Luigi Verderame, usually known just as Luigi, is a Belgian singer, popular internationally in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He sang mainly in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, but he also sang in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 ...

, Turkish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. His most well known hits are ''Une Maman'' (1964) and ''Pitie'' (1967).

Childhood

Luigi was born on July 9, 1950, in a small town near

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

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 ...

to parents that immigrated from

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. Luigi had three older brothers, and three sisters, and all of them were taught to enjoy singing and music. At the age of 8 Luigi learned to read sheet-music, and to play the

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. His three older brothers formed a band that played in cinemas, weddings and parties in their vicinity. In 1963, little Luigi (then only 13) joined his brothers' band as the lead singer to sing in a band competition.

Fame

In 1964, when Luigi was only 14, he recorded the song ''Une Maman'' (''a mother'', in French), which became a huge hit in . Because his

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

was considered long and hard to remember, he became famous as just Luigi. In the following two years, Luigi released several other songs to the hit parades: (When I bought my guitar), ''L'automne'' (The autumn), ''Apres tant d'annees'' (After many years), ''Main dans la main'' (Hand in hand), ''Suzy et Jo'' (Suzy and Jo), and ''Nadine''. In 1966, he toured Turkey's major cities, with a big success. He recorded his hit Nadine in Turkish as "Sensiz" i.e. without you. In 1967, he recorded his second huge hit, ''Pitie'' (Pity). By then a mega-star in several countries, he went on long performance tours in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and, at December 1968,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The 18-year-old Luigi toured Israel with his three brothers, and received the treatment of a mega-star, performing in packed halls in front of ecstatic crowds, and fussed over by the media, which called him "the new teenage idol". He received such a warm welcome that he decided to return to Israel a few months later (after another tour of Lebanon and Syria). The publisher of his albums in Israel raised the idea that Luigi record

versions of his hit songs; Luigi, who did not know that language but had an extraordinary talent for languages, enthusiastically took up the offer, and in February 1969 he released an album with four of his biggest hits in Hebrew, and later recorded more of his hits in Hebrew. He continued to tour Europe, but returned to Israel often and started learning the Hebrew language. In December 1969, he topped the Israeli charts with an original hit in Hebrew ''12 שעות'' written by

Nurit Hirsh Nurit Hirsh (; born August 13, 1942) is an Israeli composer, arranger and conductor who has written over a thousand Hebrew songs. Three of her most famous and widely known songs are '' Ba-Shanah ha-Ba'ah'' (''Next Year'', lyrics by Ehud Manor), ...

and

Ehud Manor Ehud Manor (; born Ehud Weiner; July 13, 1941 – April 12, 2005) was an Israeli lyricist, translator, poet and radio and TV personality. He is widely considered to have been Israel's most prolific lyricist of all time, having written or translat ...

. In 1970, he also recorded English versions of a few popular Israeli songs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verderame, Luigi Living people 1950 births Belgian pop singers Belgian people of Italian descent French-language singers of Belgium Italian-language singers of Belgium Turkish-language singers of Belgium Hebrew-language singers of Belgium English-language singers from Belgium 20th-century Belgian male singers 20th-century Belgian singers