Gabry Ponte
Gabriele “Gabry” Ponte (Italian pronunciation: [ɡabriˈɛːle ˈɡaːbri ˈponte]; born 20 April 1982) is an Italian DJ, remixer, record producer, and radio personality, best known for his membership in the Italian dance band Eiffel 65.
With Eiffel 65’s rise to fame in the late 1990s, his celebrity status was established. He later went on to produce the Italian hit single “Geordie” (a cover of Fabrizio de André’s song by the same name, sung by Italian vocalist Stefania Piovesan), which was rewarded with a gold record for selling over 25,000 copies, as well as hits “Time to Rock”, “Got to Get”, and “La Danza Delle Streghe” (English: “The Dance of the Witches”). Also to his credit are a number of remixes of popular songs such as Gianni Togni’s “Giulia” and O-Zone’s “Dragostea Din Tei”, among others.
In 2005, Ponte announced he would be separating from Eiffel 65 to pursue solo work. In 2006 he founded and still manages the record label Dance and Love, nowadays one of the most important Italian dance independent labels. In January 2012, he also produced the international hit “Tacata'” by dance music trio Tacabro.
In 2012, Gabry Ponte released his single “Beat on My Drum” featuring Pitbull and Sophia del Carmen, which peaked at No. 11 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs. In 2014, his single “Buonanotte Giorno” became a summer hit in Italy as it reached the top 10. In the same year, he entered the Top 100 DJs list from DJ Mag at No. 61.
In 2022, he is set to represent Austria as a songwriter and producer in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, alongside Anders Nilsen, with the song “Halo”, which will be performed by Lumix and Pia Maria.
