Helmut Lotti (born Helmut Barthold Johannes Alma Lotigiers; 22 October 1969), is a Belgian

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Goldsmith B (2009)
Belgian tenor Helmut Lotti wants to find his own style
'' WDEZ''. Retrieved 23 April 2010. and singer-songwriter. Lotti performs in several styles and languages. Once an

Elvis impersonator An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and rock singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the wor ...

, he has sung African and Latino and Jewish music

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s, and he crossed over into classical music in the 1990s. In 2023 he brought a selection of his favourite Heavy Metal songs at Graspop Metal Meeting.

Life and music

The son of Luc and Rita (née Lagrou), Helmut Barthold Johannes Alma Lotigiers was born in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and began his singing career with a visual and singing style in an obvious imitation of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, and was described as "De Nieuwe Elvis" (in Dutch) or "The New Elvis". His first two albums were ''Vlaamse Nachten'' ("Flemish Nights", 1990) and ''Alles Wat Ik Voel'' ("All That I Feel", 1992). After a few more albums, he changed direction in 1995 with the first of what became a long series of "Helmut Lotti Goes Classic" albums, which proved to increase his popularity. Since 2000 he has also made successful recordings in traditional Latino, African and Russian-style music. Lotti sings in his native language Dutch, as well as

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, English, French, German,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, Italian,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and others. His albums has sold over 13 million worldwide. Lotti does volunteer work as an ambassador for

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. Lotti took part in the '' 0110'' concerts against racism, organised by Tom Barman. He was married 3 times, divorced 3 times and has 1 daughter. Lotti was diagnosed with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

as an adult.

Discography

References

External links

Helmut Lotti official site (English language)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotti, Helmut 1969 births Living people Musicians from Ghent 20th-century Belgian male singers 20th-century Belgian singers Belgian singer-songwriters Belgian male singer-songwriters Belgian male songwriters Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) English-language singers from Belgium Dutch-language singers of Belgium Hebrew-language singers of Belgium Afrikaans-language singers of Belgium French-language singers of Belgium Italian-language singers of Belgium Russian-language singers of Belgium Spanish-language singers of Belgium Xhosa-language singers Ukrainian-language singers Zulu-language singers 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers Autistic musicians Belgian people with disabilities Singers with disabilities Elvis impersonators Belgian anti-racism activists