Toto Cutugno has died. The celebrated singer-songwriter passed away at the age of 80 at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, where he was being treated.
“We are still in disbelief, Toto”, the first words of the New Imaie, to which Cutugno was a member. “A little over a month ago you had crossed the finish line of 80 years. You, who wrote the lyrics of the Italian songs that everyone remembers and loves to sing at all latitudes of the planet.
Songs, which with your generosity you also gave to colleagues like Adriano Celentano, Fausto Leali, The Rich and the Poor, Miguel Bosè, Johnny Halliday, Dalida and Luis Miguel (it would be a task to list them all).
We will always remember you and inside of us we will let you sing…with the guitar in your hand. Hello Toto, yes, heaven awaits you. Your colleagues and friends of the New Imaie”.
Toto Cutugno, born on July 7, 1943, is the symbol of Italian melody abroad thanks to L'Italiano. Fifteen participations at the Sanremo Festival under his belt (with a historic performance in 1990 in a duo with Ray Charles), author of hits that are also much loved abroad.
From L'Italiano to Il tempo se ne va, La mia musica, Solo noi, to name just a few, Cutugno was a true showman, capable of moving with extreme ease from songwriting to television hosting (in 1987 he hosted a successful edition of 'Domenica In').
Tuscan but raised in Liguria, before he was twenty he founded a group, Toto ei Tati, performing his songs live. 1975 was the year of great success in France and the following year he made his debut at the Sanremo Festival: on the Ariston stage he went up with his group, Albatros, with 'Volo AZ 504'. He came in third.
Shortly after, 'Nel cuore nei sensi' arrives, with which he participates in the Festivalbar and which leaps to the top of the charts in the French version recorded by Gerard Lenorman. Cutugno also writes the first song for the great Adriano Celentano, Soli. A song that will remain at the top of the charts for months.
For the debut album, 'Voglio l'anima', we had to wait until 1979. But Toto had many successes at the national level: 'Solo noi' won at Sanremo in 1980, the year in which Cutugno wrote all the songs for the album 'Il tempo se ne va' for Adriano Celentano.
After the release of 'La mia musica' in 1981, in 1983 he appeared at Sanremo with what would become his signature song, L'Italiano. The song sold millions of records and made him famous all over the world, including Israel, Iran and Korea. In 2010, after a difficult period due to health reasons, he arrived at Sanremo with Belen Rodriguez, with whom he sang Aeroplani.
In 2012, invited by Fabio Fazio, he performed L'Italiano with the Red Army Choir. His bond with the festival was so strong that in 2005 he gave up the Olympia in Paris to participate. And, between one festival and another, Toto toured the world, never standing still, always faithful to his slogan: "Let me sing with a guitar in my hand, let me sing, I'm Italian".
In 2019, a Ukrainian scandal broke out: a group of Ukrainian MPs sent a letter asking to bar Toto Cutugno from entering the country due to his alleged pro-Russian stance. Cutugno had a sold-out concert in Kiev for some time.
He replied that he was “surprised and worried”, always declaring himself distant from politics: “I am apolitical”. In 2021 he was happy to pass the baton to Maneskin at Eurovision: he was in fact the winner of the European contest in 1990.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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