide on 27th May 1995 and sold over 2,500,000 copies in Italy alone. This concept album was born from Zucchero's desire to immerse himself in the New Orleans music scene, where the album was recorded, capturing the sounds and atmosphere of the Mississippi Delta. After playing several important dates at major European summer festivals such as Rockpalast (July 8th) and the Nice Jazz Festival (July 15th) as well as taking part in Pavarotti & Friends (September 12th), the Spirito DiVino Tour (September 18th 1995) took off from Brescia with several special guests taking the stage; Brian May in Bologna (September 22nd), Paul Young in Verona (September 28th) and Francesco De Gregori in Rome (October 2nd). The first leg of the tour ended with three sold-out concerts at the Assago Forum (9th, 10th and 11th October) and, subsequently, the second leg of the tour went on to include major European cities ending in Parma (20th December).
In the middle of his 1996 European tour, he stopped off at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo to pick up the World’s Best-Selling Italian Artist Award for 1995. In July that same year, Spirito DiVino was awarded the IFPI's Million Seller award and Zucchero took part in the Montreux Jazz Festival, performing with Little Richard. Also in 1996, he teamed with Buddy Guy to play a benefit concert for Liberia at Milan’s San Siro Stadium. The Spirito DiVino Tour then touched down in the US for what would be Zucchero’s first American tour, announced by Dan Aykroyd during an interview on the David Letterman Show. The US tour ended with a concert at New York’s Beacon Theatre (April 22nd) and then continued across Europe, ending a year from its start date, with a tour of Italian stadiums.
The Best Of Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari's Greatest Hits was released worldwide in November 1996 and went straight to N° 1 in the European charts, selling almost 3 million copies, thanks to hits like "Il Volo / My Love", "Menta e Rosmarino / Non sarò sola Tonight” and classic hits such as "Diamante", "Senza una Donna" and "Diavolo in me". The collection was certified 11-times platinum and 2-times diamond in Italy alone.
His 1997 tour kicked off from the Carnegie Hall in New York where Zucchero performed at the Rainforest Benefit, along with artists like Sting, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and many others. The Best Of Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari's Greatest Hits was re-released at Christmas and included the single "Va, Pensiero", the famous classic chorus from Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco. The original lyrics were rewritten by Zucchero turning the song into a lullaby in order to raise awareness among children about the deforestation problem in the Amazon.
In 1998 he was invited by Pavarotti to team up for a duet of "Va, Pensiero" at the Grammy Awards in New York. That same year he was also invited by Roman Polański and Gérard Depardieu to perform at the International Cinemusic Festival in Gstaad with Vangelis and his orchestra. On October 30th Bluesugar was released in Italian and English, and included the song "Blue" with lyrics by Bono of U2.
In February 1999 the Bluesugar World Tour took off from Italy and, later that same year, Zucchero performed at the Pavarotti Charity Gala in Modena with B.B. King, at the IMST Festival in Austria as the Rolling Stones’ guest of honour playing to 200,000 people and at the Red Cross charity concert in Munich, where he appeared alongside Michael Jackson. He was also invited by Bono of U2 to play at the Net Aid Charity Gala in New York, broadcast worldwide. November saw the release of the album Reload by Tom Jones, featuring a duet with Zucchero of "She Drives Me Crazy". Also that year, Zucchero released the album Overdose D'Amore The Ballads for the US market.
In 2000 Zucchero was once again a guest at the International Charity Gala organized by Pavarotti, and on the occasion of the Millennium celebrations, performed on stage with the Scorpions and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Hanover. In Paris that same year he decided, along with fellow musicians Johnny Hallyday, Peter Gabriel and Youssou N'Dour, to take part in a recording project called Solidays: The Album, to raise funds for AIDS victims in Africa. Zucchero was also invited by Dori Ghezzi to take part in a memorial concert for Fabrizio De André at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (March 12th), where he performed a very personal version of the song "Ho visto Nina volare".
2001 began in the Napa Valley, California, where Zucchero and Corrado Rustici, got together with DJ John O'Brien to work on tracks for a new album. The new album was recorded at Plant Studios in Sausalito with Polo Jones on bass, Zach Alford on drums, and featured legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker in what would be one of the last performances of his career.  After California, Zucchero returned to Italy to complete recording at Umbi Studios, Rovigo and then at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in England, where the album was mixed with U2 sound engineer Richard Rainey. Final mastering was done at London’s Metropolis studios.
