A few words, combined with the photo of a smiling boy, to communicate the most difficult news to give ever, the loss of a son: «After so much pain, our wonderful Arrigo is finally at peace. The family asks for silence ». Roberto Vecchioni, with this message published yesterday on his social profiles, announced the death of his son Arrigo, 36, before closing himself in the unimaginable agony of a parent who has to face such a mourning.
Arrigo was the third of the singer-songwriter’s four childrenthe second had by his current wife Daria Colombo who yesterday, as a sign of mourning, “dyed” his Facebook profile picture completely black. During his career, Vecchioni had repeatedly told in interviews how much life without children would have been like a desert for him, often speaking of his relationship with them and dedicating numerous songs to them.
From his first marriage to Irene Brozzi he had had the eldest daughter, Francesca Vecchioni, (who shared the same message as her father on her accounts). Then, in 1981, Vecchioni married Colombo, writer and activist, with whom he had three other children: Carolina, Arrigo and Edoardo. The youngest, born in 1992, graduated from the Luchino Visconti Civic School of Cinema and specialized in multimedia writing, is known for the disease, multiple sclerosis, which he also decided to talk about in his debut novel «Sclero. The game of emperors “, released two years ago. Of Arrigo one can only imagine that behind the “much, so much pain” evoked by his father in yesterday’s few words there is a complex experienceon which the family, at least for now, has asked for total confidentiality.
What is certain is that the Professor, who will turn 80 on June 25, has always filled his songs and writings with thoughts dedicated to his children and more generally to young people, a staunch “fan” of boys, who, he said, “must be trusted and given always a second chance. His box set «Songs for children» dates back to 2016, in which he brought together the most significant songs about his job as a father and a novel, «La vita che si ama. Stories of happiness”. On the disc he had collected, among others, «Canzone da distant», a lullaby written for Francesca, taken from the album «Montecristo»; a recited version of “Son son son” and a new arrangement of “A long goodbye”, dedicated to Carolina. Instead, Vecchioni had dedicated the song-prayer «Le rose blu» to Edoardo. And speaking of that work, which later also became the live show «The life you love», he said: «Children must be told that life is open, magnificent, and that life, even in moments of pain, presupposes a moment of revenge».
