Michele Merlo (1 March 1993 in

Rosà Rosà is a town of 14.328 inhabitants in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. The name comes from the Latin word "roxata", the ancient name of the biggest irrigation channel that passed in that area. The municipality has got 4 hamlets (Travet ...

province of Vicenza The Province of Vicenza ( it, Provincia di Vicenza) is a province in the Veneto region in northern Italy. Its capital city is Vicenza. The province has an area of 2,722.53 km², and a total population of 865,082 (as of 2017). There are 1 ...

– 6 June 2021 in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

) was an Italian singer-songwriter.

Biography

Merlo's career started during the 10th Italian edition of ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. However, he obtained notability during the 2017 edition of ''

Amici di Maria De Filippi ''Amici'' (initially called ''Saranno Famosi'') is an Italian talent show. Created by Maria De Filippi, the show began in 2001 and has since aired annually. The show is produced by Fascino P.G.T. s.r.l. (owned by Maria De Filippi) and is broadca ...

'' when he sang under the name of Mike Bird, an loose English translation of his name and surname. He released his first album, ''Cinemaboy'', before the song "Tutto per me". In 2019, he released the songs "Non mi manchi più", "Mare", "Aquiloni" and "Tivù", while his second album, ''Cuori stupidi'', was released in January 2020, with a total of nine songs. On 3 June 2021, Merlo suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

caused by fulminant

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. He was recovering, though in critical condition and underwent surgery at the

Ospedale Maggiore The Policlinico of Milan ( it, Policlinico di Milano) also known as Ospedale Maggiore di Milano or Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, is one of the oldest hospitals in Italy, founded by Duke Francesco Sforza in 1456. Today it is a modern ...

, but died in the evening of 6 June 2021, at the age of 28. His family reported that Merlo went to hospital a couple of days before the hemorrhage, as he had leukemia symptoms, but was sent home.

References

External links

* 1993 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Italian male singers Italian male songwriters People from Vicenza Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Emilia-Romagna {{Italy-singer-stub