Helmut Lotti (born Helmut Barthold Johannes Alma Lotigiers; 22 October 1969), is a Belgian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Goldsmith B (2009)
Belgian tenor Helmut Lotti wants to find his own style
''

WDEZ WDEZ (101.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Wausau, Wisconsin, United States, the station serves the Wausau-Stevens Point area. The station is currently owned by Midwest Communications. The station is al ...

''. Retrieved 23 April 2010. and singer-songwriter. Lotti performs in several styles and languages. Once an

Elvis impersonator An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the world as ent ...

, he has sung African and

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

and

Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate ...

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s, and he

crossed over ''Crossed Over'' is a 2002 Canadian television film directed by Bobby Roth, and starring Diane Keaton as Beverly Lowry and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Karla Faye Tucker. It is based on Lowry's memoir ''Crossed Over: A Murder, A Memoir''. Cast *Dian ...

into classical music in the 1990s.

Life and music

The son of Luc and Rita (née Lagrou), Helmut Barthold Johannes Alma Lotigiers was born in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and began his singing career with a visual and singing style in an obvious imitation of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, and was described as "De Nieuwe Elvis" (in Dutch) or "The New Elvis". His first two albums were ''Vlaamse Nachten'' ("Flemish Nights", 1990) and ''Alles Wat Ik Voel'' ("All That I Feel", 1992). After a few more albums, he changed direction in 1995 with the first of what became a long series of "Helmut Lotti Goes Classic" albums, which proved to increase his popularity. Since 2000 he has also made successful recordings in traditional

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and Russian-style music. Lotti sings in his native language

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, as well as

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

, English, French, German,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, Italian,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, Russian, Spanish,

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

, Zulu,

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages * Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele *Northern Ndebele language Northern ...

and others. His albums has sold over 13 million worldwide. Lotti does volunteer work as an ambassador for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

. Lotti took part in the '' 0110'' concerts against racism, organised by

Tom Barman Thomas Andrew Barman (born 1 January 1972), is a Belgian musician and film director. Barman studied at the film school of St.-Lucas in Brussels, but did not finish his studies because he wished to pursue a career in music. In 1989, he began by ...

. He was married 3 times, divorced 3 times and has 1 daughter. Lotti was diagnosed with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

as an adult.

Discography

References

External links

Helmut Lotti official site (English language)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotti, Helmut 1969 births Living people Musicians from Ghent 20th-century Belgian male singers Belgian singer-songwriters Male songwriters Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) English-language singers from Belgium Dutch-language singers of Belgium 21st-century Belgian male singers People on the autism spectrum Elvis impersonators