CNN —Salvatore “Toto” Cutugno, the Italian singer-songwriter best known for his 1983 hit “L’Italiano,” has died at age 80, local media reported Tuesday.
Cutugno was also a regular at Italy’s Sanremo song contest, which he won in 1980 with “Solo Noi,” and was runner-up multiple times.
But he was most famous for his 1983 smash hit, “L’Italiano,” a pop song that celebrated the nation’s identity and culture.
Though it didn’t make an impression in the United States or United Kingdom, it shot him to stardom across Europe.
In Zagreb in 1990, Cutugno won Italy its second Eurovision Song Contest victory, with his song “Insieme: 1992” (“Together: 1992”), which he composed and wrote himself.
Persons:
CNN — Salvatore “ Toto ” Cutugno, “, ”, Cutugno’s, Danilo Mancuso, Hospital “, Giorgia Meloni, Cutugno, Johnny Hallyday, Dalida, senza, sotto gli, Toto Cutugno, Gigliola, Carla, Nicolo
Organizations:
CNN, Hospital, Italian, Sanremo, European Union, Eurovision
Locations:
Italian, Milan’s San, United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Zagreb, Italy, Rome