The voice and soul of Italy: 5 interesting facts from the life of legendary musician Toto Cutugno. Photo and video

On Tuesday, August 22, Italian media reported the death of 80-year-old pop singer, composer and instrumentalist Toto Cutugno (real name - Salvatore). You've probably heard his hits "L'Italiano", "Il tempo se ne va", "Serenata", "La mia musica" or, say, "Solo noi". During his career the artist has composed more than 400 songs. All of them won the hearts and souls of listeners all over the world - 100 million copies of disks were sold.

And what Toto Cutugno was outside the stage life? OBOZREVATEL collected the most interesting facts from his biography.

1. Lived music since childhood

Coutugno had no special education. Music seemed to be in the future star's blood. His teacher and mentor was his father, a military sailor, who wrote music reminiscent of Italian folk canzonas. When Toto was little, his father taught him to play the trumpet. And at 7 the boy already knew how to reflect the rhythm on the drum kit. He did not stop there: he mastered the accordion, guitar and piano. He also collected vinyl records. This valuable collection has more than 3.5 thousand copies.

At the age of 13, the young artist took part in an accordionist competition, where his competitors were much older and more experienced guys. This did not frighten Coutugno - he won 3rd place.

2. In music, he exposed his feelings

Coutugno went down in history as a musician who wrote touching compositions that often brought fans to tears. The reason for this was family tragedies. The first unfolded before the eyes of 5-year-old Toto. During one of the dinners, the boy's 7-year-old sister accidentally choked on Italian gnocchi. Alas, it was not possible to save her. The future artist was amazed at what he saw, so that all childhood was gloomy and did not smile.

Later, another grief happened in Toto's family. His mother died. On emotions he wrote a soulful song "Le mamme", where he described about his memories connected with the most dear person: "strong hugs covered me from night fears", "she had thousands of nice ways to wake me up when I did not want to go to school", "she wrapped me with a blanket up to my nose; I was a little scared when it rained".

3. Could have become an accountant

Ignoring Toto's success in music, his parents insisted that he study at the university, and not "engaged in frivolous business". So the young man received a specialty accountant. Purely formally. He never worked at his profession.

At the age of 19, he went on tour to Scandinavian countries as part of the famous jazz band Guido Manuzardi. Their bright and emotional performances finally convinced Coutugno to devote his life to music. After the tour, the artist created the group "Toto and Tati", which included his younger brother Roberto and three friends.

4. Wrote lyrics and music for famous artists

When the band Toto and Tati broke up, Coutugno met the writer Vito Pallavicini. This meeting became fateful for the artist. The first result of their work was the song "L'ete indien" ("Indian Summer"), which was performed by Joe Dassin, a French singer and musician with Jewish roots of Ukrainian-American origin. It quickly traveled around the world and topped the charts in different countries. After the crazy success, Joe asked Toto to write another song. It became "Et si tu n'existais pas" ("If there were no you"), which is still one of the most sensual compositions. Of course, Dassin still repeatedly turned to Coutugno.

Other regular customers for the Italian's lyrics and music were Adriano Celentano, Dalida, Mireille Mathieu and other famous performers.

5. Became a father by cheating on his wife

Toto met his future wife Carla at one of his own concerts. With her he dreamed of creating a family with lots of babies. However, after an abortion, the musician's chosen one could not become a mother. And yet Coutugno has a son - gave birth to a stewardess. The wife was severely affected by her husband's affair, but eventually forgave him. Further the musician lived with Carla, but until the end of his life often visited his son.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL wrote about why Toto Cutugno adored in the USSR and after the collapse of the Union, and what caused the death of the musician.

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