A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel.

[1] In 1981 he began his solo career and established himself as a songwriter: his most famous success in this latter role is "Il mare d'inverno" ("The Sea in Winter"), brought to chart by Loredana Bertè.

He won the Sanremo Music Festival twice: in 1987 with "Si può dare di più" ("You can give more") together with Gianni Morandi and Umberto Tozzi and in 1993 with "Mistero" ("Mystery").

In 2016 Ruggeri re-joined the newly reformed Decibel and went on to participate in the 2018 edition of the Sanremo Music Festival.

A special performance of their song "Lettera dal Duca" during one of the festival nights featured Midge Ure on vocals and guitar.