Stefano Rota (born 1 October 1961), known professionally as Michael Righeira, is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known for his work in the musical duo

Righeira Righeira were an Italian Italo disco duo, formed in Turin in 1983, that comprised Johnson Righeira (lead vocals and keyboards) and Michael Righeira (backing vocals, keyboards and harmonica). Originally rooted in the early stages of Italo disco m ...

Early life

Michael Righeira was born Stefano Rota on 1 October 1961 in Turin. Rota attended Albert Einstein Scientific High School in Turin, where he first met schoolmate

Stefano Righi Stefano Righi (born 9 September 1960), known professionally as Johnson Righeira, is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the Italo disco duo Righeira. Aft ...

Career

At the age of 22 in 1983, Rota formed a musical duo together with Righi. They adopted the name ''Righeira'', which was made up by Righi during a football game a few years earlier. The two billed themselves as Michael and Johnson Righeira, as well as "musical brothers". Their music resulted in attention from the

La Bionda La Bionda were an Italian disco duo consisting of siblings Carmelo (1949–2022) and Michelangelo La Bionda (born 1952). They are considered among the pioneers of the Italo disco music genre. The siblings were born in Ramacca, Sicily and moved ...

brothers, who became key figures in their subsequent success. They signed a recording contract in 1982. The duo had their first hit, " Vamos a la playa", in 1983. The success established their reputation as a modern dance duo. After Righeira disbanded for the second time in 2016, Rota moved to

Thiene Thiene () is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, in northern Italy, located approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. __NOTOC__ The city has an active and lively industrial sector, composed mainly of small to medium-sized comp ...

to pursure other career paths. Following the first break-up of Righeira in 1992, Rota took an eight-year break from his music career to study law and literature at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

Acting career

In 1984, Rota starred in the television show ''Sotto le stelle'', where he made his acting debut. The following year, he and comedian

Enrico Beruschi Enrico Beruschi (born 5 September 1941) is an Italian comedian, actor, singer and television personality. He studied at the Italian Liceo classico in Milan, having Cochi Ponzoni as his deskmate. Formerly employed in a food company, Beruschi bega ...

co-starred in a sketch for the variety show '' Drive In''. Rota appeared on the ''La TV delle ragazze'' show in 1988 together with actress

Maria Amelia Monti Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

. Between February 2011 and June 2013, Rota studied at Michael E. Rodgers acting school in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Personal life

Relationships

Loredana Cazzola

In 1990, Rota married Loredana Cazzola, a businesswoman from

Schio Schio is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza (region of Veneto, northern Italy) situated north of Vicenza and east of the Lake Garda. It is surrounded by the Little Dolomites (Italian Prealps) and Mount Pasubio. History Its name comes fr ...

. The couple first met in 1988.

Johnson Righeira

Though Rota had a close relationship with Righi, the two grew apart following their second break-up in 2016.

Filmography

Television

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Righeira, Michael 1961 births Living people 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian male singers 21st-century Italian composers 21st-century Italian male singers Italian electronic musicians Italian male singer-songwriters Italian multi-instrumentalists Italian pop singers Musicians from Turin Singers from Turin Righeira