Claude Barzotti, aka Le Rital, a big-hearted singer

Behind his stage name, Claude Barzotti was actually Francesco Barzotti. The singer had dual Belgian and Italian nationality. Born on 23 July 1953 in Châtelineau (Hainaut), he spent part of his childhood in Italy, near Pesaro. A few years later, he moved back to his native country, Belgium. He lived there for the rest of his life, in a beautiful villa nestling in the Walloon Brabant.

When he was 9 years old, he began to take an interest in the world of music. He began by learning to play guitar and accordion and taking music lessons. At the beginning, music was more a passion, a pastime during his weekends and evenings. The rest of the time, he worked as a bricklayer, music teacher and even bike mechanic. He sometimes made appearances at local events, balls for example, to play a few tunes. At the age of 22, he was hired as artistic director at Disques Vogue, a highly reputed French record company at the time.

It was a few years later that he recorded his first songs, the start of many successes. In 1981, he recorded Madame, which sold over 200,000 copies in just a few weeks. Did you know that this song was created when he was still a bike mechanic? He had caught the eye of a charming lady in his garage, but was too intimidated to approach her. His song Le Rital, released in 1983, was his biggest hit, reaching number one in sales in France.

If you are a fan of French comedies, you may have recognized two of his songs from the soundtrack to Fabien Onteniente’s movie Camping.

He released his last album in 2019 before putting an end to his career in December 2020 to preserve his already fragile health. He died on 24 June 2023 at home, aged 69, of pancreatic cancer.

A husky voice, a charming air, songs combining melancholy and romanticism… These were the hallmarks of the successful career of the Belgian-Italian singer Claude Barzotti. In all, he has recorded no fewer than 20 albums, toured extensively, appeared on television and, above all, given charity concerts. Everyone knew how much Claude Barzotti had his heart in his sleeve.

Crédit photo : © Public Domain / Kevindax1809