Sal Da Vinci, stage name of Salvatore Michael Sorrentino, is an Italian singer and actor of Neapolitan origins born in New York on 7 April 1969 during a tour of his father, the famous Neapolitan song interpreter Mario Da Vinci. Growing up artistically between Naples and the Italian stages, Sal has built a career that ranges from music to theatre, cinema and television.
In 2026 he makes his long-awaited return to the Sanremo Festival, where he competes among the Bigs with the song “Per semper Sì”, a piece that celebrates adult and mature love with neomelodic accents and a contemporary production.
His career now exceeds forty years of activity, full of successes, moments of great visibility and an ever-strong relationship with the public who have seen him as the protagonist of tours, television shows and records.
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Sal Da Vinci’s origins, his father’s influence and his artistic journey
Sal was born into a family deeply linked to music. His father, Mario Da Vinci, was a well-known singer and actor of the Neapolitan tradition, while his mother was of French origins. Since he was a child he was introduced to the stage: at just six years old he recorded a song in duet with his father and in the following years he acted in the Neapolitan theatre.
His debut as a soloist in the 90s brought with it successes such as the victory at Italian Festival in 1994 and third place at Sanremo Festival 2009 with the song “I can’t make you fall in love”, which definitively consecrates him in the Italian popular imagination.
Over the years Sal has reinterpreted Neapolitan classics, collaborated with big names in Italian music and has become a reference for those who love Italian songs with both a traditional and modern imprint.
Wife and children: family at the center of his personal life
Sal Da Vinci has been married for over thirty years to Paola Pugliese, a reserved Neapolitan woman, far from the world of entertainment but very present in the artist’s life. Their love was born in their youth and has withstood the challenges of time and career, becoming a pillar for both. The song Per semper si is dedicated to her.
From their marriage two children were born, including Francesco, who followed in his father’s footsteps in the world of music and entertainment, also taking part in The Voice of Italy and working as an author and actor.
Family is often cited by Sal as a source of inspiration and strength, both in his private life and in his artistic career which has brought him great national visibility.
“Forever yes” is not just any love song
Sal Da Vinci arrives at Sanremo 2026 with a song that has the shape of a statement and the weight of a true story. Forever yes was born from his relationship with his wife Paola Pugliese, a love story that has lasted for over thirty years and which the Neapolitan singer chose to bring to the Ariston stage without filters.
The title already says it all: that “yes” pronounced only once, in front of the altar or in life, capable of resisting time, difficulties, changes that transform people but do not always push them away. It’s not nostalgia, it’s not romantic rhetoric. It is the photograph of a love that chose to stay.
In a Festival often dominated by tormented loves, breakups and disillusionments, Sal Da Vinci brings something rare: a song that celebrates the strength of a bond, the silent beauty of someone who made a promise and kept it. Forever yes it’s perhaps the most intimate song I’ve ever written — and you can feel it.
Sal Da Vinci’s most famous songs and the success of “Lipstick and Coffee”
Among the songs that have marked Sal Da Vinci’s career, there are several hits loved by the public over the years. Among these, “Lipstick and coffee” is one of the most famous in recent times: published in 2024, it went viral on social media, reached a huge number of listeners and views on digital platforms and was also adopted by new generations of fans.
Other consolidated successes in his discography include Neapolitan classics reinterpreted live and collaborations with major Italian artists.
Sal Da Vinci and Eddie Brock: are they related?
Someone has noticed a certain resemblance between Sal Da Vinci and the singer Eddie Brock (whose real name is Edoardo Iaschi), also competing in Sanremo, but there is no family or parental relationship between the two.
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The lyrics of “Forever yes”
In the text of Forever Yes, Sal Da Vinci constructs an intimate narrative. The words don’t scream, but they insist. They tell of a love that has experienced crisis, that has come close to ending, but that finds the strength to get back on its feet. The protagonist does not present himself as a romantic hero. He admits his faults, recognizes the distances created, the misunderstandings. And it is precisely from this awareness that the promise is born. That “forever yes” is not naive, it is suffered. It is a response to the fear of missing out. The image that emerges is that of a couple who have gone through the darkness. The words evoke heavy silences, difficult nights, but also the physical and concrete need of the other. Love is not described as a static feeling, but as a daily decision.
It all started from the beginning
I who was just an unknown man to you
Then he became a king with a loving heart
You a queen now dressed in bridal white
We dreamed of children in a big house
And overcame all the difficulties
Because love is not love for life
If he hasn’t faced the steepest climb
And the music will turn on
And here I will wait for you
The greatest day
I will give you a gift
It will be you and me
Forever
Bonded for life that
Without you
It’s worth nothing
There’s no point in living
With his hand on his chest
I promise you
Before God
It will be you and me
From here
It will always be yes
I know well that the future is a great unknown
But with you it won’t scare me because
We will build everything but we will not raise a wall
Arguing and making love, then what harm is there?
And the music will turn on
For you I will sing
The greatest day
I will give you a gift
It will be you and me
Forever
Bonded for life that
Without you
It’s worth nothing
There’s no point in living
With his hand on his chest
I promise you
Before God
It will be you and me
From here
It will be forever
Yes, only yes
For these days
And a thousand more
A simple yes
Eternity is inside a word
It will be you and me
Forever
Bonded for life that
Without you
It’s worth nothing
There’s no point in living
With his hand on his chest
I promise you
Before God
It will be you and me
Accussì
It will always be yes
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