Stefano Righi

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Stefano Righi
Digi Johnz.jpg
Righi in September 2010
Born (1960-09-09) 9 September 1960 (age 61)
Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Other namesJohnson Righeira
Occupation
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • record producer
  • actor
Years active1980–present
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Labels
Associated acts

Stefano Righi (born 9 September 1960), known by his stage name 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. After the duo disbanded for the second time in 2016, he pursued a solo career and formed the record label Kottolengo Recordings in 2020.[1]

Born and raised in Turin, Italy, he attended "Albert Einstein" scientific high school where he met his schoolmate, Stefano Rota, with whom he formed Righeira in 1983.

Early life[]

Stefano Righi was born on 9 September 1960 in Turin, Italy. Righi has a younger sister named Laura.[2]

Career[]

1980–1983: Solo career[]

In 1980, Righi released his first single called "Bianca Surf" as a debut solo singer. The single was re-recorded and released in 1981 under the CGD record label. Righi had signed a contract with CGD even before Righeira was officially founded in 1983, but he had met his friend and future duo member Stefano Rota during the time attending the Albert Einstein Liceo scientifico (high school) in Turin. By the New Year's Eve of 1981, Righi and a couple of friends of his had visited a friend's music studio in Florence when Righi came up with an idea of a song called "Vamos a la playa". The song was inspired by the 1960s and was meant to be a beach song which was post-atomic and had an electric sound to it. "Vamos a la playa" was later released in 1983 as a single and on the album Righeira when Righi was a part of Righeira and became a smash hit which managed to sell millions of copies worldwide.[3]

1983–1992, 1999–2016: Righeira[]

Main article: Righeira

In 1983, he founded Righeira together with Stefano Rota. With their stage names "Michael" and "Johnson", they decided to become "artistic brothers". Righi described Rota as a handyman and a wildcard and paraphrased Marinetti: "Sickened by our friendship, we ended up becoming brothers". In the same year, they released their first album, Righeira, produced by La Bionda. "Vamos a la playa" was extracted from the list but became a hit during the summer of that year.[4] After the release of the single, Michael Righeira was called to military service. Later, the single "No Tengo Dinero" was released.

In 1985, the album Bambini Forever was released. The following year, Righeira participated in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Innamoratissimo". In 1987, the duo took part in the Zecchino d'Oro song competition with the song "Annibale" and in 1988, they released their latest single "Compañero". Unnoticed in 1992, the album Uno, Zero, Centomila was released. In 1999 the duo got together and in 2001 released a new version of "Vamos a la playa".

In 2007, the last album of the duo, Mondovisione was released, preceded by the single "La musica electronica", which obtained moderate success.

Riz Samaritano[]

In 2012 and 2013, he collaborated live with singer Riz Samaritano.

La Bionda[]

In the spring of 2019, Johnson announced a new collaboration with the duo La Bionda, and later in the summer of the same year, the single "Formentera" was released.

Broadcasting career[]

In August 2008, on R101, Johnson Righeira was engaged in the radio program Summer Is Ending, which took the title from the homonymous song that was released in 1985.

Personal life[]

Politics[]

Stefano Righi is politically aligned to the left, and his friend Marco Rizzo is the leader of the Communist Party,[5] to which he acted as testimonial during the 2016 Turin municipal election.

Discography[]

See also: Righeira discography

Solo

  • Ex Punk, Ora Venduto (2006)
  • Italiani (2013) (with Gianluigi Carlone & Giorgio Li Calzi)

Righeira

  • Righeira (1983)
  • Bambini Forever (1986)
  • Uno, Zero, Centomila (1992)
  • Mondovisione (2007)

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Calibro70 Himself Short film
2008 Tanzen mit Righeira Himself Documentary
2014 Sexy Shop Maniacal Customer
2017 Gipo, lo zingaro di Barriera Himself Documentary

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Nel Nome Del Male Malarico TV series
2013 Nord Sud Ovest Est - Tormentoni on the Road Himself TV series

See also[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ "Un giovane ma già stiloso Johnson Righeira accompagna per mano verso il futuro la sua sorellina Laura..." Instagram. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Chi è Johnson Righeira, membro del duo di Vamos a la playa". Notizie Musica. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. ^ Roberts (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 463. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ^ Arianna Ascione (7 February 2020). "Righeira, 40 anni di carriera per il duo di "Vamos a la Playa": 5 curiosità, dalle licenze per andare al Festivalbar ai guai giudiziari". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. ^ Il Primo Maggio torinese del compagno Johnson Righeira NUovasocieta.it

External links[]

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