Franco Battiato, the legendary Italian singer-songwriter, composer and filmmaker, has died in Sicily aged 76. The popular singer, who had been sick for some time, died at his home in Milo, in the province of Catania, where he retired in 2019. Born in 1945, the star's career spanned genres ranging from experimental pop and electronic music to prog rock and new wave.

His unique songs, whose lyrics contained philosophical, religious and cultural references, earned him the nickname Il Maestro on the Italian music scene. Over the decades he collaborated with several Italian and international musicians and pop singers, notably the Italian singer Alice with whom Battiato represented Italy at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest with the song I treni di Tozeur.