Italian Singer Dies After On-Stage Heart Attack

Renowned Italian singer Giuseppe Mango, also known simply as Mango, has passed away at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack while he was performing on stage at the weekend.

As Fairfax reports, the Mediterranean pop/world music star was performing in Policoro, southern Italy, on Sunday, when, during the early stages of fan-favourite Oro, he "raised an arm and said 'excuse me' to the crowd before collapsing". 

The singer passed away later in hospital.

Giuseppe Mango began his career in 1976, with debut LP La Mia Tagazza è Un Grande Caldo — according to Google Translate, My Girlfriend Is Very Hot — going on to become one of Italy's best-known pop performers throughout the 1980s. Mango released a further twenty full-length albums during his career, including 1985's Australia, which pays homage (in Italian) to the land Down Under and its "white beaches and coral reefs/ and mountains and vast grasslands". His most recent release was 2011 album La Terra Degli Aquiloni.

Mango is survived by his wife of ten years, fellow singer Laura Valente. You can watch the celebrated vocalist and pianist perform the title track from Australia, as well as this year's cover of Nino Buonocore's 1990 hit Scrivimi, below.