Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno (; born 7 July 1943) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his worldwide hit song, " L'Italiano", released on his 1983 album of the same title. Cutugno also won the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 held in Zagreb, Croatia,

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

with the song " Insieme: 1992", for which he wrote both lyrics and music.

Biography

Toto Cutugno was born in

Fosdinovo Fosdinovo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa. Fosdinovo borders the following municipalities: Aulla, Carrara, Cast ...

, Lunigiana, ( Tuscany), to a Sicilian father from Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and a homemaker mother. Shortly after his birth the family moved to

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

( Liguria). He began his musical career as a drummer, and later formed an Italo disco band together with Lino Losito and Mario Limongelli called Albatros. He also started a career as songwriter, contributing some of French-American singer Joe Dassin most well-known songs such as '' L'été indien'', ''

Et si tu n'existais pas "Et si tu n'existais pas" ( en, And if you did not exist) is a 1975 song by Joe Dassin. It is the first track of his album '' Joe Dassin (Le Costume blanc)''. The lyrics are by Pierre Delanoë and Claude Lemesle, the music is by Salvatore Cutug ...

'' and ''Le Jardin du Luxembourg'' (written with

Vito Pallavicini Vito Pallavicini (22 April 1924 – 16 August 2007) was an Italian lyricist. Born in Vigevano, he wrote numerous songs, during his career for Adriano Celentano (''Azzurro''), Caterina Caselli (''Insieme a te non ci sto più "Insieme a te non ...

). He also co-wrote Dalida's '' Monday Tuesday... Laissez moi danser'' ("Voglio l'anima"), which enjoyed Platinum record status shortly after its release. In 1976, Albatros participated for the first time in the Sanremo Music Festival finishing in third place with the song ''Volo 504''. Following another chart success with the song ''Santamaria De Portugal'' Albatros effectively dibanded, and Cutugno concentrated on his solo career. In 1980 Cutugno returned to the Sanremo Music Festival and won with the song ''Solo noi''. However, Cutugno's affiliation with the festival is mostly remembered for ''L'italiano'' ("The Italian"), a song he presented in 1983. Originally intended for

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian musician, singer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is dubbed "''il Molleggiato''" (the springy one) because of his dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both commercial and ...

, who declined to sing it, ''L'italiano''s recapitulation of some of Italy's most popular social traits, made the song very popular with Italian expats. Although the song finished only fifth in Sanremo, it went on to become Cutugno's biggest international hit. Cutugno would finish second in six more editions of Sanremo festival: in 1984 with the song ''Serenata'' ("Serenade"); in 1987 with ''Figli'' ("Sons" or "Children"); in 1988 with ''Emozioni'' ("Emotions"); in 1989 with the song ''Le mamme'' ("Mothers"); in 1990 with the song ''Gli amori'' ("Loves", but entitled "Good Love Gone Bad" in Ray Charles's version); and in 2005 with

Annalisa Minetti Annalisa Minetti (born 27 December 1976 in Rho) is an Italian singer, politician and Paralympic athlete. Minetti was a beauty pageant contestant in the 1997 edition of Miss Italia; she gained public attention because she was the first blind woman ...

with the song ''Come noi nessuno al mondo'' ("No One Else in the World Like Us"). Toto Cutugno participated to the festival a total of 13 times. In 1990 Cutugno won the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

in Zagreb with his own composition, " Insieme: 1992" ("Together: 1992"), a ballad which celebrated European political integration and the establishment of the European Union. Along with Gigliola Cinquetti, Italy's second Eurovision winner, he presented the 1991 contest, which was staged in Rome as a result of his victory. Aged 46 years, 302 days, Cutugno became the oldest winner of the contest to date, surpassing the record set by

André Claveau André Claveau (, 17 December 1911 – 4 July 2003) was a popular singer in France from the 1940s to the 1960s. He won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, My Love), with music composed by Pierre Delanoë and l ...

in 1958. Cutugno's record stood until 2000. He was also the last winner for Italy until Måneskin in 2021. In March 2019 a group of politicians from the Ukrainian Parliament tried to stop Cutugno from performing in Kyiv, demanding through an open letter to the head of the country's security services,

Vasyl Hrytsak Vasyl Serhiiovych Hrytsak ( uk, Василь Сергійович Грицак; born 14 January 1967, Bushcha, Dubno Raion, Rivne Oblast, the USSR) is a Ukrainian serviceman, army general, and the fourteenth head of the Security Service of Ukraine ...

, to ban the singer from entering Ukrainian territory, labelling him as "a Russian war supporter in Ukraine". Two days before, fellow singer Al Bano was black listed on the Ukrainian website "

Myrotvorets Myrotvorets or Mirotvorets ( uk, Миротворець, lit=Peacemaker ), is a Ukrainian Kyiv-based website that publishes a running list, and sometimes personal information, of people who are considered by authors of the website to be "enemies ...

". Despite the controversy, the concert was eventually held in Kyiv on 23 March.

Personal life

Cutugno is married to Carla Cutugno.

Discography

* ''Come ieri, come oggi, come sempre'' (1978) * ''Voglio l'anima'' (1979) * ''Innamorata, innamorato, innamorati'' (1980) * ''La mia musica'' (1982) * ''L'italiano'' (1983) * ''Per amore o per gioco'' (1985) * ''Azzura malinconia'' (1986) * ''Mediterraneo'' (1987) * ''Toto Cutugno'' (1990) * Insieme: 1992 (1990) * ''Non è facile essere uomini'' (1992) * ''Voglio andare a vivere in campagna'' (1995) * ''Canzoni nascoste'' (1997) * ''Il treno va'' (2002) * ''Cantando'' (2004) * ''Come noi nessuno al mondo'' (2005) * ''Un falco chiuso in gabbia'' (2008) * ''I Miei Sanremo'' (2010) * ''Ritratto: 50 anni di musica'' (2015)

With Albatros

* ''Albatros'' (1976)

References

External links