Italian singer Toto Cutugno, known worldwide for his hit “Un Italiano vero”, also known as “L’Italianio”, died on Tuesday at the age of 80.
Famous around the world for his hit “Un Italiano vero”, Italian singer Toto Cutugno died at the age of 80 following a long illness.
“The singer’s condition had worsened in recent months,” said his manager Danilo Mancuso, quoted by the Ansa agency.
“Ciao a Toto Cutugno, un Italiano vero”, immediately reacted on X (ex-Twitter) Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. His Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, for his part, hailed “an artist proud to be Italian, also appreciated abroad, whose successes have been the soundtrack of an era”.
His biggest success dates back to 1983: “Un Italiano vero” (also simply called “L’Italiano”) was number one on the charts in Italy and Switzerland, and number two in France. The song also appeals to audiences in Israel, Iran and South Korea. The heady chorus of this timeless hit is still a hit on the radio: “Lasciatemi cantare con la chitarra in mano, lasciatemi cantare, sono un italiano” (“Let me sing with the guitar in my hand, let me sing, I am an Italian”).
The clip for the song, shot on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, is a succession of rather caricatural shots on Italy and the Italians: we see the singer eating pasta and flirting with the waitress.
composer for Michel Sardou and Johnny Hallyday
In 1990, he won Eurovision in Zagreb with “Insieme: 1992”, a song about Europe. After Gigliola Cinquetti in 1964, he is the second Italian to win Eurovision. The following year, he presents with the latter the program of the competition which takes place in Rome.
Born on July 7, 1943 in Tuscany, Salvatore Cutugno, known as Toto Cutugno, composed for many French singers, particularly in the 1970s: from Michel Sardou (“En chantant”) to Mireille Mathieu via Gérard Lenorman, Joe Dassin, Johnny Hallyday, Herve Vilard and Sheila.
The singer-songwriter, whose funeral will be held Thursday in Milan, has also participated 15 times in the Sanremo song festival, a real institution in the peninsula and followed each year by millions of viewers. He won the 1980 edition of the festival with the title “Solo noi”. According to the newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, during his career he has sold more than 100 million records.