"Baila (sexy thing)" was the first single to be taken from the new album, and it went straight to N° 1 in Italy (July 2001) and topped the charts in Switzerland (gold disc) and Spain (for the first time ever at N°1), paving the way for the new album Shake, which was released in September across Europe. It was immediately certified IFPI PLATINUM, selling in excess of 1 million copies in Europe alone. The album featured a duet with John Lee Hooker, to whom the album is dedicated. Its release was followed by the Shake Tour (2002), which was completely sold out.
In 2001 Zucchero returned to the Sanremo Song Festival, this time as a songwriter, penning songs for two female artists: "Luce (Tramonti A Nord Est)" for Elisa and "Di sole e d'azzurro" for Giorgia, coming first and second respectively.
In 2002 he took part in the "Good Rockin' Tonight" project, a documentary about Sun Records, and also sang the Italian version of the soundtrack to the animated adventure film "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron".
In November 2003 Brian May and Dave Stewart invited him to take part in the 46664 give 1 minute of your life to AIDS concert, an event organized by Dave Stewart and Queen to support Nelson Mandela's campaign. On that occasion, Zucchero sang "Everybody's got to learn sometime", accompanied by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Sharon Corr, and then performed a marvellous medley of Queen songs "I want it all" and "We are the Champions" with Anastacia. At the end of the show he joined all the other artists onstage for the grand finale singing "46664 (long walk of freedom)".  This was also the year he first visited Cuba and met Chucho Valdés, as well as taking part in the tenth edition of Pavarotti & Friends.
Zucchero was also the only 46664 Ambassador to appear at the Festival 46664 Comunidad de Madrid event, which took place in the Spanish capital. He also performed at the 46664 Arctic concert in Tromsø, Norway, in June 2004.
In 2004 the special concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in London (May 6th) was released on DVD and entitled Live At The Royal Albert Hall. The successful 2004 international album Zu & Co featured duets with many great music artists, including Miles Davis, Paul Young, Ronan Keating, Sheryl Crow, Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Maná, Brian May and Solomon Burke. The international album launch was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London with a special concert featuring Brian May, Mousse T., Jenny Bae, Tina Arena, Fher de Maná, Paul Young, Dolores O'Riordan, Solomon Burke, Cheb Mami, Ronan Keating, Luciano Pavarotti, Eric Clapton and Irene Fornaciari. The album sold millions of copies all over Europe and the rest of the world and entered the Billboard charts after its US release in summer 2005.
In July 2005, Zucchero took part in the Live 8 concerts held in Rome and Paris.
His next album was released in September 2006 and was called Fly. It was produced by Don Was and includes the singles "Bacco Perbacco", "Cuba Libre" and "Occhi" boasting collaborations with artists Ivano Fossati and Jovanotti. The song “L’amore è nell’aria” ("Love Is In The Air") has an instrumental base borrowed from the b-side of "Broken" by English rock band Feeder, but it is a revisitation of the song based on the original, rather than an actual sample taken from the recording. The album was an immediate chart success all over Europe, going straight to N° 1 in many countries.
The Overnight Sensational album by legendary soul man Sam Moore (ex Sam & Dave) includes a duet of "You Are So Beautiful" with Zucchero, accompanied by Billy Preston (Hammond organ), Eric Clapton (guitar) and Robert Randolph (pedal steel guitar). This version of "You Are So Beautiful", received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards.
The year 2007 began with Zucchero busy promoting Fly throughout Europe, taking part in major television and radio shows, followed by a world tour that kicked off in Paris and continued throughout the year, notching up over 150 concerts (almost all sold out) in Europe, Canada, the US and Latin America. The tour was a huge success both in terms of audience response and critical acclaim, with Zucchero playing legendary venues such as the Paris Opera, the Valley of the Temples in Sicily, Carnegie Hall in New York, the House of Blues in Los Angeles and many others. The Fly Tour also included a major event - a sold-out, 3-night run at the Arena in Verona on September 21st, 22nd and 23rd - and Zucchero became the first artist ever, Italian or International, to sell out the Arena three nights in a row.
November 26th saw the worldwide release of All the best, a collection of Zucchero “Sugar” Fornaciari’s greatest hits. Following this release, Zucchero set off on a world tour that lasted two years, playing over 200 concerts in 5 continents.
In November 2008 the double album Live in Italy was released. This was a 2 cd + 2 dvd package comprising recordings and archive footage as well as footage of the concerts held at Milan’s San Siro Stadium and the Verona Arena. Once again, the album was a huge worldwide success. In the same year, Zucchero took part in a concert in memory of Luciano Pavarotti held in Petra, Jordan (October 12th).
