With a father like the famous Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, it’s only natural for Matteo Bocelli to hear the comparisons. Still, the younger Bocelli said it’s important for him to create his own identity, and he’s doing so in the world of pop music.

“Yeah, identity is definitely something I’ve always worked on, especially because as I often say, I signed to my label as an interpreter, not as a songwriter, and the label gave me this amazing chance to write with different composers, and I loved it so much,” said Matteo Bocelli in a recent interview. “So, actually since then I started to create my own skill in writing, and I think it’s very important because if you can sing songs, to perform songs that speak about you. self, that are authentic to you, I think that’s a plus.”

The younger Bocelli did just that with his 2023 debut album ‘Matteo’, which features the Ed Sheeran-penned ‘Chasing Stars’. His tour — Night With Matteo: The Americas — restarts Nov. 29 in New Jersey and includes a Dec. 7 stop at the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall.

With exposure to his father’s classical and operatic music, Matteo Bocelli said it felt as natural to listen to and play pop songs from around the world as a child. He has often shared the limelight with his father, including one exciting performance of “Time To Say Goodbye” at this year’s Oscars, but he sees no comparisons as negative.

“I’ve always seen those expectations as positive in the sense that if you follow a specific footballer you expect his son to play on the pitch with the same skills, the same attitude, the same everything,” he said, “But, again the truth is that we’re all different people, and obviously I probably inherited some aspects of his voice from him, maybe because obviously growing up in the same house, always listening to his voice, you can get a little bit of his attitude when you sing.

“I think the genre of music helps with this, because I sing a completely different genre of music, and I enjoy every minute of it. I think what helps you the most in this is the passion, because if you were to do this for someone else , that would be a problem, but when you really love something, you don’t really think about what people think of you.”

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In a Zoom chat from Tuscany, Italy, the younger Bocelli, who hopes to release another album in 2025, “Chasing Stars,” discussed his latest single and what he would be doing if he weren’t singing:

When it comes to singing, do you have a preference for which language you use? Is Italian easier than English?

Yes, actually, Italian is my mother tongue. English, it’s a language that I’ve always performed and sung since I was very young because obviously I listened to Elton John, Lionel Richie, Queen, Supertramp, Simon & Garfunkel, like everything. So when I enjoyed their music, I also sang their music in their language, and that’s why today I feel comfortable performing in English as well.

How did you get involved with someone like Ed Sheeran in ‘Chasing Stars’?

Ed Sheeran’s song was written entirely by him and his brother (Matthew). I have been involved with him in the song because I have always been a super fan of his. Before I got the song, I saw him several times. I remember meeting him for the very first time in Milan for his first exhibition in Italy. Before that I never met him, but I saw him play opening for Taylor Swift. Then after the Milan concert I saw him again in Milan when he played on (MTV Europe Music Awards) TV. He was the host. And then again, I’ve always followed so much because to me he’s an example of a talent but also as a person. I think each of us has our own kind of musical mentor. And for me it has always been him.

So I feel really privileged to have one of his songs. And again, I chose the song as well because the truth is, I got three songs from him. But I chose “Chasing Stars” because it was the one that really felt authentic to me because we both have in common that our fathers were in love with music. And they were the ones who actually passed the passion on to their children.

I also like the message behind the song which is about, again, chasing your dreams, chasing the stars, that’s chasing your dreams. And above all, always try to be who you are. Because I feel like in this world, new generations always try to follow other people’s lifestyle, even more than what they like. And I think you lose focus and that’s probably why many young people today don’t really have a passion, because we should focus more on what we like. And again, I always say that I’ve been super lucky because I’ve been able to do what I love. But again, I chased it.

Is there someone else you want to collaborate with? Do you have a dream list of people you would like to perform with?

I always say that it would be unfair to name any names because there really is so much talent out there that I would love to collaborate with. But I’m definitely already happy about the few collaborations I’ve done, the ones with Sofia, the ones with Sanah, an incredible Polish artistthe one with Sebastian Yatra. We did this song called “Tu Luz Quedó” in Spanish, English and also Italian. And definitely my first collaboration was one with mine Father.

You have a new single, “If I Knew” with Sofia Carson, so how did that come together?

It’s a song I wrote in LA a few years ago, and there are those songs that when you write you feel like they would work perfectly as a duet. I wrote the song with Sam DeRosa and when she put her vocals together with mine it really felt like a duet. (It was originally planned as a solo track), but still I had an idea to make it a duet, and I thought of Sofia and luckily she said yes. I met her before I obviously asked to collaborate together and she was, again I found not only a great talent but also a beautiful person. I think collaborations should only happen when there’s excitement from both sides and there’s really a will to make it happen, and that’s what happened, so I’m very, very happy.

If you weren’t doing music, what do you think you would be doing?

You know, I’m a very practical guy. I really love creating things, working with things, and our family, my grandparents used to sell farm machinery, and they always owned some land. So maybe in agriculture (the field). I would love to plant something on a tractor.