Cutugno’s manager, Danilo Mancuso, told reporters that Toto died “after a long illness” at Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, where Silvio Berlusconi, the patriarch of Italian politics, had died two months earlier. In 2007, Cutugno was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but later the singer was able to defeat the insidious disease. One of the first to find out about the disease was a close friend of Toto’s, the famous singer Al Bano, who helped him find the right doctor, who extended the artist’s life by up to 16 years. He underwent chemotherapy and also had surgery to remove a kidney. The disease receded, but recently there was a relapse.
Maestro said goodbye to his fans on his 80th birthday on July 7, posting a video message thanking the audience for their devotion and boundless love. “I didn’t think there were that many,” the hero of the day admitted then modestly.
The creative path of the musician can be called without exaggeration the “Italian dream”. Toto (real name Salvatore) Cutugno was born in 1943 in the Tuscan town of Fosdinovo. Thanks to the genes of his father, who masterfully played the trumpet, the boy independently mastered not only this instrument, but also the drums and accordion. Toto began to participate in music contests from the age of 13, and soon he himself was committed to creating his own groups. In 1965 he formed the group Toto e Tati, in which he played drums and was so successful that he landed a contract with a major record company, Carosello Records. His rise to musical Olympus occurred in the 83rd year from the Sanremo music competition, in which Cutugno participated as many as 15 times with such legendary compositions as “Serenata” and “Italian” L. “The last composition did not become only in a business In 1990, Toto became the first Italian performer to win the International Eurovision Song Contest in Zagreb (Croatia) with the song Insieme 1992.
Cutugno was one of the most successful Italian performers and composers. It has more than 100 million copies sold worldwide. They released 16 albums, 10 compilations, and 28 singles. The last album, L’italiano-la nuova versione, was released in 2013. During his brilliant career, Toto wrote more than 300 songs, which he generously shared with his colleagues. He gave Joe Dassin “Et si tu n existais pas”, “Salut”, for Mireille Mathieu Cutugno he wrote “Ciao, bambino, Sorry”, for Adriano Celentano- “Amore no” and “Soli”. Celentano, by the way, was also offered the famous “Lasciate mi cantare” and “L” italiano “, but for some reason he refused. Therefore, the author had to sing it himself, which, naturally, he never learned about. he regretted in his life.Today, when Cutugno died, the legends of Italian music lined up to express for the last time their admiration for his talent and confess their love to Cutugno.
“You were and will be great and unforgettable,” Adriano Celentano shared on Instagram (owned by Meta, recognized as an extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), admitting that Cutugno once dedicated the hit of all times and peoples “L’italiano” to him. . him.
“Toto, dear and beloved friend. Companion of numerous and unforgettable creative and life episodes. I wish you a happy journey. I will miss you,” wrote Pupo (real name Enzo Ginazzi)
“Goodbye Toto, friend of our life. You lived for the music, for the public. And for us you will live forever”, this is how Ricchi e Poveri reacted to the artist’s departure.
Al Bano added a hitch to the ointment, remembering that Cutugno was, in fact, truly loved and appreciated outside of his native Italy. “For unknown reasons, in Italy Toto was treated with snobbery, even though he wrote for Celentano himself.”
Today, all Italian publications write about the amazing popularity of Cutugno abroad, separately noting his phenomenal success in Russia. At the peak of his career, in the 1980s, Toto Cutugno was the first Italian performer who managed to find the key to the multi-million audience of the current pro-Soviet space. There were queues to see the Maestro’s records and the concert tickets were always sold out. The singer repeatedly toured the Soviet Union, and then Russia. In 2011 he gave his first solo concert in the Kremlin. It was Cutugno who took the stage in 2013 at the Ariston Theater, where the famous Sanremo festival is held, the Alexandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army. The well-known music critic Marino Bartoletti recalled this episode on social networks, suggesting that if Toto could invite the Russian Ensemble to Sanremo today, “it would be an incredible gesture of peace.”
The maestro’s farewell will take place on August 24 at 11 a.m. local time, in the Church of Saints Nereo and Achilles in Milan.
