Arrigo Vecchioni Passes Away at 36, The Family's Grief

“After so much, so much pain, our wonderful Arrigo is finally at peace. The family asks for silence,” wrote the Brianza singer-songwriter about 1 year ago on Instagram. Arrigo, 36 years old, was the second of Roberto's four children, the first had with his second wife Daria Colombo. From his first marriage with Irene Brozzi, Vecchioni had his eldest daughter, Francesca. The third child, Edoardo, has long been ill with multiple sclerosis, which was also discussed two years ago in the book “Sclero - The Game of Emperors”. Today the singer will be a guest on Mara Venier to present his latest book “Between Silence and Thunder”. Domenica In, today's previews (March 10): from Roberto Vecchioni to Alketa Vejsiu, here are the guests of Mara Venier. Many gathered on that April 18, 2023, to mourn with the family. Roberto Vecchioni remembers his deceased son: “He fought 17 years against the disease, the world did not deserve a beautiful person like Arrigo”. Also on Lake Garda, where Roberto Vecchioni lived and worked for decades: he still has a house in Barcuzzi of Lonato, he was a teacher at the classical high school Bagatta in Desenzano (but also at the Arnaldo da Brescia). He still frequented Desenzano and the places of his youth. Born in 1986, Arrigo Vecchioni leaves many memories on Garda. Roberto Vecchioni at Domenica In, who is the singer? Age, illness, children, the death of Arrigo, private life and career. Even though the cause of Arrigo's death was not made public, it was known that the songwriter's son had been fighting a serious illness for a long time. Last February, Roberto Vecchioni also revealed that his son was bipolar. The artist shared a heartbreaking confession with Corriere della Sera. He described his son as a sensitive person with wonderful qualities, but also afflicted by weaknesses and uncertainties that seemed to intensify seeing his father's success. Arrigo's death was for Vecchioni a break between two phases of life, an event even more devastating for his wife. Despite the pain, Vecchioni does not interpret it as an injustice, but rather as learning through suffering. He quoted Aeschylus, emphasizing that one learns by suffering. Arrigo's disappearance was the collapse of their world, but not of certainties and ideals. The songwriter expressed the deep bond he still feels with his son, describing how his presence manifests in everyday life. “It was the collapse of the world, of the universe, but not of certainties and ideals. And then I feel him inside very strongly, my son”. Roberto Vecchioni, tears for his son Arrigo: “The world did not deserve a beautiful boy like him, but for me, he is always here”. Vecchioni, who last June 25 turned 80, dedicated some of his songs to his children. In 2016 he released the album “Songs for Children”, which contained among others “Song from Afar”, a lullaby written for Francesca, taken from the album “Montecristo”, a recited version of “Son son son” and a new arrangement of “A Long Farewell”, dedicated to Carolina. To Edoardo, Vecchioni dedicated the song “The Blue Roses”. In various interviews, the songwriter talked about his relationship with his children, claiming that life without children for him would be like a desert. On the occasion of the release of the book “The Life You Love”. Stories of happiness, Vecchioni explained to ANSA that he has always “stubbornly taught them the game and the dream”. “A tremendous hard work, but not as much as that done by my wife - he said - who had to teach them reality. We built together a fort in which we live not as decrepit utopists, not of illusions, but of things that save our lives when it seems too ugly. We manage to laugh at each other, to take things with irony, and to love each other. I have never seen four siblings so united, my children call each other 'brothers and sisters' and tell all the foolish things their father does. They wanted this book precisely to understand better who their father is”. In 2011 Vecchioni participated in the Giochi Senza Barriere event at the Villa Comunale in Naples, organized by the Tutti a scuola association, which has always fought for the rights of disabled children. And in the same year, he became a spokesperson for AISM in the campaign A Apple for Life. The wife Daria Colombo, on the other hand, after a degree in modern literature at the University of Padua, specialized in theater history. Between 1975 and 1980, she worked in the theatrical, cinematographic, and television fields, collaborating with some of the great names in the various sectors such as Florestano Vancini, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Giancarlo Nicotra, Adriano Celentano. A scholar of scenography and interior architecture, she also worked as an art director for record companies such as EMI, Polygram, Sony Music, and Universal Records, thanks to which she had the opportunity to meet her future husband. Daria is also a journalist and essayist and has collaborated with newspapers such as Corriere della Sera and L'Unità, with the monthly magazine Maxim and with Rai, where she participated in the creation of various programs; among others “I Grandi processi” with Sandro Curzi and Franca Leosini (1996) of which she is co-author for RAI 1 and the special “68 e dintorni” (1998) for RAI 3, of which she is the sole author. In February 2011, her husband thanked her live and dedicated his victory at the Sanremo festival to her.