Singer, musician and dancer Caterina Valente has died at the age of 93

Caterina Valente has died at the age of 93. The family announced her death today, though she died on 9 September.

The multifaceted artist recorded 1,500 songs in nine different languages selling over 18 million records worldwide. Throughout the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties, she was famous internationally, performing as a guest on television, as well as hosting her own TV shows.

The French-Italian multilingual singer was also a guitarist and dancer. She spoke six languages and sang in eleven. While she was best known as a performer in Europe, Valente spent part of her career in the United States. Shewas a favourite of singer Perry Como and she made eight guest appearances on his NBC Kraft Music Hall television program from 1961 to 1966. In 1964–65, she was co-host with Carol Burnett (and initially Bob Newhart) of The Entertainers on CBS. She was a frequent guest on The Dean Martin Show, made three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, was on The Bing Crosby Show, four times on The Danny Kaye Show, she was a guest on The Gary Moore Show, and she hosted The Hollywood Palace Show.

In 1961 Bonsoir Caterina a prime-time 9-episode show ran live on RAI UNO, Italy’s national TV channel, and the following year she presented Nata per la musica – 12  prime-time episodes to open the new RAI DUE, Italy’s 2nd national TV channel.

In 1964 she made her Las Vegas debut at the Desert Inn, and she would six times for hugely successful one-month-long engagements.

Over the years, she recorded or performed with many international stars including Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Claus Ogerman, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Sy Oliver, Buddy Rich and Edmundo Ros.

Caterina Valente was born in Paris in 1931 to Italian and Swiss parents, but she was very much a citizen of the world. She was much loved in Germany and recorded hundreds of records in German and was the presenter of numerous programs on German TV.

Her father Giuseppe was a successful accordion player and her mother Maria was a musician and dancer. Child prodigy Caterina had a voice with great expressive power, and an exceptional vocal range for which she was loved by the great jazz musicians. She was at ease singing pop songs, jazz, South American songs and the French chanson. Some of her most famous tracks were “Personality”, “Till”, “Ciao”, “Precipitevolissimevolmente”, “Nessuno al mondo” just to name a few.

Although she retired from the public eye in the 90s, four years ago, in 2021, her recording “Bongo cha cha cha” was featured in a Marvel Spider-Man film, and then was remixed by the Goodboys, and it went viral on TikTok.

She died at her home in Lugano, in via Maraini, where she had lived for many years, just a few metres from the famous Italian recluse, the singer Mina. The two sang a duet in 1966 in the show “An Hour with Caterina” where they both showed off their virtuosity.

Her family said that the funeral took place in the utmost privacy and there will be no other ceremonies or memorials.

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.