Born in 1971, the artist began to be interested in music at a young age. Very early on, he quickly learned to play the piano, bass and even the flute. At 16, he made his debut by joining a group, Les Charts, with his brother. But the general public knows him above all for his solo career, started in 1999. With 9 albums to his credit, Calogero has proven himself in the world of music. But he will also try his hand at comedy in a TV film, broadcast on M6. For the occasion, he agreed to discuss theand the school bullying he experienced growing up. We’ll take stock right away!
Calogero opens up about his past
In recent months, several cases involving the suicide of young college students have moved France. Lucas and Lindsay both ended their lives at just 13 years old. In question ? Repeated mockery from their classmates. These two adolescents did not attend the same establishment. But like thousands of young people, they suffered from school harassment every day. Today we know that Calogero, experienced the same thing in his youth. Moreover, among the song, many other stars have already made similar confidences, like Louane or Slimane. Some have had remarks on the weights, their behavior, their appearance… Any particularity can serve as a pretext for bullies at school.
If the singer has chosen to return to this bad memory, it is because he is currently playing a teacher, in the TV film Breathe. Broadcast on September 12, 2023, this fiction follows the journey of a young girl who wishes to become a singer. In this context, the teenager will receive help from her music teacher (Calogero). However, she also experiences school harassment from other students. By landing this role, the singer saw certain aspects of his past come back to him. Even though he is 52 years old, this theme touches him a lot. Interviewed by Télé Magazine, he agreed to give details about this period of his life. For the artist, relationships with adults at school were not easy.
“It awakened things in me, who was also failing at school. It all started in primary school, one day when a teacher slapped me violently because I didn’t dot the ‘i’s’! Maybe that’s why I failed throughout my schooling. »
More Calogero also experienced brutality of some comrades.
“Not to mention the harassment and violence. The Pablo-Picasso college, in Échirolles, was an establishment with difficult cases. I got busted there twice. »
For his children, Calogero kept silent
Even if today, the schoolboy of yesteryear has more than succeeded in his career, he remains hurt when he thinks back to that time. And even though he knows he didn’t deserve the bullying at school, he has, until now, carefully avoided talking about it with his sons and daughters. Modest, Calogero preferred to leave a few clues in some of his songs.
“For a long time, I hid it from them. Even if there were little indirect clues in some of my songs, Stylo vert for example where a father keeps his illiteracy a secret from his sons so that they don’t give up. »
For him, telling these bad memories to Romy, Rita, Pio et Nina, could have had deleterious consequences. Like many parents, he made the choice to protect his children. In this way, Calogero thought they would avoid problems during their schooling.
“I went through this process with my children: I didn’t want to tell them what I had suffered because I was afraid that they would no longer work at school. »
Eventually, By playing a teacher on the small screen, the singer had the opportunity to make peace with his pastwhile leaving this heavy secret behind him.