Corona (band)

Corona's first single, "The Rhythm of the Night", was released in Italy in November 1993[3] on Roberto Zanetti’s DWA record label, and became an instant hit. It featured the voice of Italian singer Giovanna Bersola, better known by her stage name Jenny B. It stayed at number 1 on the Italian music chart for eight consecutive weeks. However, the song was not released elsewhere until the following year. A remixed version of the song became a number 2 hit in the United Kingdom in September 1994.[4] Like several early 1990s Eurodance/Hi-NRG songs that eventually became American hits, such as "Get Ready For This", "Twilight Zone" and "Tribal Dance" by 2 Unlimited and "Strike It Up", "I Don't Know Anybody Else" and "Everybody Everybody" by Black Box, "The Rhythm of the Night" did not become popular in the United States until well after its success had peaked in Europe. However, by spring 1995, the song was all over American radio and clubs, eventually reaching #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later released as a track in the 1995 debut studio album "The Rhythm of the Night". Lead vocals for the remaining songs in the album were provided by Welsh singer Sandy Chambers who would also provide vocals on the group's second album Walking On Music.

Corona followed up with the 1995 singles "Baby Baby" and "Try Me Out", with similar success. The single "I Don't Wanna Be a Star" was a moderate hit. A fifth single, "Do You Want Me", became a regional hit in discotheques in the Eastern U.S. The album, The Rhythm of the Night sold modestly, peaking at #2 on the US Top Heatseekers chart and #154 on the Billboard 200.

In 1996, after the demise of Discomagic Records, DWA Records reorganized its staff due to internal conflicts.[5] As a result, the production of Corona was moved from DWA Records to Bontempi's own label (World Of Music, which was also a sublabel of Discomagic).

The third album, And Me U, was released in 2001 in Brazil's Abril Music, under the name Corona X. This time the vocals were provided by new vocalists, these were the sisters Bernadette "Brandy" Jones and Bambi Jones (who died of cancer in 2010). That means one more time Olga was just the face but still not the voice, as many people thought. Although Bontempi co-wrote some of the material in the album, he did not participate in the production and left the band. In 2004, as a tribute to Olga Maria De Souza native Brazil, Corona sang “A cor dos teus olhos” (The Colour of Your Eyes) which was distributed by ‘5000’. Souza defined the song like an imprint of her childhood memory. It became an immediate hit. The same year “Garota Brasileira”, a song with spicy samba sounds became a hit with the Japanese public.[6]

Towards the end of 2005, Corona finally assumes the studio vocals for the first time and re-emerged onto the European music scene with "Back in Time", peaking at #36 in the Italian charts. It was followed by “I’ll Be Your Lady” (2006), the first song co-authored by de Souza.

Corona's album Y Generation (2010), reached #1 on the Italian iTunes dance album chart. The first single was “Angel”, followed by “Saturday” and “My Song”. Corona's last single, "Super Model" reached #44 on the Italian Singles Chart and was later included in a re-edition of the album called Y Generation Remixed.