Italian singer Lucio Dalla dies on tour in Switzerland

Entertainment

Italian singer Lucio Dalla dies on tour in Switzerland

Close

Italian singer Lucio Dalla has died of a heart attack in Switzerland at the age of 68.

01 March,2012 07:18 pm

He started out as a jazz clarinettist in the 1960s and went on to perform with opera star Luciano Pavarotti.Dalla died in Montreux where he was giving a series of concerts, Italian media reported.Born in Bologna on March 4, 1943, he released his first album in 1966 with a band called The Flippers.His album Lucio Dalla in 1979 sold more than a million copies and he acquired national fame.He wrote the song Caruso for Pavarotti -- a homage to opera legend Enrico Caruso -- which sold nine million copies.I am distraught, Pavarottis widow Nicoletta Mantovani said.He was a great friend of Luciano. A great artist and a great man with an enormous sensitivity. He was close to me in difficult times, she said.--AFP