Toto Cutugno

Salvatore "Toto" Cutugno (born 7 July 1943) is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his worldwide hit song, "L'Italiano", released on his 1983 album of the same title. Cutugno also won the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 held in Zagreb, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia, with the song "Insieme: 1992", for which he wrote both lyrics and music.

Toto Cutugno was born in Fosdinovo, Lunigiana, (Tuscany), to a Sicilian father from Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and a homemaker mother. Shortly after his birth the family moved to La Spezia (Liguria).

He began his musical career as a drummer, and later formed an Italo disco band together with Lino Losito and Mario Limongelli called Albatros. He also started a career as songwriter, contributing some of French-American singer Joe Dassin most well-known songs such as L'été indien, Et si tu n'existais pas and Le Jardin du Luxembourg (written with Vito Pallavicini). He also co-wrote Dalida's Monday Tuesday... Laissez moi danser ("Voglio l'anima"), which enjoyed Platinum record status shortly after its release.

In 1976, Albatros participated for the first time in the Sanremo Music Festival finishing in third place with the song Volo 504. Following another chart success with the song Santamaria De Portugal Albatros effectively disbanded, and Cutugno concentrated on his solo career.

In 1980 Cutugno returned to the Sanremo Music Festival and won with the song Solo noi. However, Cutugno's affiliation with the festival is mostly remembered for L'italiano ("The Italian"), a song he presented in 1983. Originally intended for Adriano Celentano, who declined to sing it, L'italiano's recapitulation of some of Italy's most popular social traits, made the song very popular with Italian expats. Although the song finished only fifth in Sanremo, it went on to become Cutugno's biggest international hit.