Zucchero confident the fame will follow

He's sung with Pavarotti and Sting and has cowritten songs with his buddy Bono. In 2005, he appeared at Live 8 concerts in both Paris and Rome. Oh, and he's the guy who discovered the famed tenor Andrea Bocelli. But on this side of the Atlantic, Italian rock star Zucchero's name can draw blank stares - which he finds baffling but not discouraging.

"What I do, it takes time," the 52-year-old singer-songwriter said while mingling with fans and journalists at a reception this week. "When people in America find out where I'm playing, they come. Once they know me, they come."

Zucchero, whose childhood nickname means sugar, began his musical career as a teenager in northern Italy. He climbed the charts in 1985 with the single "Donne" from his second album, Zucchero & The Randy Jackson Band (yes, American Idol's Randy Jackson), and has been a star in Europe ever since. Over the last two decades, Zucchero's admirers have grown to include musical superstars such as Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Sheryl Crow, all of whom appeared on his acclaimed 2004 Zucchero & Co., which outsold any of his other albums in the United States.

"I think that record helped Americans put a voice with a name they had maybe heard but didn't know," he said. "I think it is a good introduction to my music because it shows all the different styles I play."

And he plays plenty: straightforward rock, blues, sweeping romantic ballads in Italian and English. Touring with a five-member band that includes E Street Band veteran David Sancious, Zucchero says he'll showcase songs from his coming All the Best album, with some covers thrown into the mix.

"I do Procol Harum's 'A Salty Dog' but in Italian," he says. "Some might think it obscure, but for me, it is one of the best melodies ever. And I love a good melody."