In 2009, following the terrible earthquake that struck L'Aquila on 24th April, Zucchero and other well-known Italian artists joined forces to record a single called "Domani 21-04-09", proceeds of which would go to the reconstruction and restoration of the "Alfredo Casella" Academy of Music and the Teatro Stabile d'Abruzzo in L'Aquila. 2009 was also the year of Zucchero’s first Australian tour dates, performing 4 big concerts in major cities.
At the seventh edition of the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival Zucchero and Paul Haggis took the stage to present Sting with an award and, during the gala evening, Zucchero surprised everyone by performing with Sting and Andrea Bocelli. On the second day of the event Zucchero also received an award, which was presented to him by Sting and his wife Trudie Styler.
Sugar was also invited to the celebrations for Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday as well to take part in the 46664 make an imprint concert held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall along with artists and celebrities such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Will.I.Am, Josh Groban, Carla Bruni, Dave Stewart, Wyclef Jean, Alicia Keys, Angélique Kidjo, Whoopi Goldberg, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman and many others. On this occasion Zucchero was presented as "the greatest rock star in Italy" and sang "You Are So Beautiful", and then joined all the other stars to sing in the choir that accompanied Stevie Wonder's rendition of "Happy Birthday".
A tragic, gas-train explosion at Viareggio railway station in Tuscany (June 30th, 2009), led Zucchero and promoter Mimmo D'Alessandro to organize a Concert for Viareggio - Lest We Forget. He was accompanied by a local band comprising Massimo Marcolini (music director and guitarist), Andrea Cozzani (bass), Guido Carli (drums), Giuseppe Zito (keyboards), Eros Cristiani (keyboards), Joe Damiani (percussion), Sara Grimaldi (vocals), Stefania Orrico (vocals), Mario Schilirò (guitar), Derek Wilson (drums), James Thompson (sax) and Massimo Greco (trumpet).  Zucchero sang "Diavolo in me" with Solomon Burke, "Baila (Sexy Thing)", "Dio è Morto" with Bebbe Carletti from the band Nomadi, "Dune Mosse" with Jeff Beck on guitar, "Every Breath You Take" with Sting, "Fragile" with Sting and Jeff Beck, "Così Celeste" with the Puccini Festival Choir and "Miserere", performed as a ’virtual duet’ with Luciano Pavarotti projected onto mega-screens.
In November 2010 Chocabeck was released and acclaimed as one of the best, if not the best album ever written by Zucchero. Recorded in Los Angeles, Bolgheri in Tuscany and London, the album was produced by music industry icons such as Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison) and Brendan O'Brien (AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam). Additional production also came from a collaboration with Jon Hopkins and Davide Rossi who produced the Coldplay albums Viva La Vida and Death and All His Friends. A major contribution was made by Bono, who wrote the lyrics to the song "Someone Else's Tears" – Il Suono Della Domenica and Brian Wilson who sang backing vocals on the title track. This new album opened a new chapter in Zucchero's illustrious career.
In 2011, the critically acclaimed Chocabeck World Tour saw Zucchero performing more than 100 concerts in Europe, North America and Latin America. The tour kicked off with two concerts at the Hallenstadium in Zurich (9th and 10th May) and after dates in major European cities, the tour reached Italy for five sold-out concerts at the Arena in Verona (2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 June). After a short break, Zucchero and his band resumed touring starting from Warsaw (20th September) and, on this occasion, a space dedicated to Zucchero was inaugurated at the Hard Rock Café in the Polish capital. He went on to celebrate his birthday by playing two sold-out dates at the Verona Arena (25th and 26th September).  Zucchero then kicked off the US leg of the tour by being the first and only Italian artist to perform in the prestigious setting of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. After publishing his autobiographical novel "Il Suono Della Domenica" he resumed touring major European and Italian cities, first playing the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam (November 2nd ) and culminating with three special concerts entitled "Il Suono Della Domenica" at the Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia (December 19th, 20th and 21st).
In the summer of 2012 Zucchero recorded the album La Sesión Cubana in Havana, combining the powers of some of the most important musicians in Cuba. The album, preceded by the first single for worldwide release "Guantanamera (Guajira)", was produced by Zucchero and Don Was and mixed by Michael Brauer. La Sesión Cubana puts together seven brand new songs with six new arrangements of Zucchero’s hits ("Baila", "Un Kilo", "Così Celeste", "Cuba Libre", "Everybody's got to learn sometime" and "L'urlo"). New recordings consist of the first single "Guantanamera (Guajira)", translated into Italian by Zucchero, original compositions entitled "Love is all around" and "Sabor a ti" and cover versions of "Never is a moment", "Nena", "Pana" and "Ave Maria no morro".
