Toto (Salvatore) Cutugno is an Italian singer, songwriter and musician. The world-wide recognition of the singer brought the performance of the musical composition "L'italiano".
Back in 1990, the singer became winner of the international music contest "Eurovision". Cutugno is a real discovery for Italy. The lyrics of his songs, the fans parse into quotes.
The childhood and youth of the artist Salvatore Cutugno
Toto Cutugno was born in 1943 in Fosdinovo, Tuscany. His parents gave him a very beautiful name - Salvatore. The singer himself admits that his name is a personal talisman that attracts good luck.
The father of the future Italian star loved music. He did not have the opportunity to devote his life to a career as a singer, as he needed to feed his family. Father was a seafarer. It is known that Papa Toto knew how to play the tuba.
At the age of 5, Salvator moves to La Spezia with his family. Here the boy was assigned to a music school in the trumpet class. The boy was drawn to musical instruments, so along with the fact that he mastered playing the trumpet, the boy learned to play drums and guitar. This was facilitated by the example of a father who "put together" his own group and took his seven-year-old son as a drummer.
The situation with the tragic death of his sister had a great stress on the boy. The girl died quite by accident. My sister was having lunch with Toto, and she choked on her dinner. She died in front of her brother. This situation greatly affected the psychological state of the boy. He began to rarely smile, became thoughtful and serious. This is noticeable in his photographs, in almost all the images he is sad.
The idea to become a popular singer came to Toto when he lived in La Spezia. There he swam a lot in the sea, rested, studied music. He wrote his first lyrics as a teenager. Passion for music grew into collecting records. The boy began to collect records, starting in 1950. Now the singer's collection has more than 3,5 copies.
He began to “combine” the poems that Toto wrote with music. His father was his mentor for a long time. He supported his son's desire to make music. Dad pushed Toto to the top of the musical Olympus.
Musical career of Toto Cutugno
Toto Cutugno has always been liked by the fairer sex for his musicality and romance. He first fell in love at the age of 14. It was with this period of life that the writing of the first musical composition “La strada dell'amore”, which the composer dedicated to his beloved, is connected.
The singer began his musical career at the age of 13. Toto participated in the accordion competition, taking 3rd place. The participants who took part in the competition were an order of magnitude older than Toto himself, so it was a great success for him, and a good motivation to move further in this direction.
Cutugno continues to improve his musical skills. The singer realized that the drum kit and accordion attracted much less attention than the piano. At this time, the young man begins to take a great interest in jazz.
Participation in the G-Unit group
He was accepted into the G-Unit team. The jazz band goes on a tour of Scandinavia. At that time, Toto was barely 19 years old. After the group played concerts, the singer finally decided that he wanted to connect his life only with music.
Upon returning from the tour, Toto needed to live on something. Earned money was sorely lacking. The singer becomes the founder of the group Toto and Tati. The musical group included Cutugno's brother and several old friends who were also passionate about music.
The musical group did not have its own repertoire. Therefore, the guys begin to perform popular hits of past years. Toto and Tati did not get to serious events. But they were increasingly invited to restaurants, pubs and various cafes.
Earned money was enough for a normal life. Further, their repertoire begins to expand. With their program, they traveled all over Italy.
Toto's meteoric rise as a composer began in 1974. It was then that the future Italian star met V. Pallavicini. It was a very productive acquaintance for both parties, which gave the music lovers the musical composition "Africa", which was sung by the Frenchman Joe Dassin. This song became a real world hit, so the Frenchman invited Toto to write a few more works for him.
The first popularity of Toto Cutugno
Toto woke up popular. Offers from such stars as M. Mathieu, K. Francois, D. Holliday, Dalida, M. Sardou begin to pour in on him. It was a real success, which allowed the whole world to get acquainted with the name of Toto Cutugno. However, one composer's success was not enough for him. He still wanted to see himself as a singer on the big stage.
Toto and Tati's group still continues to exist. After the composer's success, Toto gives his musical group a more sonorous name - "Albatross", and sends an application to the festival "San Remo - 1976". The musicians at the festival performed the track "Volo AZ-504", which brought them the third place. This track sold 8 million copies in France. It was a real breakthrough for Toto.
On this wave of popularity Albatros once again takes part in this festival. Exactly one year later, they apply, and the jury approves their application. Albatross takes 5th place, which is a real blow for Toto. He counted exclusively on the first place. But, a series of failures is just beginning.
Albatross broke up. During that period, Toto quarreled with his friend Pallavicini. He said that the popularity of the musical group is solely his merit. He believed that it was thanks to him that Albatross received a portion of popularity. For Toto, this was a real stab in the back. For a long time he could not even sit down at the piano, not to mention the performance of musical compositions.
