Luigi Verderame

Luigi was born on July 9, 1950, in a small town near Liège, Belgium to parents that immigrated from Sicily.

In 1964, when Luigi was only 14, he recorded the song Une Maman (a mother, in French), which became a huge hit in Belgium and the rest of Europe, as well as in Turkey and in the Middle East.

In the following two years, Luigi released several other songs to the hit parades: Quand j'ai achete ma guitare (When I bought my guitar), L'automne (The autumn), Apres tant d'annees (After many years), Main dans la main (Hand in hand), Suzy et Jo (Suzy and Jo), and Nadine.

The 18-year-old Luigi toured Israel with his three brothers, and received the treatment of a mega-star, performing in packed halls in front of ecstatic crowds, and fussed over by the media, which called him "the new teenage idol".

In December 1969, he topped the Israeli charts with an original hit in Hebrew 12 שעות written by Nurit Hirsh and Ehud Manor.