Rocky Roberts (born Charles Roberts, Tanner, August 23, 1940 –

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, January 13, 2005) was an American-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

rhythm and blues singer. Born in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

, Roberts served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and was a Navy champion boxer. He first got interested in singing after listening to a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

-oriented musician named Doug Fowlkes, whose band the Airdales (US-navy

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

for Navy pilots) used to perform on the ship where Roberts was stationed. Fowlkes, impressed by Roberts' voice, eventually agreed to let him sit in with the band. Roberts won a singing competition while on

shore leave Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is also known as "liberty" within the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the ...

in Juan-les-Pins,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and chose to stay in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

after retiring from the Navy in 1962."Rocky Roberts, 66; Ex-Boxer Made a Hit Record, Movie in Italy"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', January 16, 2005. Roberts had a stint in France performing at ORTF television show ''Les raisins verts'', and achieved some success with an early version of "T-Bird" and "Monkiss". In 1965 Renzo Arbore and

Gianni Boncompagni Giandomenico Boncompagni (13 May 1932 – 16 April 2017), best known as Gianni Boncompagni, was a television and radio presenter, director, writer and a lyricist. Life and career Born in Arezzo, at 18 years old Boncompagni moved to Sweden, wh ...

invited Roberts to Rome to record the theme of their Radio Show, ''Bandiera Gialla''. The song, "T-Bird", was a hit in the Italian charts and Roberts settled in Rome. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, Roberts had a major Italian hit, "Stasera Mi Butto", which sold 3.7 million copies and won the

Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...

. The song's success led to a 1967 motion picture of the same title, starring Roberts. He appeared subsequently in several other Italian films. He was known for always wearing dark sunglasses. Roberts sang the

Luis Bacalov Luis Enríquez Bacalov (30 August 1933 – 15 November 2017) was an Argentine-born film composer. He learned music from Enrique Barenboim, father of Daniel Barenboim the conductor of the Berlin, and Chicago orchestras, and also Berta Sujovolsky ...

-written theme song from the 1966 film, '' Django''.

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

reused the recording as the opening theme for his 2012 film ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...

''.Randy Lewis
"Quentin Tarantino discusses the music of 'Django Unchained'"
''

'', December 25, 2012. He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in Rome in 2005 at the age of 64.

Filmography

References

External links

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Rocky 1941 births 2005 deaths People from Limestone County, Alabama 20th-century African-American male singers American expatriates in Italy American expatriate musicians American emigrants to Italy 20th-century American male singers 20th-century Italian male singers Deaths from lung cancer in Lazio Deaths from lung cancer 21st-century African-American people