At the end of 1970, inspiration returns to Toto. The composer again takes up the pen. This time he wrote songs for French and Italian musicians. From under his pen turned out real world-class hits. During this period of time he worked for O. Vanoni, Marcella, D. Nazaro, “'Ricchi e Poveri”.
Hit “Solo noi”
In 1980, Toto won first place with the song "Solo noi" at one of the music competitions held in Sanremo. And in 1981, the long-awaited debut album of the artist was released, which was called “La mia musica”. It is interesting that he recorded the tracks that were included in this album in several languages at once, since at that time his work was carried away not only in his native country.
In 1983, from his pen comes the most famous hit - "L'italiano" (better known in Russia as "Lachate mi cantare"). This song goes straight to the heart of music lovers. She won first place at the music festival and received gold status. In the same 1983, the performer also shot a video clip for the song.
On the wave of popularity, the singer releases the track “Serenata” (“Serenade”). At that time, the performer was already known in the territory of the former USSR. "Serenade" begins to sound in almost every Soviet home. The popularity of Toto in the literal sense of the word has swept the entire planet.
Toto Cutugno for the first time in the SSR
In 1985, the composer and singer visited the USSR for the first time. On the territory of the Soviet Union, Toto performed the most striking musical compositions. During the 20 days of his stay in the USSR, Cutugno managed to play 28 concerts.
On average, over 400 thousand fans attended the singer's concerts. Toto's success was so huge that twice the singer received an offer to star in the New Year's Blue Light.
Ray Charles in 1990 performs Toto's musical composition "Gli amori". Imbued with the moment, Cutugno announced that this was the last concert of the performer. In 1990, Toto won the Eurovision Song Contest.
In the mid-1990s, the performer returned to San Remo again. There he presents a new song "Voglio andare a vivere in campagna". In 1998, the composer and singer received an offer to become a TV presenter on one of the local TV channels. Since 1998, Toto has been leading the program “I fetti vostri”.
Toto continues to release real musical hits from his pen. At the same time, he holds the position of a TV presenter. He loves his new role. In addition, the rating of the program “I fetti vostri”, thanks to the participation of Toto, has increased several times.
In the spring of 2006, Cutugno organized a concert on the territory of the Russian Federation. The singer held a concert in the Kremlin itself. He performed with the Benefit in the Circle of Friends program. Together with him, such famous Russian singers as Diana Gurtskaya, Tatyana Ovsienko, Svetlana Svetikova, Igor Nikolaev, Alexander Marshal performed on the same stage. The second time Toto appeared in Russia was in 2014. He was a guest of the popular Evening Urgant program.
In the same 2014, he performed with a concert program, which he dedicated to the fairer sex on their International Women's Day. After the speech, Toto gave an interview to reporters. The singer spoke very flatteringly about Russia, and said that this was his second homeland.
Toto's personal life
The performer has always had great success with the opposite sex. But Toto himself has repeatedly admitted to reporters that he is monogamous. The man entered into an official marriage at the age of 27 years. His chosen one was Carla, whom he met in one of the local clubs of the resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro, where the group's concert was held.
A young family dreams of having children. Toto asks his wife for heirs. The couple is planning a pregnancy, and soon the cherished stripes appear. Later, it turns out that Carla is expecting twins. Toto was infinitely happy, but the doctor said that if Karl decides to give birth, then for her it could end in death. After that, the woman could no longer have children.
Toto still dreams of an heir. In 1989, the singer's son Niko was born. Niko wasn't from Carla. During concert activities, Toto started an affair with one of the flight attendants. The secret romance lasted about two years. When the mistress became pregnant and gave birth to a son, the performer revealed the secret to his official wife.
Illegitimate son of an artist
Toto's wife admitted to reporters that the news of her illegitimate son and mistress shocked her. However, Carla wanted Cutugno's father's happiness, so she found the strength to forgive her husband. She receives Niko at her home, and she and her husband help him in everything.
2007 was a real test for the singer. He was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors reacted in time and performed a complex operation to remove the tumor. After the operation, Toto needed a long rehabilitation course, and he began to appear on stage less and less. In 2007, he had scheduled concerts on the territory of the Russian Federation, but the performer, due to poor health, canceled the concert tour.
At the moment, the disease has receded. Toto says that he has completely given up bad habits. He spends a lot of time with his family. He also began to get involved in football and swimming.
The singer has an official website where you can get acquainted with his work and the latest news. The site contains a biography of the singer, as well as information about upcoming performances.
Toto Cutugno now
The performer continues to delight fans with his work. In 2017, he performed with a pop star concert of the 80s of the XX century. The singer's performance made a real splash on the listeners, they kept shouting "encore".
In 2018, Toto went on a big tour. In the same year, information was leaked to the press that the show business star was going to go into politics.
Silvio Berlusconi considered the possibility of nominating Toto Cutugno as a member of parliament. At 75, Toto continues to travel the world with pre-recorded hits.