"Nena" and "Pana" are in Spanish, the latter a duet with talented artist Bebe, and "Ave Maria no morro" is sung in Portuguese with Djavan, one of the finest singers on the contemporary Brazilian music scene.
Zucchero described the new album in these words: "My music, as everyone knows, is rooted in blues, soul and gospel. This project is a journey from New Orleans to Cuba via Mexico. Latin, Cuban, Tex-Mex rhythms and sounds all mixed together.".
The album presentation, a concert-event performed by Zucchero in front of 80,000 people, was held at the University of the Arts in Cuba, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture, the Cuban Institute of Music and the Italian Embassy in Cuba.
In 2013, Zucchero was invited to take part in the Los Angeles, Italia - Film, Fashion and Art Fest, the night before the annual Academy Awards. During A night at the Grammy Museum event, he received the L.A. Italia Excellence Award 2013. The following evening, the premiere of the concert filmed in Havana in December was held at the Chinese Theatre,
3 sold out dates at the Arena di Verona heralded the Sesión Cubana World Tour to Europe for over 60 dates. This was also the first time Zucchero flew to the South Pacific for 2 concerts in Tahiti (April 5) and New Caledonia (April 9).
Zucchero took part in a flash mob called Agit8, conceived and organized by Bono in London, where he sang "Love is all around" changing the lyric of the song for this occasion to "Love is still around" and then, by popular demand, he sang "Everybody's got to learn sometime". 
The Italian and International version of Una Rosa Blanca, the 2cd+dvd package containing the live performance of the legendary concert in Cuba, was released in December 2013.  
The following year saw the start of the Americana Tour 2014, which would last about 2 months and notched up more than 40 dates between the US and Canada. The band line-up included Polo Jones (bass), Kat Dyson (guitar), Adriano Molinari (percussion) and Nicola Peruch (keyboards). During the concerts in Toronto, Los Angeles and New York the band also welcomed on stage Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez (percussion), Joaquin Nunez Hidalgo (percussion) and Elmer Ferrer (guitar).
As part of the Americana Tour, on April 23rd, 2014, Zucchero gave a legendary concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden. This was a unique live performance, lasting 3 hours non-stop, with special guests Sting, Elisa, Fiorella Mannoia, Fher dei Maná, Jovanotti, Chris Botti, Sam Moore, Andrea Griminelli, Irene Fornaciari and a gospel choir.
In 2014, Zucchero was also chosen to headline the German dates of Night of the Proms: performing 18 sold-out dates in the largest, most important stadiums in Germany. A box set containing ZU & COmpany and All the best (international version) was distributed in Germany that same year.
In 2015, Zucchero was invited by Bono to the U2 concert at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, where he sang "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" with U2. Later, he made a guest appearance at Alejandro Sanz's concert at the Barclaycard Center in Madrid, where he sang "Un zombie a la intemperie" and "Baila morena" with him, before leaving for the US to record a new album.
On 29th April 2016, an album of new songs by Zucchero, called Black Cat (Universal Music), was released and presented live on the Black Cat Tour 2016. The tour kicked off on 16th September from the Verona Arena with the "10 + 1" straordinari” show, to be followed by the "Black Cat World Tour" (from October 1st to November 15th, 2016) which was a great international success. On November 25th a "BLACK CAT DELUXE EDITION" 2 CD + 1 DVD box set was released to celebrate ZUCCHERO’s great success and the success of the "Black Cat" album.
In February 2017, Zucchero was invited to the final night of the Sanremo Song Festival, as a super guest for the first time. In March the "Black Cat World Tour" resumed, with concerts in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe and South America, with Zucchero bringing songs from the "Black Cat" album, as well as his greatest hits, to audiences all over the world. In Italy, the "Black Cat World Tour" stopped off in Verona for Zucchero to perform 22 concerts at the Arena over 12 months establishing an absolute RECORD (16-17-18-20-21-23-24-25-26-27-28 September 2016; 1-2-3-4-5 May 2017; 20-21,22,23,24,25 September 2017).
November 2017 saw the release of "WANTED - THE BEST COLLECTION" celebrating the best of over 30 years of music, with live footage of the concerts held at the Verona Arena, a documentary film with backstage footage, interviews and special content as well as three brand new songs.
