Rossi, Tino

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Rossi, Tino

Rossi, Tino , popular French chansonnier; b. Ajaccio, Corsica, April 29, 1907; d. Neuilly, Seine, Sept. 26, 1983. His father, a tailor, wanted him to continue in the same profession, but Rossi apprenticed himself in a church choir. He never studied voice formally, but rather devoted himself to singing popular ballads, accompanying himself on the guitar. He filled engagements in the provinces until 1934, when he was engaged as a featured singer at the Casino de Paris. A combination of good looks and natural talent made him a “vedette” overnight; the women of Paris flocked to hear him, and some of them he married. He died peacefully in his sleep of cancer of the pancreas.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire