Michael Anthony Viola (born September 26, 1966) is an American producer, musician, songwriter, and singer, best known for his work with

Panic! at the Disco Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2004 by high school friends Ryan Ross (guitar) and Spencer Smith (musician), Spencer Smith (drums), who recruited classmates Brendon Urie (vocals and ...

Andrew Bird Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing musi ...

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

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Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot ...

, and

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...

. His original music has been featured on soundtracks for movies such as ''

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'', '' Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'', and ''

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''. As a teenager in the early 1980s, Viola played Boston-area clubs with his band, the Bottom Line, and was billed as "Boston's youngest musical talent." His parents, Charlene and Larry Viola, bought his equipment and allowed their basement to be turned into a rehearsal room. Viola got his major professional start in the mid-1990s as the musical architect for New York–based band Candy Butchers, releasing three critically acclaimed albums with RPM/Sony Records before focusing on music production.

Soundtrack work

Viola, along with friend

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

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, co-produced the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

for

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's 1996 movie ''

'' The selection received an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

nomination for

Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

. Viola sang lead on the track, and as the accepted singing voice of

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's character, Jimmy, also sang on other tracks in the film, such as "Little Wild One" and "All My Only Dreams." For the 2007

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film, '' Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,'' Viola wrote or co-wrote "A Life Without You (Is No Life at All)", "Darling", "(I Hate You) Big Daddy", "Dear Mr. President", "Beautiful Ride", "Sir Ringe The Marshmallow Elephant", and "Let Me Hold You Little Man". Viola served as musical director on a promotional tour for the film in December 2007, with

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acting out his fictional character of Dewey Cox. Viola also contributed songwriting for Russell Brand's character Aldous Snow in the 2010 film ''

'', including "African Child", "The Clap", "I Am Jesus", "Searching For a Father in America", "Little Bird", "Furry Walls". In 2012, he played the character of Franky in two promotional songs for the video game ''

Club Penguin ''Club Penguin'' was a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) that ran from 2005 to 2017. The game featured a virtual world that included a wide range of online games and activities. It was created by New Horizon Interactive (now known as Di ...

'', "Anchors Aweigh" and "Ghosts Just Wanna Dance".

As songwriter, musician or producer

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viola, Mike 1966 births American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American rock singers American power pop groups Living people Lojinx artists