From February 2018 Zucchero took the spotlight on the "Wanted Italian Tour 2018" of main Italian sports arenas, to play 10 sold-out dates!  Major events in Italy also included, on 3rd and 4th July, Zucchero playing live for the first time in St Mark’s Square, Venice.  It had been 7 years since great pop-rock music was last performed there. The summer for Zucchero continued with the "Summer Events & Festivals 2018" International tour with him taking part in the most important European festivals - "British Summer Time" in Hyde Park - London, the "Cornbury Music Festival" in Oxfordshire, the "Bospop Festival" in Holland, up to Croatia and France, Bulgaria and Macedonia through Germany, Switzerland, Austria ... and the whole of Europe.
So, from September 2016, through to July 2018 Zucchero toured 5 continents and performed a total of 166 concerts in 136 cities in 48 different countries.
Zucchero was awarded the PREMIO TENCO ARTISTA 2018 (the greatest recognition given for Italian songwriting skills), at the 42nd edition of the PREMIO TENCO.  In January 2019 Zucchero performed in Oman for the first time, at a magnificent venue, the Royal Opera House in Muscat.
In November 2019 he released “D.O.C.”, his fourteenth album,  a brand new selection of tracks preceded by the first radio single “Freedom”,  co-written with British artist  Rag’n’bone Man.  In December he performed at the  Beacon Theatre in New York on the occasion of the 30th edition of  the “RAINFOREST FUND 2019”, the charity concert organized by Sting and his wife Trudie Styler. Besides Zucchero, also performing on stage on that occasion, were great international music legends such as Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Eurythmics, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Debbie Harry, Bob Geldof, Ricky Martin, DMC, MJ Rodriguez, Adrienne Warren, Shaggy.
 
In March 2020, Zucchero took part in “Music For The Marsden”, a charity concert organized by the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, where he performed on stage at the “02 Arena” in London. He was the only Italian artist on the bill at the “Music For The Marsden”, alongside artists of the caliber of Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Mick Hucknall from Simply Red, Dire Straits’ bassist John Illsley, Paul Jones, Rick Wakeman, Mike Rutherford, Paul Young, Paul Carrack, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Bonnie Tyler, Nick Mason.
 
In April, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Zucchero was forced to postpone his worldwide presentation tour of the album “D.O.C.” and during that year, along with other big international stars, he took part in the worldwide live streaming of “One world: together at home” (in support of the World Health Organization’s fight against  Covid-19),  he delivered a universal message on the 50th anniversary of World Earth Day to an empty Colosseum performing  “Canta la vita”, Bono’s “Let Your Love Be Known”, with Italian lyrics by Zucchero, performed featuring Bono on vocals.  Furthermore, he sent a message of hope around the world, from the magic of Venice’s deserted Piazza San Marco, performing “Amore adesso!”, an adaptation of the Michael Stipe and Aaron Dessner song “No Time For Love Like Now”, with Italian lyrics by Zucchero.
 
In November 2020 Zucchero teamed up again with Tomoyasu Hotei for the song “Lotus Flower” (music by Hotei and lyrics by Zucchero) which was released in Japan and the rest of the world on the Japanese musician’s album “Soul to soul”.
 
In December 2020  “D.O.C. Deluxe edition” was released, a double CD version containing all the songs from “D.O.C.” as well as 6 new tracks, including a STING & ZUCCHERO duet of the song “September”, the first  single to go to radio before the release of the double album.
 
In May 2021 came the release of “Inacustico D.O.C. & More” the first completely acoustic project in Zucchero’s career, containing all the new tracks from “D.O.C.” and a selection of his greatest hits rearranged in original  acoustic versions. During the summer of 2021, Zucchero performed a series of acoustic concerts in Italy and abroad, despite venues at reduced capacity due to Covid-19 restrictions.
 
November 2021 saw the release of “DISCOVER”, the very first cover album project in Zucchero’s career, preceded by the radio single of the Genesis song “Follow you follow me”. In “Discover” Zucchero dismantled iconic songs from the Italian and International music scene and reassembled them in his own signature style.  The album features collaborations with major artists such as BONO in “Canta la Vita” (the Italian version of Bono’s song “Let your love be known” with lyrics by Zucchero), ELISA in “Luce (Tramonti a Nord Est)” and  MAHMOOD in “Natural Blues”, Moby’s version of the Vera Hall track “Trouble So Hard”.  There is also an intense, emotional rendition of the track “Ho visto Nina volare”, a virtual duet between Zucchero and FABRIZIO DE ANDRÉ.
 
In December 2021 “SING 2 – Sempre più forte” was released in cinemas.  It is the sequel to the successful  film SING directed by Garth Jennings, where for the first time Zucchero tried his hand at dubbing, lending his voice to the character of Clay Calloway, voiced by BONO in the original version of the film.