Like all artists, Calogero has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Between the cancellations of concerts, confinements, curfews and bans on gatherings, the period is not the most favorable for the release of an album. Still, the 49-year-old singer decided to release a new album, Downtown, as he explains in the columns of Star TV, on newsstands on January 18, 2021, while admitting that the period was "a funny moment for everyone": "When we said non-essential culture, it pained me a lot. Culture is anything but non-essential. It has changed my life, at least music. I'm happy that people have access to my music. and that of others to bring balm to the heart ". But Calogero does not intend to let himself be defeated by the situation. "I am optimistic", he claims, explaining that his family helps him cope. "I have four children, who are between 16 and 4 years old, I have confidence in them. If we put the energy into saying that everything will be fine, everything will be better".
Grand Corps Malade had also decided to defend culture with his song "Pas Essentiel"
Calogero is not the only singer to have been injured by this qualification. Grand Corps Malade, who had a very lively debate with Roselyne Bachelot the Minister of Culture, on this subject, had even devoted Not Essential quite a song with this label difficult to wear. "It had been running through my head for a while. Ever since I had heard that concert halls, bookstores, theaters were considered 'non-essential' … It was violent, awkward.", he had declared in the columns of Parisian at the time of the title's release. Very upset, he had also deplored this term of "non-essential" : "I think we are. Because there are so many people who ask us 'when are you going to be back on stage', so many who want to go back to the theater, to the movies."
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