Charles "Rocky" 'Roberts (August 23, 1940 – January 13, 2005) was an American naturalized Italian rhythm and blues singer. Born in Tanner, Alabama, Roberts served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and was a Navy champion

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. 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. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

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

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

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."Italian fans rave for 'Bama Singer"

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

in ''

The Beaver County Times ''The Beaver County Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States, serving suburban Beaver County northwest of Pittsburgh. It is the sole newspaper covering Beaver County. The ''Times'' has previously produc ...

'', May 6, 1970. 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, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the members of the ...

Juan-les-Pins Juan-les-Pins (; ) is a town in the commune of Antibes in the Alpes-Maritimes department in Southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera, it is situated between Nice and Cannes, to the southwest of Nice Côte d'Azur Airport. Juan-les-Pins ...

, France, and chose to stay in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', 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 Lorenzo Giovanni "Renzo" Arbore (; born 24 June 1937) is an Italian television host, singer, actor and film director. Career Arbore became nationally recognized as radio anchor man, together with Gianni Boncompagni, in the late 1960s, with ...

and

Gianni Boncompagni Giandomenico "Gianni" Boncompagni (13 May 1932 – 16 April 2017) was a television and radio presenter, director, writer and lyricist. Life and career Born in Arezzo, at 18 years old Boncompagni moved to Sweden, where he lived for ten years do ...

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 Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, 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 ...

. 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 (naturalized Italian) film composer and musical director. He learned music from Enrique Barenboim, father of Daniel Barenboim - conductor of the Berlin and Chicago or ...

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

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

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. Produced by Tarantino's A Band Apart and Columbia Pictures, it stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry W ...

''.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, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

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 American singers 20th-century Italian male singers Deaths from lung cancer in Lazio 21st-century African-American musicians Decca Records artists London Records artists Parrot Records artists