Ciao Lucio!

Lucio Dalla

Lucio Dalla, one of the greatest Italian singers and songwriters ever, died of a heart attack this morning in Switzerland during a European concert tour at age 68. A great loss for us all—especially for those of my generation—because he was nothing less than a living legend. And I say this even though my musical tastes were rather different from his. But a genius goes far beyond the normal boundaries of musical genres, and Dalla was a true musical genius, there is no question about that.

Dalla’s haunting melody “Caruso” (see the video below) sold 9 million copies worldwide and was sung by Luciano Pavarotti with Dalla at a 1992 concert in Modena. His version of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” was performed in Rome’s Santa Cecilia auditorium in 1997.

What was perhaps most surprising about his life, though, was his genuine Christian faith, so rare among the most gifted singers and songwriters. “I believe more in what we cannot see than what can be seen,” he recently said in an interview. He would read both encyclicals and the books by Pope Benedict XVI (Jesus of Nazareth, I and II), and would attend church every Sunday. He was also said to have converted his friend Gianni Morandi—another great Italian pop singer—to the faith. Now that he is face to face with the Lord, I’m sure he won’t miss us too much, it will be us who will miss him the most.