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's manager, Danilo Mancuso, said he died in Milan's San Raffaele Hospital "after a long illness, which had become more serious in the last few months," Italy's ANSA news agency reported.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid tribute to Cutugno, calling him a "true Italian."
The Tuscan-born Cutugno founded the disco band Albatros in 1974, but he also gained recognition as a songwriter for many European artists, including Johnny Hallyday and Dalida.
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. The song spoke of unity between nations, referencing in its title the year the European Union was due to be founded, according to the contest.
"Per noi, amori senza confini (For us, loves without borders)
Io e te, sotto gli stessi ideali (you and I, under the same ideals)
Insieme (Together), unite, unite, Europe...," Eurovision posted on X, quoting his winning song, adding: "Rest in peace Toto Cutugno, winner of the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest."
The following year, when Rome hosted the contest, he co-presented the show with Italy's 1964 winner, Gigliola Cinquetti.
Cutugno is survived by his wife, Carla, and their son, Nicolo.
