Willy Alberti (born Carel Verbrugge; 14 October 1926 – 18 February 1985) was a Dutch singer, who sang in Dutch and Italian. He was also an actor and a radio and TV personality. Alberti was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

as the third of eight children to Jacobus Wilhelm Verbrugge and Sophia Jacoba van Musscher. He sang with family members at a very young age. He began recording professionally in the early 1940s. In 1944 he married Ria Kuiper and his daughter

Willeke Alberti Willeke Alberti (born 3 February 1945) (real name: Willy Albertina Verbrugge) is a Dutch singer and actress, the daughter of entertainer and singer Willy Alberti (1926–1985) and Hendrika Geertruida Kuiper (1921–2011). Biography Willeke Albe ...

, later to become a successful Dutch vocalist herself, was born in 1945. After the war Alberti established himself in the Netherlands with Italian songs; he became increasingly popular in the 1950s, when he had a string of hits beginning with '' Nel blu dipinto di blu'' in 1958. In the 1960s he began to act alongside his daughter Willeke; as a duo, they also scored hits on the Dutch charts. From 1965 father and daughter presented a popular monthly television show for the

AVRO AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broa ...

. Alberti won two

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed b ...

s in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Alberti's fame began to decline, though he did score a few more hits. In 1984, Alberti was diagnosed with

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, and he died in Amsterdam on 18 February of the following year, aged 58. He was cremated at the Westgaarde Crematorium in Amsterdam.

Dutch singles

;Pre-Top 40 *Ik zing dit lied voor jou alleen 1946 *Veel mooier dan het mooiste schilderij 1946 *Droomland 1950 with Ans Heidendaal *Ci-ciu-ci 1955 *Mijn sprookjesboek 1955 *Vivere 1955 *Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare) 1958 #4 *Come prima 1958 #2 *Piove 1959 #1 *Li per li 1959 *Una marcia infa 1959 #3 *Marina 1959 #1 (US: Billboard: #42 Cash Box: #12)first week
and

*Romantica 1960 #14 *Quando quando quando 1962 #11 *Sei rimasta sola 1963 #8 with Willeke Alberti *Sabato sera 1964 #44 with Willeke Alberti ;Top 40 *Dat afgezaagde zinnetje 1967 #2 with Willeke Alberti *Mooi Amsterdam 1968 with

Wim Sonneveld Willem "Wim" Sonneveld (; 28 June 1917 – 8 March 1974) was a Dutch cabaret artist and singer. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Kan, he is considered to be one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret. Sonneveld is generally viewed as a Dutch c ...

*De glimlach van een kind 1968 #26 * Ajax olé olé olé (je bent mijn glorie) 1969 *Chi-ri-bi-ri-bin pom pom pom 1969 with Willeke Alberti *Een reisje langs de Rijn 1969 with Willeke Alberti * We gaan naar Londen 1971 #17 *Juliana bedankt 1980 #18 *Niemand laat z'n eigen kind alleen 1983 #5 with Willeke Alberti *Liefde 1987 #38 *De glimlach van een kind (new version) 1995 #34 with Willeke Alberti *Jij bent het leven voor mij 1997 #32 with

André Hazes André Gerardus Hazes (30 June 1951 - 23 September 2004) was a Dutch singer and actor. As an accomplished levenslied singer, Hazes recorded 36 studio and live albums, and 55 singles prior to his death in 2004. His music is still well-known in th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberti, Willy 1926 births 1985 deaths Dutch levenslied singers Dutch male television actors Male actors from Amsterdam Musicians from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch male actors 20th-century Dutch male singers Nationaal Songfestival contestants Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Deaths from liver cancer