Marco Borsato was born in the Netherlands to parents Mary de Graaf and
Roberto Borsato. The whole family, including Marco's brother Armando
and sister Sylvana, moved to Italy where Marco's father owned a
restaurant at Lake Garda. Marco thus speaks fluently Italian.
Upon returning to the Netherland, Marco tried to gain fame as a singer,
singing mainly Italian songs. He was first noticed when he participated
in the very popular Dutch TV Show Soundmixshow (1985), in which amateur
singers portray an artist of their choice, singing live, and a panel of
judges decides who does it the best. Marco performed as Billy Vera
singing "At This Moment", and won the grand finale on April 7, 1990.
He was signed to Polydor and released three albums, all three in
Italian. Apart from the song "Emozioni", which reached number 4 in the
Dutch charts, the albums weren't a big success. In 1993, his record
company advised him to release some songs in Dutch because he still
hadn't has his big break. Finally, in 1994, he released the song
"Dromen zijn Bedrog" originally an Italian song which was translated
into Dutch. The song shot to number 1 in the charts and remained there
for 12 weeks, which gained him a spot in the Guiness World Records
Book. A few months later his second single "Waarom nou jij" and his
self-titled album "Marco" were also big hits.
Since 1995, Marco Borsato is the highest paid singer in the Netherlands
and most of his singles and albums always end up high in the charts. He
has done a lot of collaborations with other singers, including Lucie Silvas, Sita, Trijntje Oosterhuis and Ali B.. He performed with Sita for
Dutch Royals Crown Prince Willem Alexander and his then wife to be
Máxima Zorreguita.
He is one of the most famous ambassadors for War Child and he takes
this job very seriously. In 2008, he debuted as an actor in the movie
Wit licht (2008) a story about a Dutch successful restaurant
owner in Ghana, who wants to save his son's best friend from the hands
of war rebels.
Following her sons success, Marco's mother, Mary Borsato, appears
regularly on Dutch TV as a bridal expert. Marco's mother owns a
successful Bridal Shop in Alkmaar and is often seen as part of a
stylist team or advisor on marriage shows. Marco himself married
actress and TV-host Leontine Ruiters, who gained fame in the Dutch
version of Wheel of Fortune (1983).
In 2006, Marco's assets were an estimated 27 million Euros, which
makes him the best paid singer in the Netherlands.
