Franco Battiato’s story: loves, spirituality, songs and disgust for corrupt politicians

Franco Battiato died on May 18, 2021. One year after his death, Rai1 remembers him with the documentary “The courage to be Franco”. We retrace his story: unforgettable songs like La Cura, the decision not to marry and have no children, the ongoing spiritual quest and the disgust for political corruption.

Franco Battiato he died on May 18, 2021. One year after his death, Rai1 remembers him with the documentary The courage to be Franco. Alessandro Preziosi, narrator, traces the life and career of the Maestro through the testimonies of friends, colleagues and niece Cristina. An intense experience that of the Sicilian artist, bored by the banality of concreteness and projected towards what he called “celestial spheres“, which he approached through meditation and continuous spiritual research veganbut not tight“. He never took wife and did not sons, so that his freedom and love of solitude were not violated. She left songswhich like shiny and precious crumbs, will always lead back to the genius of one of the most appreciated artists of all time.

Childhood and the decision to leave Sicily

Franco Battiato in the 1980s

Franco Battiato in the 1980s

Franco Battiato was born on 23 March 1945 in Ionia (today Giarre and Riposto, municipalities that were unified at the time), to father Salvatore Battiato – known as Turi – and mother Grazia Patti. After attending high school, he decided to leave his Sicily for Milan. In the fog of that city he saw again an ideal place for him, the mirror that reflected and welcomed his solitary spirit. A love that was broken after more than twenty years by the disgust he felt for the political situation and which led him to return to Sicily. In an interview released in 2010 at the Italian House Zerilli-Marimò he stated:

“When I left Sicily I was almost 19 and I left, without even looking back. Eurydice would have been safe (laughs). I arrived in Milan at midnight. A total fog. And I said:” This is home mine “. I stayed for a long time, even I didn’t even have a Sicilian accent anymore. But a month in Sicily was enough and when I returned to Milan, my friends said to me:” How the f ** are you talking? “. At the age of 42 years, due to some political groups, Milan had become a sewer for me. And so I decided to return to Sicily “.

Franco Battiato’s spirituality and meditation technique

The spiritual quest of Franco Battiato

The spiritual quest of Franco Battiato

Since his youth, Franco Battiato has been characterized by a strong spirituality. A research that for the artist began when he was only 7 years old. In one theme he was already asking: “Who am I?”. Every morning he would wake up at dawn, listen to classical music for a couple of hours and then go to the porch to meditate, with a technique he had developed over years of practice. To AffariItaliani he explained:

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“Initially you have to learn to decentralize all your muscles. So little by little I was able to manage the relaxation of my body: in this way there are no more blocks of energy, and these flow freely in me. And only then you are no longer at the mercy of thoughts “.

In the 1970s, he began to explore different religious cultures, starting with Indian philosophy, then becoming interested in Western mysticism and finally in Sufism. A journey that began with a very specific reason: “The society in which I lived was close to me, with those small values ​​such as a good place in society, social affirmation, and stop”.

Because he never married and had no children

Franco Battiato had no wives or children

Franco Battiato had no wives or children

Franco Battiato has always spoken of himself as a person who loved solitude and could not tolerate someone depending on him or invading his spaces. To GQ he clearly expressed his point of view on love affairs: “For me it is essential that the woman is autonomous. I could not have a relationship with a woman who depends on me. One who every night tells me:” What are we doing tonight? ” Holy Madonna! A nightmare! “. He told Corriere that when he was young and played with his complex of him, he was always surrounded by women. He only left one because while he was showering, he ate his yoghurt:

“Well, let’s say that I didn’t have any soul mates … But friends worthy of the name, yes, and every now and then there is someone who comes to stay here with me for five, ten days. In completely separate rooms, however, of course ! “.

Franco Battiato, however, could count on a family who loved him deeply: his brother Michele, the niece Cristina to whom he was very close and with whom he also spent the holidays and then the grandchildren, children of Cristina.

Franco Battiato believed in reincarnation

Franco Battiato has repeatedly declared that he does not fear death. The artist believed in reincarnation, which is why he paid great attention to all creatures, even mosquitoes. In Corriere della Sera, in 2015, he expressed his belief in what happens after death:

“If a person has any sensitivity, how can he say we come from monkeys? Ugly fool! I say: monkeys are themselves human beings put there for a reason. When you behave in a terrible way, when you kill someone, then you are reborn as an insect, snake or another animal… That’s why I walk down the street, taking care not to step on even the ants. I don’t even harm mosquitoes. Today there are some interesting scented things to keep them away… “.

Villa Grazia in Milo, his refuge

Villa Grazia, the home of Franco Battiato in Milo

Villa Grazia, the home of Franco Battiato in Milo

Franco Battiato had no doubts about the things that gave him happiness: “The balanced relationship with the rest of creation, with nature. Sky, clouds, trees, are things that restore man to his real condition”. And all this he could admire in his Villa Grazia in Milo. A real refuge for him, which allowed him to immerse himself in a rich vegetation and enjoy the coolness of the centuries-old pines and palms, the bright colors of wild roses and the scents of the garden, including grapefruits, mandarins, tomatoes and potatoes:

“Before buying the house from Sicilian nobles who came to spend the winter there, I took three nights to think about it, then I felt I could do it. It was the end of the Eighties. I don’t live there alone, I wouldn’t feel like it: in the dependance lives a very discreet Moroccan family who helps me. And then I have the cook, who cooks in a divine way “.

Franco Battiato died on May 18, 2021

Franco Battiato died on May 18, 2021

Franco Battiato died on May 18, 2021

Franco Battiato died on May 18, 2021 at the age of 76. The news of his disappearance shocked the Italians who for years had linked the most precious memories of him to his songs. The family kept quiet about the causes of the Master’s death. His brother Michele Battiato, at Corriere, confided that Franco had lived the last moments of his lifesurrounded by the warmth of his family:

“In the last few hours he did not understand, he was gone. Fortunately for him he was enveloped in a deep coma. Franco had been losing his faculties for days. We arrived at an organic deterioration so that, little by little, we became … like Can I say? He almost dried up. He didn’t notice the passing away. Surrounded by me, my wife, grandchildren, collaborators and two doctors who never left us. “

The artistic legacy: the political denunciation of Povera Patria, the universal love of La Cura

Franco Battiato left his songs as a legacy to all those who loved him. His repertoire, which extends from the early 70s to 2019, is impossible to summarize without forgetting to mention songs and albums of fundamental importance. From his genius timeless successes blossomed like The season of love, And I come to look for you, Cuccurucucù, Permanent center of gravity, I want to see you dance, White flag and The era of the white boar. But also songs of great emotional impact such as The cureof which Battiato said: “It is a song in which the word love is never pronounced, because it contains various types, such as between father and son, for example” o Poor homeland, in which he expressed his indignation at the abuses of power and the corruption of politicians: “Among the rulers how many perfect and useless fools”. On one occasion he explained:

“I turn on the television and see these politicians escorted by bodyguards, they look more like mafia than politicians. They move with disgusting arrogance. So I say to myself: isn’t it better to change gender? Becoming a cloud, which then becomes rain and falls on a river, which then goes towards the sea. I’d like to change gender if I could, because these men are stinking. “

Franco Battiato’s story: loves, spirituality, songs and disgust for corrupt politicians