Claude Barzotti, Belgian singer known for his title “Le Rital”, died of pancreatic cancer. The artist had ended his career in 2020 because of his health problems.
[Mis jour le 26 juin 2023 à 14h40] Singer Claude Barzotti has died aged 69. In a press release to Agence France Presse (AFP), his manager Laurent Comtat informed, Saturday June 24, 2023, that the Belgian interpreter had died in Belgium “in his bed, surrounded by his two daughters.” Claude Barzotti had ended his career in 2020, suffering for several years from pancreatic cancer.
He had made his slightly hoarse voice his signature and became famous for his song The Rital and his slows like I won’t write to you again And Love me. “Barzotti preferred to be called a singer of emotion rather than romantic, confides his manager. He was a lively flay, a real sensitive, who drank to fight against his stage fright”. Barzotti had publicly confided in his alcohol problems, notably during an interview on Belgian television where he revealed that he drank up to five or six bottles of whiskey a day in his difficult times.
“I am rital and I remain so”
The singer began his career in his twenties by performing at balls on Saturday evenings, accompanied by an orchestra. At that time, he chained odd jobs between music teacher, mason and mechanic in addition to his activity as a singer. In 1983, he performed The Rital which will be number one in France and will remain his biggest hit. In this song, he alludes to his Italian origins: “I am rital and I remain so”. His father was an Italian miner.
In the 2000s, Claude Barzotti was part of the Tender Age and Wooden Head tour which brought together Sheila, Stone and Charden, Patrick Juvet… He enjoyed new success in 1990 with the release of his slow Love me. His last album A man appeared in 2019, a few months before he announced that he was ending his career due to serious health problems.