Training up as a multi-instrumentalist in his youth, Bergamo-born musician Roby Facchinetti (born May 1st, 1944) conquered the harmonica, the accordion and the piano before enlisting in various Italian bands over the course of the 1950s and ‘60s. Spending the best part of a decade as a keyboardist for the groups I Monelli and Pierfilippi e Les Copains, he was eventually scouted by prominent beat group Pooh while supporting them at a show, and was offered a place in the group. Over the course of the following four decades, he enjoyed a meteoric rise as the band’s newest addition, eventually assuming the role of lead vocalist. Alongside his work with the group, Facchinetti also successfully launched an illustrious, classically-inclined solo career, debuting in 1984 with a self-titled effort recorded alongside the Munich Symphony Orchestra and following it up nine years on with the deeply personal and reflective 1993 LP Fai col cuore. His third solo offering, Ma che vita la mia, arrived in 2014 via Carosello Records, promptly topping national charts. The following year, he and his son, the successful musician and media personality Francesco Facchinetti, appeared for the first time as judges on the Italian edition of TV talent show The Voice, guiding their mentee Fabio Curto through to victory. Capitalising on this renewed attention, he kept up a prolific output in the ensuing years, teaming up with fellow Pooh member Riccardo Fogli for a Sony-signed album of duets entitled Insieme in 2017, which included a new arrangement of the Pooh classic “In Silenzio”. Spurred into action amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Facchinetti returned in 2020 with the charity single “Rinascerò, Rinascerai”, with all proceeds going to the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in his hometown. A rendition of the song later appeared on his three-CD live album Inseguendo la mia musica, released in September of the same year. The singer followed with Symphony (2021) and Parsifal, l'uomo delle stelle (2025), a conceptual album realised with Stefano D'Orazio.
