Marco Borsato (born December 21, 1966) is a Dutch singer. He started performing in Italian before switching to Dutch in 1994. He is married to Leontine Ruiters and has three children.
Biography
Marco was born in the Wilhelmina Hospital in Alkmaar as the son of Roberto Borsato and Mary de Graaf. He has a brother, Armando, and a sister, Sylvana. The family moved to Italy, where the father started up a restaurant in Garda. Marco spent a significant amount of time in Italy and speaks fluent Italian. In fact, Marco admitted that his Italian is much better than his Dutch.
When Marco was 12 years old he decided he wanted to be a chef. When he was older he went to school during the week and he worked in a restaurant during the weekends. Success stayed out after Marco Borsato won the Dutch Soundmixshow on April 6, 1991 with his rendition of Billy Vera's song "At This Moment." During that time he was indeed working as a chef.
Marco brought out 3 albums with Italian songs, but it wasn't until 1994 that Marco gained popularity after his first Dutch single "Dromen Zijn Bedrog" which reached number one and remained number one for 12 weeks. His second single "Waarom Nou Jij" also reached the first place in the Dutch "Top 40." [1]
Many of his songs are actually Dutch covers or adaptations of Italian songs, (for example by Riccardo Fogli, Giorgia, Riccardo Cocciante, Claudio Baglioni, Marco Masini and Zucchero). In particular, he had quite a success with an adaptation of Margherita by Riccardo Cocciante. Because the majority of Marco's songs are originally written in Italian he has recently decided to compose songs in Dutch.
Honours 2004: Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, for services to Dutch music and his dedication for War Child Netherlands
Awards 1996 - 2006: Won a TMF Award, 11 times for best Dutch singer 1997: Edison Award, 2 times (Best Singer, Best Single of the Year) 1999: Golden Harp (with John Ewbank) 2000: Hitkrant Award, for the song Binnen ("Inside") 2000: Honorary Award for Best Album (Luid en duidelijk ("Loud and Clear")) and Best Singer 2001: Edison Award (Best Singer)
AlbumsYear Album Chart positions Dutch certification (sales) Belgian certification (sales) NL BEL 1990 Emozioni 48 NR NR 1991 Sento - NR NR 1992 Giorno per giorno - NR NR 1994 Marco 2 2 2x Platinum (200,000) Gold (25,000) 1995 Als geen ander 1 1 4x Platinum (360,000) Gold (25,000) 1997 De waarheid 1 1 6x Platinum (540,000) 1x Platinum (50,000) 1998 De bestemming 1 1 5x Platinum (450,000) Gold (25,00) 2000 Luid en duidelijk 1 1 5x Platinum (400,000) Gold (25,00) 2002 Onderweg 1 1 3x Platinum (280,000) 3x Platinum (150,000) 2002 Onderweg: Live in De Kuip 1 2 Platinum (80,000) 2004 Zien 1 1 4x Platinum (320,000) 2004 Zien: Live in de Kuip 2004 (CD/DVD) 1 1 Platinum (80,000) 2006 Symphonica in Rosso(CD/DVD) 1 1 4x Platinum (280,000) Gold (15,000) 2008 Wit Licht 1 1 3x Platinum (180,000) Platinum (30,000) 2008 Dromen Durven Delen
Total 37x Platinum
(3,170,000) 5x Platinum + 5x Gold (345,000)
SinglesYear Single Chart positions Album NL BEL 1990 "Emozione / At This Moment" 4 - Emozioni 1990 "Una donna cosi" 29 - Emozioni 1991 "Sento" 43 - Sento 1992 "Un po' bambino" 37 - Giorno per giorno 1994 "Dromen zijn bedrog" 1 41 Marco 1994 "Waarom nou jij" 1 4 Marco 1995 "Je hoeft niet naar huis vannacht" 9 19 Als geen ander 1995 "You've Got a Friend" (with René Froger and Ruth Jacott) 3 - - 1995 "Kom maar bij mij" 20 48 Als geen ander 1996 "Ik leef niet meer voor jou" 8 17 Als geen ander 1996 "Vrij zijn / Margherita" 3 - Als geen ander 1996 "De waarheid" 2 29 De waarheid 1997 "Wereld zonder jou" (duet with Trijntje Oosterhuis) 3 - De waarheid 1998 "De bestemming" 1 12 De bestemming 1998 "Het water / De speeltuin" 10 - De bestemming 1999 "Binnen" 1 38 Luid en duidelijk 2000 "Wat is mijn hart" 16 - Luid en duidelijk 2001 "Lopen op het water" (duet with Sita) 1 1 Onderweg 2002 "Zij" 11 12 Onderweg 2003 "Afscheid nemen bestaat niet" 1 1 Zien 2004 "Voorbij" (duet with Do) 1 2 Zien 2004 "Wat zou je doen?" (duet with Ali B) 1 - Zien: Live in de Kuip 2004 "Laat me gaan" (only released in Belgium)[2] - 29 Zien 2006 "Because We Believe" (duet with Andrea Bocelli) 1 4 Amore 2006 "Rood" 1 1 Symphonica in Rosso 2006 "Everytime I Think of You" (duet with Lucie Silvas) 1 The Same Side 2008 "Wit Licht" 1 3 Wit Licht 2008 "Stop de Tijd" 1 3 Wit Licht 2008 "Dochters" 1 23 Wit Licht 2010 Schouder aan Schouder (with Guus Meeuwis) 2 - Dromen Durven Delen 2010 Waterkant 9 50 Dromen Durven Delen 2010 Kerstmis -* -* Dromen Durven Delen
