Viola Valentino

Virginia Minnetti (born July 1, 1949), best known by her stage name Viola Valentino, is an Italian singer.

Biography

Minnetti started her career as a singer in 1968 under the name Virginia and later began to sing with her then husband in a duet named Renzo & Virginia. Some time later Virginia was noticed by Giancarlo Lucariello, a producer of the Italian rock band Pooh. It was he who created an image of a sexy but delicate woman for her as well as her manner to sing with a subdued voice.

In 1979, Virginia started singing under the name Viola Valentino. Her first song Comprami ("Buy Me") made her famous and was sold in a great number of copies in Italy and Spain.

In 1980, Viola sang two other songs that also become hits, Sei una bomba ("You Are a Bomb") and Anche noi facciamo pace ("We Will Make Peace Too"). In the same year, her first album Cinema ("Cinema") came out.

In 1982, Viola Valentino took part in Sanremo Festival for the first time with the song Romantici ("Romantic") which also became a hit. In the same year, her second album In primo piano ("In the Foreground") and another hit Sola ("Alone") came out. At that time, Viola Valentino was in the zenith of her fame and was invited to act in the film Delitto sull'autostrada ("A Crime on a Highway").

In 1983, she took part in the Sanremo Festival again with the song Arriva arriva ("Come, Come"). Since then, the public interest in Viola Valentino began to fade. In the 1980s, Viola acted in the films Due strani papà ("Two Strange Daddies", 1983) and Le volpi della notte ("Night Foxes", 1986).

In 1986, Viola sang Il posto della luna ("The Place of the Moon"), which had moderate success.

In 1991, an album Un angelo dal cielo ("An Angel from Heaven") came out which included the best songs by Viola Valentino. In 2005 she went to the reality show Musicfarm.

For some time, Viola Valentino was married to a well-known Italian singer Riccardo Fogli, which contributed to her popularity; later, however, they divorced.

Two times Viola's photos were cover photos of Playboy.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

1978 – Uno (with the band Fantasy) 1980 – Cinema 1982 – In primo piano 1991 – Un angelo dal cielo 1994 – Esisto 1998 – Il viaggio 2004 – Made in Virginia 2010 – Alleati non-ovvi

EPs 1985 – L’angelo 2009 – I tacchi di Giada

Singles

1968 – Dixie/Pensandoci su (under the name Virginia) 1970 – Zan zan/I 10 comandamenti dell’amore (under the name Renzo e Virginia, together with Riccardo Fogli) 1978 – Cantando (under the name Fantasy) 1979 – Comprami/California 1980 – Sei una bomba/Sono così 1980 – Anche noi facciamo pace/Sì mi va 1981 – Giorno popolare/Prendiamo i pattini 1981 – Sera coi fiocchi/Come un cavallo pazzo 1982 – Romantici/Rido 1982 – Sola/Amiche 1983 – Arriva arriva/Balere 1984 – Verso sud/Traditi 1985 – Addio amor 1986 – Il posto della luna/La verità 1987 – Devi ritornare/Dentro una notte di festa 1991 – Un angelo dal cielo/Quasi mezzanotte 1994 – Me marito se n'è ito 1994 – Onda tra le onde 1995 – Probabilmente niente 1996 – Estasi 1997 – Anime d’autunno (Libertango) 1998 – Come quando fuori piove 1999 – Aspettando Elia 2000 – Comprami 2000 con Zerodecibel 2002 – La surprise de l’amour 2004 – Dea 2004 – Acqua, fuoco, aria, terra 2006 – Barbiturici nel thè