Pinguini Tattici Nucleari


Pinguini Tattici Nucleari, sometimes shortened to PTN, is an Italian indie rock/pop band formed in 2010 in Bergamo.
They debuted in 2012 with the EP Cartoni animali and their first studio album Il re è nudo was released in 2014. The band participated at the Sanremo Music Festival 2020 with the song "Ringo Starr", finishing in 3rd place. Since then, they have achieved numerous successes, earning platinum records and reaching the top of the Italian Singles Chart four times with "Giovani Wannabe", "Ricordi", "Nightmares", and "Islanda".

History

2010–2018: Debut and early recordings

The band was formed at the end of 2010 in the province of Bergamo, initially consisting of Riccardo Zanotti, Lorenzo Pasini, Francesco Bernuzzi, Claudio Cuter and Cristiano Marchesi. According to members of the band, their name is inspired by Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a beer produced by Scottish brewery BrewDog in 2009.
Their first EP Cartoni animali, was self-released in 2012. In 2014, Bemuzzi left the group, and Marco Sonzogni joined as drummer. At this point, Zanotti moved to become the groups vocalist and frontman. Their debut studio album, Il re è nudo was released in 2014.
At the end of 2015, Elio Biffi joined on keyboard and accordion, and Matteo Locati took over from Sonzogni as drummer who left at the start of 2016. With this line-up, the band released their second album Diamo un calcio all'aldilà on 18 December 2015.
In 2016, the band arrived at their current formation with Nicola Buttafuoco joining on guitar, and Simone Pagani on bass, and the departure of Cuter and Marchesi. In April 2017, the group released their third album Gioventù brucata.

2019–2021: ''Fuori dall'hype'', Sanremo Festival and commercial success

It was announced in January 2019 that the group had signed to Sony Music, and their first album with the label, Fuori dall'hype was released on 5 April 2019. The singles "Verdura" and "Irene" were both certified Gold by FIMI in September 2020.
In February 2020 the group took part in Sanremo Music Festival 2020 with the song "Ringo Starr". During the third night of the festival, which is dedicated to covers, they performed a medley of songs entitled "Settanta volte". The songs included in the medley were: "Papaveri e papere", "Nessuno mi può giudicare", "Gianna", "Sarà perché ti amo", "Una musica può fare", "Salirò", "Sono solo parole", and "Rolls Royce". They placed third overall in the contest. The album Fuori dall'hype was certified gold in February 2020, and has since been certified 5 times platinum.
On 28 August 2020, they released the single "La storia infinita". It was followed by the single "Scooby Doo" on 13 November 2020, and by the EP Ahia! on 4 December. In March 2021, they returned to the Sanremo Music Festival to accompany Bugo during the covers night, performing the song "Un'avventura" by Lucio Battisti. Over the course of 2021, they released collaborations with several artists, including "Ferma a guardare" with Ernia and "Babaganoush" with Madame.

2022–2023: ''Fake News''

On 27 May 2022, after the announcement that they were working on a new album, the band released the single "Giovani Wannabe". On 19 August the single "Dentista Croazia", a song which recalls the bands beginnings, was released. This was followed by the single "Ricordi" on 23 September, which became the most played song on Italian radio after its release.
On 13 November 2022, the band won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Italian Act at the 2022 MTV Europe Music Awards.
On 2 December 2022, they released their fifth studio album, Fake News. They celebrated the release of the album with a dedicated exhibition in Milan. After the album's release, the singles "Coca zero" and "Rubami la notte" followed on 31 March 2023 and 19 May 2023 respectively.
According to Spotify, Pinguini Tattici Nucleari were the eighth most listened to artist in Italy in 2023.

2024–present: ''Hello World''

On 13 September 2024, they released the single "Romantico ma muori". On 15 November 2024, they released the single "Islanda". These two singles were included in the album Hello World, which was released on 6 December 2024. In just one week, the album was certified gold by FIMI.
On 11 April 2025, they released a new single, a remix of "Bottiglie vuote", in collaboration with Max Pezzali. The band embarked on their "Hello World Tour" in stadiums and arenas, in June and July 2025. On 26 September 2025, "Amaro" was released as the fourth single from Hello World.