How Måneskin frontman Damiano David disrupts the status quo: after winning Eurovision in 2021, the Italian rocker refused to play the game – from preaching LGBT rights to ‘demonic’ accusations
- David was 18 when his band Måneskin came second on 2017 Italian X Factor, before winning Eurovision four years later – and they’ve just been nominated for Grammy’s Best New Artist earlier this year
- The 24-year-old musician shaved his head in January, drastically changing how he looks, sparking rumours over drug use, his sexuality and censorship of ‘demonic’ images – but is he dating Dove Cameron?
The glamour and mystery that surrounds Italian singer and songwriter Damiano David has captured the world’s attention, making him one of the most talked-about rock stars on the planet.
The 24-year-old Måneskin frontman has disrupted the status quo with both his edgy image and the rumours swirling around his outre lifestyle, sexuality and love life.
Here’s what you need to know about David and his rise to fame and controversy.
Damiano David was a high school dropout
Long before becoming a heartthrob who dominated the tabloids as much as the music charts, David was a young boy in Rome who enjoyed playing basketball and singing. According to Elle Italia, he and his older brother, Jacopo, were born in Rome to flight attendant parents, who exposed the pair to different cultures and languages growing up.
He started showing a keen interest in singing at age six and by high school had decided his future lay in music. “When I was in junior school, my best friend’s mum was a singer in a choir. She would always tell my mum that I needed to study music because I had a talent. My mum tried to get me to attend singing lessons. I was impulsive but I always had a deep connection with music,” he told The Allison Hagendorf Show.
How Damiano David joined Måneskin
Determined to make a career out of music, he approached two younger pupils he went to school with who had started a band and asked if he could join them.
More convinced than ever about where his future lay, David dropped out of high school in his second year to pursue music. “For years I was told I shouldn’t think about music. I should commit to something serious and be responsible. I didn’t enjoy school, being told what to do and not being able to express my intelligence,” he said in an interview with Il Messaggero Italia.