As he worked to establish a name for himself as an accompanist, Baroni also developed as a solo artist, completing his debut record in 1994, entitled Fuorimetrica and released by DDD. He was soon offered work with RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) as a backing singer, starting with the Sanremo Festival in 1996. Baroni returned to the festival a year later, this time as a contestant. The song that he performed there became the lead single on his next album, Alex Baroni. He then appeared on the Italian release of Walt Disney's Hercules as the lead character's singing voice. In 1998 Baroni traveled to perform at the Sopot Festival in Poland. He was so well received that he returned for an extensive tour that brought him through Germany, Switzerland, and Poland once again, building a significant international fan base. Baroni pushed into 1999 with momentum, having won the Oscar d'Giovani at the close of 1998. His extensive touring was interrupted to record a posthumous tribute to Ivan Graziani, in which Baroni sang the famous hit "E' Stato un Viaggio." Ultimamente was released in 1999, but suffered from slumping sales thanks to media pirating hitting an all-time high that year. On March 19, 2002, Alex Baroni was involved in a traffic accident in a busy Roman square, passing away after a three-week coma. Numerous dedications and tribute albums have been released in Baroni's memory, many of which have appeared on the Italian charts, a testament to the singer's great popularity. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez