Rocky Roberts facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rocky Roberts
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charles Roberts |
| Born | August 23, 1940 Tanner, Alabama, United States |
| Died | January 14, 2005, (age 64) Rome, Italy |
| Genres |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1960–2004 |
Rocky Roberts (born Charles Roberts) was an American singer. He became very famous in Italy. He was known for his exciting rhythm and blues music. Rocky Roberts had a powerful voice. He was also known for always wearing cool dark sunglasses.
Contents
The Story of Rocky Roberts
From Boxer to Singer
Charles Roberts was born in Tanner, Alabama, USA, in 1940. Before he became a singer, he joined the United States Navy. He was a very good boxer. He even became a Navy champion!
He first got interested in singing by listening to a musician named Doug Fowlkes. Doug's band, called the Airdales, played music on the ship where Charles worked. Doug was impressed by Charles's voice. He let Charles sing with the band sometimes.
A New Start in Europe
In 1962, Charles was on a break in Juan-les-Pins, France. He entered a singing competition there and won! After leaving the Navy, he decided to stay in Europe.
He spent some time in France. He even performed on a TV show called Les raisins verts. He had some early success with songs like "T-Bird" and "Monkiss."
Finding Fame in Italy
In 1965, two famous Italian radio hosts, Renzo Arbore and Gianni Boncompagni, invited Rocky to Rome. They wanted him to record the theme song for their radio show, Bandiera Gialla. The song was "T-Bird." It became a big hit in Italy! After that, Rocky Roberts decided to live in Rome.
His Biggest Hits
In 1967, Rocky Roberts had a huge hit song called "Stasera Mi Butto." This song sold 3.7 million copies! It also won a big music competition called Festivalbar. The song was so popular that a movie was made with the same name in 1967. Rocky Roberts starred in the movie himself! He appeared in several other Italian films after that.
Rocky Roberts also sang the theme song for a 1966 movie called Django. This song was written by Luis Bacalov. Years later, in 2012, the famous director Quentin Tarantino used Rocky's recording of "Django" as the opening song for his movie Django Unchained.
Rocky Roberts passed away in Rome in 2005. He was 64 years old.
