Marco Roberto Borsato 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 a restaurant in Garda. Borsato spent a significant amount of time in Italy and speaks fluent Italian. When Borsato was 12 years old he decided he wanted to be a sushi chef. Borsato, though brought up with Italian cuisine, felt a great love for this cuisine. When he was older he went to school during the week and worked in a restaurant during the weekends. During his conscription he was bound to the cavalry, where he was conscripted as a NCO. Success did not come over night after winning the Dutch Soundmixshow on 6 April 1990 with his rendition of Billy Vera's "At This Moment." During that time he was indeed working as a chef. Borsato was one of the artists who recorded the song Shalom from Holland as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991. Borsato released 3 albums with Italian songs, before gaining popularity in 1994 with his first Dutch single "Dromen Zijn Bedrog" which reached number one and stayed there for 12 weeks. His second single "Waarom Nou Jij" also reached the first place in the Dutch "Top 40." Many of his songs are Dutch covers or adaptations of Italian songs. In particular, Borsato gained a lot of success in 1996 with an adaptation of Riccardo Cocciante's Margherita. After deciding to keep singing in Dutch, Borsato's career really took off. In 2009, Borsato was dealt a financial blow when his company The Entertainment Group, a major events organiser and Dutch artists representer, was declared bankrupt by a Dutch court. In 2011 he became a judge on the Dutch talent showThe Voice of Holland and The Voice Kids. He is currently tied with Blake Shelton of The Voice as the highest-times winning coach in any The Voice version throughout the world, with 4 winners in The Voice of Holland and 3 winners in The Voice Kids. Borsato married Dutch TV personality Leontine Ruiters and they have 3 children together: Luca, Senna, and Jada. In February 2020 the couple announced their divorce. In 2019, he released a song with Davina Michelle and Armin van Buuren called "Hoe het Danst" it broke records across The Netherlands and Belgium and managed to receive international coverage
Other functions
Borsato is an ambassador of the Dutch NGOWar Child, which helps children in conflict areas to cope with their war experiences.
