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Luigi Verderame, usually known just as Luigi, is a Belgian singer, [1] popular internationally in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He sang mainly in French, but he also sang in Italian, Hebrew, Turkish and English. His most well known hits are Une Maman (1964) and Pitie (1967).
Luigi was born on July 9, 1950, in a small town near Liège, Belgium to parents that immigrated from Sicily. 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 and guitar. 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.
In 1964, when Luigi was only 14, he recorded the song Une Maman (a mother, in French), which became a huge hit in Belgium and the rest of Europe, as well as in Turkey and in the Middle East. Because his surname 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: Quand j'ai achete ma guitare (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, Lebanon, Syria, and, at December 1968, Israel.
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 Hebrew 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 and Ehud Manor. In 1970, he also recorded English versions of a few popular Israeli songs.
Mehmet Barış Manço, better known by his stage name Barış Manço, was a Turkish rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television producer and show host. Beginning his musical career while attending Galatasaray High School, he was a pioneer of rock music in Turkey and one of the founders of the Anatolian rock genre. Manço composed around 200 songs and is among the best-selling Turkish artists to date and the winner of the most awards. Many of his songs were translated into other languages including English, French, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Persian, Hebrew, Urdu, Arabic, and German. Through his TV programme, 7'den 77'ye, Manço travelled the world and visited many countries. He remains one of Turkey's most popular public figures long after his death.
Mecano was a Spanish pop band formed in 1981 and active until 1992. Mecano became one of the most successful Spanish pop bands of all time. The band is still the best-selling Spanish band, with over 20 million records worldwide. They were considered by some to be avant-garde for their time and part of la Movida Madrileña countercultural movement. They had a brief comeback in 1998.
Esther Zaied, better known by her married name Esther Ofarim, is an Israeli singer. She came second in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "T'en va pas", representing Switzerland. After marrying Abi Ofarim in 1958, she was half of the husband-and-wife folk duo Esther & Abi Ofarim in the 1960s. After the couple divorced, she undertook a successful solo career.
Shiri Maimon is an Israeli pop/R&B singer, TV show host and actress, who rose to fame as the runner-up in the TV show Kokhav Nolad. She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, where she came fourth.
Roy C. Bennett was an American songwriter known for the songs he wrote with Sid Tepper, which spawned several hits for Elvis Presley. Between 1945 and 1970, Tepper and Bennett published over 300 songs.
Salvatore, Knight Adamo is an Belgian-Italian musician, singer and composer, who is known for his romantic ballads. Adamo was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, and has lived in Belgium since the age of three, which is why he has dual citizenship. By 1964, he was the world's best-selling artist behind The Beatles. Through his career, he sold more than 80 million albums and 20 million singles worldwide, making him the best-selling Belgian artist of all time, and one of the most commercially successful musicians in the world.
Gaston Ghrenassia , known by his stage name Enrico Macias, is a French singer, songwriter and musician of Algerian Jewish descent.
Julia Boutros is a Lebanese singer who rose to prominence in the 1980s with a series of songs like "Ghabet Shams El Haq" and "Wein el Malayeen". She is also the sister of Ziad Boutros and the wife of the ex-Minister of defense Elias Bou Saab.
Hanna Dresner-Tzakh, better known by her stage name Ilanit, is an Israeli singer. She was one of Israel's most popular singers from the late 1960s to the 1980s, both as a soloist and in the duo Ilan & Ilanit. Ilanit also represented Israel twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1973 with "Ey Sham" and in 1977 with "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim". In a career spanning over four decades, Ilanit has recorded and produced over 600 songs and more than 30 albums.
Shalom Hanoch is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer.
Boaz Sharabi is an Israeli singer-songwriter, composer and lyricist, known for Israeli classics as Latet, Halevai, At Li Laila, Pamela, Lashir Itach, Kol Od, Mi Yada Shekach Yihiyeh, K'Shetavo, Im at Adain Ohevet Oti and Etzli Hakol Beseder.
Noam Kaniel, also known as Noam, is an Israeli musician, singer and composer, who has sold over 8 million records, and is known for composing or performing the theme songs of many television series including X-Men, Goldorak, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Code Lyoko, Miraculous Ladybug, Digimon Fusion, Glitter Force, and Power Rangers.
Frédéric François, is a French-speaking singer-composer living in Belgium.
Haim Moshe, born 20 September 1955 is an Israeli singer whose musical style has crossed over from Yemenite and Mediterranean "ethnic" music to include mainstream Israeli and western pop elements. He has helped Mizrahi music achieve wide popularity both in Israel and in Arab countries.
Jo Lemaire is a Belgian singer and songwriter born in Gembloux, Namur. Beyond her native country, she is also popular in France, Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Claude Dhotel, better known by his stage name C. Jérôme, was a French singer.
Henri Markarian, better known as Marc Aryan, was a French-Belgian singer, songwriter, and record producer of Armenian descent born as a French citizen, who also acquired Belgian citizenship after a long residency in the country.
Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad, better known as Amir Haddad or simply as Amir, is a French-Israeli singer and songwriter. He took part in 2006 in the Israeli music competition Kokhav Nolad, released his album Vayehi in 2011 and was a finalist in French competition The Voice: la plus belle voix as part of Team Jenifer finishing third in the competition. He represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "J'ai cherché", which finished in sixth place.
Hanna Ahroni is an Eritrean-born Yemeni-Israeli singer. In the late 1950s, she was nicknamed "Israel's Golden Voice". Throughout her career, she was noted for her four-octave vocal range and her ability to sing songs of various genres in several languages.
Ofer Yoel Levy is an Israeli singer and composer, a pioneer of the Turkish and Arab music genres in Israel.
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