Salvatore “Toto” Cutugno has died at the age of 80.
Cutugno’s manager, Danilo Mancuso, revealed the news. The Eurovision 1990 champion passed away in hospital on Tuesday after battling a long illness that had recently worsened.
Born on 7 July 1943 in Tendola, Toto Cutugno grew to become one of Italy’s most successful singers and songwriters, selling over 100 million records worldwide.
His biggest hit was “L’Italiano” (“The Italian”), released in 1983. The song achieved international success and charted in multiple countries, including Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and West Germany. A number of other singers have also recorded covers of the song in their own languages.
Cutugno gained international fame once again in 1990. The Italian star represented his country at Eurovision in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, with the song “Insieme: 1992” (“Together: 1992”). The lyrics called for the fractured nations of Europe to cooperate and come together: “Europe is not far away / This is an Italian song for you / Together, unite, unite, Europe”.
The ‘1992’ mentioned in the title refers to the year in which the European Union was originally scheduled to begin operating (though this was delayed until the end of 1993).
The song cut through to the hearts of the national juries. Toto earned 149 points and emerged as the winner of the contest, earning Italy its second Eurovision victory. Cutugno went on to host the 1991 contest alongside Italy’s first Eurovision winner, Gigliola Cinquetti.
Toto became accustom to singing competitions during his career, particularly the prestigious Festival di Sanremo. The star participated 15 times in the festival, though he only managed to win once — in 1980 with “Solo noi” (“Only us”). He finished fifth in 1983 with “L’Italiano”.
A star has been lost, but Toto Cutugno’s music and passion for a united Europe will always live on.
The team at wiwibloggs sends our thoughts and condolences to Toto’s family and friends.
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It’s shocking to lose anyone, but a 90s winner? Too soon.
I’m so sorry. His fame is huge in Romania and he knew it. He was here many times.
I’m sorry to hear this!
The news has inspired me to look up some of his other songs and previous performances, like this one, from San Remo 1997:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QpDowggG97k&pp=ygUadG90byBjdXR1Z25vIHNhbiByZW1vIDE5OTc%3D
I’m not an Italian speaker, but what does he say at the end?
I didn’t know of Toto Cutugno outside of Eurovision, so all of my memories are Eurovision-related. 1990 was my very first ESC, so of course he was the first-ever act I saw winning the contest. He was undoubtedly a great singer and an imposing presence, singing a song that carried with it the aspirations of a Europe wanting to unite. Ah, those were such different times. 🙂 From 1991, I have different memories of Toto Cutugno as a faltering presenter, but of course he still entertained and made me laugh, even if it were somewhat unintentional or incorrect. His theatrics… Read more »
A big loss for the Eurovision community, Italian music scene, and arts in general. Toto Cutugno was a great singer, with so many memorable hits that will live forever. Including his winning song ”Insieme: 1992”. Rest in peace, Toto, and thank you for everything!
He was a legend. I do not know anyone who lived in the 80s and does not know L’Italiano, whose chorus starts La chanta mi cantare…..And 1990 was one of the most exciting and high-quality Eurovisions ever. And despite the initial hiccup with the Spanish performance, Croatians did a phenomenal job with the hosting. And that nail-biting voting… we did not know until the end whether Italy, France, or Ireland would win. And Insieme 1992 aged so well, and it has a new meaning when human and European Unity is being attack daily from all sides.
Yes, “L’Italiano” was his signature song, way bigger hit than “Insieme: 1992”. I can see why/how it won but it’s not my cup of tea despite Mr. Cutugno’s committed performance. I had to wonder why he wasn’t invited to Turin last year when Gigliola was. He should have been but maybe his condition at the time didn’t allow it.
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Sad news. My condoleances to his family and friends and many fans of Toto. May he rest in peace. He was a great singer and composer.
Ciao TOTO!
he was also a real gentleman, a very polite person in real life. We will miss you so much!
Rest in peace to the man who brought Italy their second victory
May Toto rest in peace
A MASSIVE blow to Italy and the Eurovision community. I personally wasn’t a fan of the lyrics of his 1990 winning song, but something about it felt right, the music and the triumphant nature of it solidified as probably one of Italy’s best entries (and that’s saying something given the last few years of them in the contest) as well as a great victory that was deserved. He was very clearly a legend and a musical role model for everyone who participated in San Remo and future stars should try to follow in his footsteps.
RIP.
RIP Toto. Your song will live on forever.
Rest in peace Toto. I never appreciated Insiemme back in 1990, but as I’ve grown older, I certainly appreciate it more and it’s certainly a very cleverly written song which you performed marvellously in Zagreb – you had some of the best backing singers in the history of the contest, especially the lady in the black and white! And your presenting skills were certainly different – us fans will NEVER forget your antics in 1991 : classic!
His backing singers were the Slovenian group Pepel in kri, who represented Yugoslavia at Eurovision 1975. According to Diggiloo Thrush, four members of the 1975 lineup took part in Toto’s performance.
Wow – thanks for that. Never knew that and love to learn new facts about Eurovision! Cheers