Ferro announced the release date of his sixth studio album a year in advance, at the last concert of his European arena tour. He told the crowd that it would be released on 2 December 2016. In June the album's title was revealed to be Il mestiere della vita. The album's lead single "Potremmo ritornare" was released in October and debuted on top of the Italian Singles Chart. It was his first number-one hit as lead artist since 2008's "Alla mia età".