Caterina Valente
Writers: Ralf Arnie, Ernst Bader, Werner Müller
The gifted singer, guitarist, and dancer, Caterina Valente is a multilingual artist who emerged in Europe during the 1950s and became one of the most beloved and iconic performers of her generation. She made her recording debut in 1955.
Her first big hits came soon after, on albums such as 'The Hi-Fi Nightingale' and 'Olé Caterina'. Both songs charted in Europe, eventually England and the U.S. "Malagueña" was her first big hit, followed by "Andalucia", which, when re-released as an English version became a Top Ten hit in both the U.K. and the U.S.
By this time, Valente had become a truly multilingual artist, performing her cabaret act and producing recordings in six languages: French, German, Italian, English, Spanish, and Swedish. During the '50s and '60s she notched hits in the charts of many countries, including Italy, Germany and France.
Valente retreated into semi-retirement in the '90s, making the occasional live appearance. In 2003 she was bestowed an ECHO Lifetime Achievement Award.
However, her impact is far from over. In spring 2021, it was almost impossible to stop hearing Caterina Valente's classic song "Bongo Cha Cha Cha". The song, originally released 1960, has been going viral on Tiktok, amounting to over 2.5 million videos with the sound and over 3.5B views of top videos. The Tiktok community took the sound to create the #BongoChaChaCha challenge, which centers around kids not fullfilling their parents' expectations and being okay with what they became instead.
Hit producer El Profesor, whose 2018 summer hit "Bella Ciao (Hugel Remix)" earned him gold and platinum status and countless top chart positions, just made another summer hit out of the viral sensation. Likewise, the grammy-nominated Goodboys have created their own modern rework of the song, finding popularity among today's listeners.