Renato Pagliari born 28 June 1940

Renato Pagliari (28 June 1940 – 29 July 2009) was an Italian singer, probably most notable for being lead vocalist it the short-lived 1980s pop group Renée and Renato.

Pagliari was born into a large, impoverished family in the village of Blera, outside Rome. He exhibited musical aptitude from an early age, and his parents encouraged him to join the local church choir. When he was 17, he won a place in a school for professional waiters, which equipped him for a career in five-star restaurants in several countries (he also learned four languages). He combined his talents to become renowned as a singing waiter, happy to burst forth into Neapolitan songs and operatic arias in the great tradition of Enrico Caruso. Restaurateurs began to appreciate his knack for pulling in customers.

By the early 1970s he had emigrated to Britain and was working in the West Midlands, where he was permitted to entertain diners with operatic arias. While he lacked formal training, delighted responses to his efforts prompted him to seek semi-professional club engagements, and, in 1975, he entered a regional heat for the ITV talent contest New Faces, a forerunner of Britain's Got Talent, seizing the ultimate prize of a winning appearance on the show.

 

The songwriter Johnny Edward was watching the show and was impressed with Pagliari's tenor voice. He felt sure that it would work perfectly with his song Save Your Love. Though the process was held up by various business problems, Pagliari eventually recorded the song in 1982. Teaming up with Renée (real name Hilary Lester) proved a shrewd commercial move, and having made a sluggish start with a chart entry at 54 in October 1982, the song gathered its second wind and galloped ahead. It also charted strongly in the Netherlands and Norway.

However, Renée was at pains to stress that they were never "an item", and indeed, she never appeared in the celebrated video of the song but was replaced by a stand-in. By the time the song had reached No 1, she had already joined another band and therefore could not perform live until later.

Renée and Renato attempted follow-up hits with Just One More Kiss and Jesus Loves Us All, to little effect. Nonetheless, Save Your Love was an effective enough calling card to launch the duo on a prolonged stint of international touring, while Renato had amassed further popular kudos for his rendition of Just One Cornetto – adapted from the Neapolitan song O Sole Mio – in the celebrated Wall's ice-cream commercial (although this is claimed not to be the case by Pagliari's son, Remo). After four years, Renée returned to civilian life.

Meanwhile Pagliari continued to work as a solo artist, and found regular employment as a cruise-ship singer with operators including Royal Caribbean International, Cunard and Costa Cruise Lines. He also recorded six solo albums. In the last few years, he made regular singing appearances at his son Remo's restaurant, Renato's, in Tamworth, Staffordshire. When he was diagnosed with a brain tumour, he was prone to breaking into song on the wards during recent stays in hospital. (Photo of Renato with Sir Norman Wisdom at a Celebrity Golf Challenge, Northern Ireland 2005) 

After battling the tumour for several months Renato died from complications following surgery at Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield, on 29 July 2009, aged 69.

"He had two great passions, his family and performing," Remo said. "He was never happier than when he was on stage."

Pagliari had become a close friend of the former football manager Ron Atkinson, who once asked him to sing Puccini's Nessun Dorma to inspire his Aston Villa players after a lacklustre first-half performance. On finishing, Pagliari made a chin-up speech to the players, who went on to win that year's League Cup.

Ron Atkinson and singer Tony Christie joined 700 others for his funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Sutton Coldfield.  (Info various, mainly from the Guardian)