[1] In his career, spanning four decades, Fornaciari has sold over 60 million records around the world,[5][6] and internationally his most successful singles are "Diamante", "Il Volo/My Love", "Baila (Sexy Thing)/Baila morena", and the duet "Senza una donna (Without a Woman)" with Paul Young.

[9] He has collaborated and performed with many famous artists, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian May, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Billy Preston, John Lee Hooker, Scorpions, Sheryl Crow, Blues Brothers Band, Elvis Costello, Roland Orzabal, Joe Cocker, Sharon Corr, B.

King, Sting, Buddy Guy, Bono, Bryan Adams, Mark Knopfler, Iggy Pop, Coldplay, Dolores O'Riordan, Paul Young, Peter Gabriel, Alejandro Sanz, Luciano Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli.

The first song he played to Fornaciari was (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding, and this immediately inspired his interest in soul music.

At that time, he was studying veterinary medicine; although he liked animals and the course (taking 39 out of the 51 exams),[4] he wanted to be different from his parents and withdrew from the course in order to pursue his aspirations.

[4][14] After the relative success of Zucchero & The Randy Jackson Band, Fornaciari joined Rustici again in California to work on a follow-up album.

[20] After the million selling success of Blue's and Oro Incenso & Birra in Italy, and his live collaborations with Joe Cocker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton (whom supported on tour and performed at Royal Albert Hall in London) and Miles Davis,[4] Fornaciari from 1990 on attempted to conquer the rest of Europe.

[3][21] Between 1991 and 1993 Fornaciari continued duetting with some of the world's most famous artists, such as Sting, Luciano Pavarotti, a young Andrea Bocelli (who after the Zucchero's collaboration on "Miserere" started to get growing popularity[22]), Peter Maffay, Elton John, Brian May and Eric Clapton.

Again produced by Corrado Rustici, it was a much darker album than Fornaciari's previous works, which was made clear by the title track "Miserere" (Have Mercy), a duet with Luciano Pavarotti.

[26] The compilation The Best of Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari's Greatest Hits was released in 1996, shooting into all European charts, up to the number one position in France and Italy, and selling over 3 million copies in Europe.

[27] During the sold-out tour Fornaciari sang with Buddy Guy in Milan, and played "My Love" (the English version of "Il Volo") and "Un piccolo aiuto" (together with Eric Clapton) during the '96 Pavarotti and Friends show.

[28] On the 1998 album Bluesugar, Fornaciari moved from Spirito DiVino's New Orleans feeling to a more British rock style, like of Robert Johnson and Radiohead.

[4][14] He reappeared in the summer of 2001 with the European hit single "Baila morena" (re-released in 2006), described as "swinging track densely populated with crunching electric guitars, thick piano and organ vamps, and soaring bluesy female vocals over Zucchero's trademark rasp".

[29] On the album blues musician John Lee Hooker appears on the ballad "Ali D'Oro",[29] his last recording before his death in June 2001.

[31] On 29 November 2003, participated in the 46664 charity (AIDS) concert at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, as well again in 2005, organized by Nelson Mandela.

[39] Produced by Don Was, it included the European hit singles "Bacco perbacco" and "Occhi", and features collaborations with artists such as Ivano Fossati and Jovanotti.

[40] The album's track "L'amore è nell'aria", borrows the instrumental backing to the B-side "Broken" by UK rock band Feeder, as was co-written by their lead singer Grant Nicholas.

[39] At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards got nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song "You Are So Beautiful" along Sam Moore Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Robert Randolph.

[40] In the spring of 2008 Fornaciari began his All the Best Tour, which included stops in Europe, America, and Australia where he was joined on stage by Tina Arena in Sydney.

November 2008 also saw the release of Live in Italy, a double boxset with recordings of sold-out Arena performance in Verona in 2007, and Milan in 2008, as well as three new tracks, including the single "Una Carezza", published by Edizioni Larus and Universal Music Group.

The album was produced by Don Was, Brendan O'Brien, and Zucchero and includes collaborations with Brian Wilson, Roland Orzabal ("God bless the child"), and Bono ("Someone Else's Tears").

On 8 December the album was presented with a special free concert at the park of Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, in front of nearly 70,000 people.

[57] Zucchero became the honorary member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, recognition received by the Cuban Minister of Culture, Fernando Rojas.

[59] In March 2013, on stage in Bologna, he dedicated to Lucio Dalla, who had died a year earlier, his free Italian translation of the piece Ave Maria No Morro by Herivelto Martins, with some fragments of a poem by Gabriele Moreno Locatelli.

The sold-out La Sesión Cubana World Tour started on 5 April in Tahiti, French Polynesia, with an audience of 10,000 people.

[63][64] A special concert was held on 23 April at a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York, with many notable guests including Sting, Sam Moore, Jovanotti and Elisa.

[71] In April 2016 new studio album Black Cat was released: it marks a music comeback to soul & blues roots and sound of Oro Incenso & Birra.

[72][73][74][75] On CNN it was announced that the album will include a new song Streets of Surrender (S.O.S) which lyrics written by Bono, dedicated to the victims of November 2015 Paris attacks.

[74][75] After guesting at Sanremo Music Festival 2017, the Black Cat Word Tour continued during 2017 reaching 137 events in thirteen months, 22 of them at the Arena di Verona.

The most important concerts were held in Piazza San Marco and in Hyde Park, London, for the British Summer Time Festival.