Franco Battiato, Pop Singer and Versatile Composer, Dies at 76
Though hugely popular as a singer-songwriter in Italy, he never stopped experimenting. He composed for movies, opera and ballet, directed films and painted.
Franco Battiato in 2014. One of Italy’s most popular singer-songwriters, he also directed movies, painted and composed symphonic music.Credit.Claudio Onorati/EPA, via Shutterstock
May 19, 2021, 2:20 p.m. ET
Franco Battiato, one of Italy’s most prominent singer-songwriters, who expressed esoteric ideas in catchy lyrics and, ever an eclectic artist, also composed operas and movie soundtracks, directed films and painted, died on Tuesday at his home in Milo, Sicily. He was 76.
went on to record over 75 albums and win 16 grammys, which means i m only 14 behind him. while yo-yo could have settled for being the world s greatest cellist, he said even greater than his passion for music is his passion for people. i can testify to this. very few people you ll meet with exuberance and joy that yo-yo possesses. he spent much of his life traveling the world, training and mentoring students from lebanon to korea to the iraqi national symphony orchestra. named as a messenger of peace by the united nations, and we understand why. in his wordses, when we enlarge our view of the world we deepen our understanding of our own lives. for sylvia mendez, a life long