Robert Michaels

Robert Michaels
Robert Michaels in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Roberto Michele Buttarazzi
Born	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	New Flamenco, Instrumental, Latin, Jazz, World
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist, composer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Melaby Music
Website	robertmichaels.com
Notable instruments
Guitar

Robert Michaels (Roberto Michele Buttarazzi) (born in Toronto, Canada) is a Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) Winner and Nominee, multi-gold and platinum-selling Recording artist, guitarist and vocalist.

Robert returned to his mothers home town of Arpino Italy from Canada when he was just a few years old, Arpino about 95 km southeast of Rome in Italy and he was exposed to Italian music from an early age in his grandfathers restaurant "Il Cavaliere" before moving back with his family to Toronto.

His debut CD, titled Paradiso, was released in 1996 and was nominated for a Juno Award (Canadian Grammy).^[1] Paradiso album reached Platinum status eventually sold more than 100,000 copies in Canada, it was a great success for instrumental artists.

Robert is an outstanding instrumentalist and it was confirmed in 1998 which was nominated for Instrumental Artist(s) of the Year for a JUNO Award (Canadian Grammy).

His album Utopia was nominated in 2000 for a JUNO Award (Canadian Grammy) for Best Instrumental Album, and his next album Allegro has already won JUNO Award (Canadian Grammy) for Instrumental Album of the Year.

Robert's latest album Via Italia was released in 2013.

Collaborations

One of Robert's top radio airplay songs, "Wrong to Let You Go", was a co-write collaboration with the band the Wild Strawberries that reached top 10 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. The concept for the track was defined by Alan Fletcher, an executive at Warner Music Canada, after Roberta Carter-Harrison the Wild Strawberries singer sang at his wedding alongside Robert Michaels. It was then recorded for volume 3 of the Women & Songs compilation album series award an award winning multi-platinum series created and produced by Alan Fletcher.

Subsequently, Alan Fletcher from Warner put the band in contact with German electronic dance producer and DJ André Tanneberger (ATB). Tanneberger produced a remix of the song, released as an ATB single re-titled "Let U Go". This popularized the song on both continents, as the single reached number 18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts^[4] and number 7 on the German Singles Chart.^[5] The song also marked the point in ATB's musical output when he began to produce songs with full vocal tracks, as opposed to sampled and looped vocals.^[6]

Awards and nominations

Juno Awards

The Juno Awards is a Canadian awards ceremony presented annually by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Robert Michaels won the 2003 Juno for Instrumental Album of the Year and received an additional 3 nominations.

Juno Awards Artist Summary Robert Michaels

Music Canada Gold and Platinum Certification Awards Certifications

Certified albums

Paradiso (1996) Certified: Gold and Platinum

Music Canada Gold/Platinum Artist Summary Robert Michaels

Discography

Other Compilation Appearances

• Guitar Music For Small Rooms (1997) (WEA)
• Guitar Music For Small Rooms 2 (2001) (WEA)
• Guitar Music For Small Rooms 3 (2004) (WEA)

See also

• New Flamenco
• Flamenco rumba

References

External links