14 Facts About Claudio Villa

Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926.

Claudio Villa recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 million records, and appeared in 25 musicals during his career.

Claudio Villa's parents gave him the name "Claudio" in honour of Claudio Serio.

Claudio Villa died in 1987; on his gravestone are the words "Vita sei bella, morte fai schifo".

Together with Domenico Modugno Claudio Villa holds the record for the most wins at the Sanremo Music Festival, where he won the competition in 1955,1957,1962 and 1967.

Claudio Villa sang at another Italian music competition, Canzonissima, a television event shown on RAI from 1956 to 1974.

Claudio Villa won Canzonissima in 1964 with "O sole mio" and in 1966 with "Granada".

Claudio Villa competed in the Eurovision Song Contest: in 1962 he sang "Addio, addio" and came in ninth; in 1967 he sang "Non andare piu lontano", finishing eleventh.

Claudio Villa was acquitted with the vote of 138,225 readers.

In 1981, Claudio Villa's name was included in a member list found in police raids of properties owned by Licio Gelli, showing Villa's membership in the clandestine neofascist criminal organization Propaganda Due.

Claudio Villa's tomb, surrounded by bas-relief and wall-paintings made in occasion of 20th anniversary of his death, is located in San Sebastiano cemetery in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, where he lived for many years with his family.

Claudio Villa is a master of the stornello, a traditional song style that we thought had just the right, delicate feeling for the film's opening.

In 1976 Claudio Villa did cross the Atlantic for a tour of eastern Canada, notably in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.

Claudio Villa performed with his regular band except for the guitarist and bassist who were local musicians.