Photo: Getty Images
Måneskin had one busy year in 2021. The Italian rock band, consisting of bassist Victoria De Angelis, singer Damiano David, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio, dominated the charts with their hit single 'Beggin.' With their massive breakout year behind them, Måneskin proved the best is still yet to come with their knockout performance at iHeartRadio ALTer EGO presented by Capital One.
On Saturday (January 15), De Angelis, David, Raggi, and Torchio took the stage at The Forum in Los Angeles for an unforgettable set. They kicked things off with 'Zittie E Buoni' before heading straight into 'Mamma Mia.'
Måneskin had the crowd up and dancing by the time they started playing their breakout hit 'Beggin.' They kept up their high energy performance for their final two songs, 'For Your Love' and 'I Wanna Be Your Slave.'
Fans of Måneskin, especially after watching their showing at ALTer EGO, believe their runaway success in the United States was inevitable. For the band, however, their success has come as a surprise. During a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, the group reflected on their rise to the top. “The fact that there’s a band in the top of the charts playing just three instruments, it’s something that hasn’t happened for so long,” De Angelis said. “But we didn’t expect it to happen in such a short amount of time.”
As seen at ALTer EGO, Måneskin has become so popular in the States that their American fans can easily belt out their Italian lyrics. “We were playing songs in Italian from the record that we didn’t think were very known here,” De Angelis recalled of a previous show “But everyone knew the words, even if it was harder for them to sing.”
Lisa Worden, program director of Alt 98.7 in L.A. and vice president of rock and alternative music at iHeartMedia, also spoke to the outlet about Måneskin's takeover of mainstream radio this past year. “They’re one of our three biggest hits of the year, if not the biggest,” she said. “It’s so unusual to have a rock band with streams of that magnitude. To have a song like ‘Beggin’ that gets launched on pop and rises in alt and rock, it’s been a while since we’ve had that across formats.”
“It’s important to give them a chance to be more than a single,” she said. “They deserve to have more of their music exposed. I saw them at the Roxy and they’re a force. I think people will walk away with a new respect for them.”
It's clear from their performance at The Forum that Måneskin is here to stay. We can't wait to see what they do next.