Franco De Vita | |
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Background information | |
Born | January 23, 1954 |
Origin | Caracas, Venezuela |
Genres | Latin pop, Rock |
Years active | 1982–present |
Labels | CBS Records, Sony Music |
Website | Official Website |
Franco De Vita (born January 23, 1954 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the CBS Records label in 1989, and in 1990, his album Extranjero had a song that reached No. 1 on the United States Latin charts and won an MTV Video Music Award. His 2004 album Stop reached the Top 10 throughout Latin America and on the United States Latin charts. In the United States alone, he has scored more than two dozen hits on the Billboard charts.
One of four children born in Venezuela to Italian immigrants, De Vita's family returned to Rome, Italy when he was 3. The family moved back to Venezuela when De Vita was 13. Due to his upbringing in Rome, Italy, De Vita learned Italian as his first language and did not learn Spanish until he returned to Venezuela at age 13. He later studied piano at the university level. In 1982, De Vita formed the group Icaro, which released one self-titled album in his homeland. Two years later, he released his first disc as a solo artist, simply titled Franco De Vita (1984). The album spun off three Spanish-language hits: "Somos Tres", "No Hay Cielo", and "Un Buen Perdedor". His 1986 in album Fantasía produced several more hits, including the title song and "Aquí Estás Otra Vez". "Sólo Importas Tú", taken from the album, was used as the theme song to the Spanish-language soap opera La Dama De Rosa. He appeared in the end credits of every episode, performing the song at the piano.