He was performing one of his most famous songs, Oro, first released in 1986 on his album 'Odissea' and covered in 1994 by iconic Italian singer Mina on her album 'Canarino mannaro', when he collapsed.
Famed Neapolitan singer-songwriter Pino Daniele also died from heart failure after being taken ill on the evening of January 4 while at his vacation home in the countryside near Orbetello in the Maremma region of Tuscany. He had been suffering from chronic heart disease, pathologists said. Rome prosecutors are probing the death amid claims that Daniele might have been saved if he had received treatment earlier. Investigators are looking into whether it was the 59-year-old's decision to go to Rome for treatment despite an ambulance having been called to his Tuscan farmhouse that proved fatal.
By the time Daniele arrived in hospital in Rome he was in critical condition and died soon after. On Tuesday Conti, a well-known television personality in Italy, said singers Emma Marrone and Arisa along with actress and model Rocio Munoz Morales would join him for the presentation of the 65th edition of the Sanremo music festival, which will be broadcast live from the Ariston theatre in Sanremo by state broadcaster RAI. Emma and Arisa have both won recent editions of the contest. "I couldn't turn it down," said 34-year-old Arisa who rose to fame in 2009 after winning the 'New proposals' section of Sanremo with her song Sincerità and won last year's champion contest at the festival with Controvento. "Let's just hope we don't fall down the stairs or forget our lines," she added.
"I am truly honoured," said Emma, who won the main Sanremo contest in 2013.
"I have chosen 20 beautiful songs," Conti said of this year's musical line-up. "I wanted songs that could be sung over time," he added.