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Cortini was born in the Italian city of Bologna and raised in Forlì. Sometime around 1998, Cortini moved to the United States to study guitar at the Musicians Institute, where he met Swedish guitarist Pelle Hillström. After graduating he began focusing on keyboards and synths.  While briefly teaching at the Musicians Institute, he saw an ad for open auditions for Nine Inch Nails; after impressing [[Trent Reznor]] in his audition, he was brought on board to form the live band for the 2005 [[Live: With Teeth]] tour and has been a member of the band ever since. On December 13th, 2008, Cortini posted a blog on Modwheelmood's MySpace account stating that he is leaving the band and that the other members had known of his decision for some time. Cortini has shared songwriting credits for several songs on ''[[Ghosts I-IV]]'' and appears in the NIN music videos for "[[The Hand That Feeds (song)|The Hand That Feeds]]" and "[[Survivalism (song)|Survivalism]]".

''<blockquote>"My first thought when Alessandro walked in was that he didn't look like what I had in mind. His presence was intense but gentle, not the 'I'm gonna attack you' energy fans might associate with NIN. Then he started, and within 30 seconds I was like 'That's the guy!' I never once regretted it. Without taking anything away from [[Charlie Clouser|Charlie]], Alessandro is really into playing the studio parts as much as humanly possible."'' [http://timessquare.com/Video/Music/From_Italy_to_Rock_Stardom]</blockquote>