Maltese jazz and cabaret artist Joe Cutajar passes away at 83

Veteran Maltese singer Joe Cutajar, whose voice marked the indelible Maltese entry to the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest with L-Imħabba has passed away. He was 83.

The death as announced on Facebook by his brother, Frank Cutajar.

Cutajar was still singing up to a few months ago, crowning a career that spanned decades as a jazz and cabaret artist, who sang all over the world, including spending two years as a cabaret artist in London’s West End in the 1960s.

Singer Mark Cutajar, a cousin of Cutajar, said Malta had lost a musical legend. “Valletta has lost one of its sons. Joe was a proud Valletta man. Our family has lost another one of the generation that produced musicians and singers whose contribution to the Maltese music scene was great… Joe has left a legacy in Maltese music.”

Cutajar performed in the Eurovision Song Contest with Helen Micallef in 1972 when they sang L-Imħabba, performed in Edinburgh. The mid-tempo duet was authored by composer Charles Camilleri with lyrics by Albert Cassola, in which the park asks “freaks, Hells Angels and hippies” what the meaning of love is. It finished in last place with 48 points, and following two consecutive years of poor results, Malta took three years away from the contest and since then performed all of their subsequent entries in English.