Legendary Singer Toto Cutugno Died

He was 80 years old.

Singer and composer Toto Cutugno (real name Salvatore) has died in Italy, according to Ansa news agency, citing his manager Danilo Mancuso. He was 80 years old.

“After a long illness, the singer has gotten worse in recent months,” Mancuso said.

The singer died around 4:00 pm at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan, where he had previously been hospitalized.

Cutugno was born on July 7, 1943 in the Tuscan town of Fosdinovo. At the age of 19, he organized the Toto e Tati band, with which he toured Italy, and since 1975 he has been performing with the Albatros band. Cutugno collaborated with French singer Joe Dassin.

In 1980, Cutugno began his solo career. He became famous with the song L'italiano, recorded in 1983. In 1990, the singer won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Insieme:1992 about European unity.

Cutugno was one of the most successful Italian singers — more than 100 million records with his songs were sold.