Italy has been one of the musical centers of Europe. It was the home of many of the most influential composers of later centuries. It also incorporates multiple regional styles of folk music as well as a burgeoning record industry that supports a wide variety of rock, pop, hip hop and opera musicians.

Italian singers have included Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, and more recently Lucio Dalla, Adriano Celentano, Gianni Morandi, Pupo, Mina, Eros Ramazzotti, Umberto Tozzi, Andrea Bocelli, Ornella Vanoni, Vasco Rossi, Luca Carboni, Francesco De Gregori, Fabrizio De André, Francesco Guccini, Giorgio Gaber, Gianni Togni, Laura Pausini, Claudio Baglioni, Patty Pravo, Luciano Pavarotti, Michele Zarrillo, Riccardo Cocciante and Toto Cutugno.

Modern Italian pop music tends to be sentimental ballads with a crooning vocal style, though it used to be unique in its blend of Mediterranean folk rhythms with pop forms. These folkier Italian pop artists included Lucio Battisti, Vasco Rossi and Pino Daniele. Zucchero is the leading singer of Italian rock, and has played with domestic stars like Luciano Pavarotti and international performers like Sting and Queen, while pop-folk singer Vasco Rossi has also experimented with rock and his 1999 hit "Rewind" was a popular rock song. Other prominent rock bands include Litfiba. In 1995, Neri per Caso brought a new style of popular a cappella music to mainstream audiences after winning in the Sanremo Festival with their hit song "Le Ragazze".

Excerpt from Wikipedia