MILAN, 29 November 2021 – The Vinyl Album cover contains not a single record, but the 2022 Pirone Annual Calendar – under the theme of "On The Road" and led by Bryan Adams. It's a celebration of international music superstars from the 1960s to the present day, and the return of the Pirelli Calendar program after it was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What is special about this time is that it coincides with the 150th anniversary of the Pirelli brand, and its commemorative logo was launched at the same time as this edition of the annual calendar.
For more than two decades, Brian Adams has not only made extraordinary achievements in the field of music, but also enjoyed a high reputation in the world of photography. In the course of his annual calendar photography around the theme "On the Road", he captures the lives of the artists on the tour. Meanwhile, the Canadian musician's eponymous song "On the Road" for the Pirelli Annual Calendar will be included on his next album.
In the Pirelli Calendar, musicians relive moments on the tour, from the tension before the show, to the break between rehearsals and concerts, to the long journeys between cities and lonely moments in hotel rooms. These are all familiar experiences for Brian Adams himself, who became the first photographer in the history of the Pirelli calendar to work as a model. He worked on the 48th edition of the Pirelli Annual Calendar with 10 world-renowned artists of all ages, musical genres and backgrounds, including Cher, Grimes, Jennifer Hudson, Normani, Rita Ora, Bohan Phoenix, Iggy Pop, Saweetie St. Vincent (formerly Annie Clark) and Kali Uchis. This summer filming took place over just three days at the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles and the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, as well as at the La Scalinatella hotel in Capri.
Brian Adams sought to capture the unique features of different artists, and this edition of the annual calendar is more than 160 pages long and includes more than 70 portraits and scenes: St. Adams. Vincent (the cover character of the annual calendar) wakes up at the hotel; Carly Uchis rests by the pool; Savetti checks out before leaving; Cher is backstage; Normani rests before the audition; Jennifer Hudson Chuda Theater; Iki Pope (also the calendar cover character) before the show; Grimes in the recording studio; Bohan Phoenix returns to the hotel after the show; and Rita Ola after the show.
Brian Adams said: "It's very difficult to condense everything that happens 'on the road' in a matter of days. So I'm trying to find some representative scenes... For example, musicians have been looking at the rear side of the building rather than the front side. What we saw was the back door of the theater, the backstage area, the basement of the building... Stage back doors, car doors, hotel doors, train doors and bus doors, all of which are always related to the journey. ”
Marco Tronchetti Provera, executive vice chairman and CEO of Pirelli, said: "I have known Brian for many years and have great appreciation for him. His idea of combining music with travel and travel fits well with this version of the annual calendar, because we are emerging from the pandemic and returning to normal life. This edition of the annual calendar will record 2022, which is particularly important for Pirelli, and also the 150th anniversary of the Pirelli brand. ”
Two rock stars across the ages make the cover of this Pirelli calendar very colorful. On the cover is St. A charming portrait of Vincent (formerly known as Annie Clark) with a guitar paddle with the Pirelli brand logo hanging from his tongue; Adams said he had a hunch when he took the photo that it would be chosen as the cover. On the back cover is the lead singer of the puppet band, Iki Pope, covered in silver. Inspired by a famous stage look from the early 1970s.
This edition of the Pirelli Calendar is a collection of styling images tailored to different artists. Each month has a different point in time, let's follow these superstars across imaginary days: January starts at 7:45 a.m., still life photos full of melancholy atmosphere, and Hollywood's legendary Marmont Manor Hotel exterior. Several stars were filmed there.
One day in the touring musician's life, in February, called "10:13, Room 29 of the Marmont Manor Hotel," St. Vincent gazes out through the shutters of the room. March takes place at 10:42 a.m. Colombian-American singer and songwriter Kali Uchis, known for her anti-genre music, dressed in stunning emerald green dresses, jewelry and high heels, lying on a springboard enjoying a "pool break." At 11:38 a.m. in April, American rapper Saweetie checked out at the "La Scalinatella" on the Italian island of Capri, dressed in a silver backless dress and high heels, pulling a suitcase and posing.
In May, the day continued to pass, and Cher "went backstage" at 14:43. In an empty dressing room at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, she strode up to a mirror and applied lipstick. American R&B singer Normani represented June, at 15:28 "rest on the bus before the audition", posing on a bed next to a tour bus. At 18:25 in July, Jennifer Hudson "arrived" in her limousine, first touring the stage, gazing through the curtain at the empty auditorium, then sitting in a dressing room surrounded by flowers. In August, backstage was shown an hour before the show, with Iggy Pope appearing. He twisted his body in a green armchair naked and danced in front of the camera in the basement of the venue.
After the show — on the September page, frozen at 0:12 , Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Grimes, dressed in a metal shard in a futuristic costume and with pink hair, stands in front of a row of huge computers in his "studio." At 1:42 a.m. in October, Chinese-American rapper Bohan Phoenix was "returning to the hotel, standing on Sunset Boulevard, surrounded by rushing traffic and a grand piano standing in a hotel room.
November revolves around 3:02 a.m. after the show. British singer, songwriter and actor Rita Aura. She was dressed in a different style of dress and lay in the bathtub, like a car seat in the middle of the street. On the December page, Adams himself ended the journey at 4:12 a.m., taking his guitar and driving a traditional vintage sedan to the next show. The shooting was only 3 days and 10 stars needed to be captured (9 of which were shot in two days), which Adams acknowledged was a challenge. "It's very difficult to condense everything that happens 'on the road' in a matter of days," he said.
Adams, 61, planned to shoot the annual calendar in 2019, but the shooting was postponed for a year due to the outbreak of the new crown epidemic. This gave him more time to precipitate and reflect on his 45 years of performances in front of fans around the world, and he really felt the importance of touring when everything was suspended. He spent extra time refining the concept of On the Road and working with the film's creative director, Dirk Rudolph, to develop the idea. Dirk Rudolf is a German graphic designer who has been working with him since 1996.
Founded in 1872 and launched the Pirelli Annual Calendar project in 1964, 48 editions of the Pirelli Annual Calendar have been introduced, including an annual calendar with the theme of "On the Road", with a total of 38 photographers in charge.