Corona   (Italy)

EuroDance group
Added : 24/01/2000
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Latest Corona news

22/02/2024 : A team made of Corona, Ice MC, Wlady and DJ Jad are among the "established" artists in final for this year's edition of "Una voce per San Marino", the San Marino preselection for Eurovision Song Contest. The show will take place on February 24th

24/12/2022 : Corona's The Rhythm Of The Night and Snap!'s Rhythm Is A Dancer were covered by Lucky Luke

17/05/2022 : Corona's hit The Rhythm Of The Night was used as theme for the next Amazon Prime Video ad campaign

16/05/2022 : Samus Jay will soon release a cover of Corona's hit Baby Baby

09/08/2021 : Claudio Capéo covered the melody of Corona's hit The Rhythm Of The Night in the chorus of his song J' t'emmènerai (con me)

10/11/2020 : Corona will release a eurorap 2k21 version of her song Baby I Dont Care 2k21 featuring Zooom (Thanks to Krasi)

11/10/2020 : A few months ago, Corona's hit The Rhythm of the Night was covered by Groove Da Praia feat. Anakelly in a bossa nova style. (Thanks to Tavi Meran)

More news

Corona albums

	The Rhythm Of The Night	Apr 1995	BUY X
	Super Best & Remix	1996	BUY X
	Walking On Music	26th Jun 1998	BUY X
	And Me You	Jun 2001	BUY X
	Y Generation	Jul 2010	BUY X
	My Y Generation Remixed	20th May 2012	BUY X
	Queen of Town	20th May 2014	BUY X

Corona singles

	The Rhythm Of The Night	5th Nov 1993	BUY X
	Baby Baby	17th Mar 1995	BUY X
	Try Me Out	3rd Jul 1995	BUY X
	I Don't Wanna Be A Star	27th Nov 1995	BUY X
	Megamix	5th Jun 1996	BUY X
	Eternally (The Christmas Song) Promo only	1997	BUY X
	The Power Of Love	16th Jul 1997	BUY X
	Walking On Music	16th Mar 1998	BUY X
	Magic Touch	21st Dec 1998	BUY X
	Volcano Promo only	2000	BUY X
	Good Love	9th Oct 2000	BUY X
	A Cor Dos Teus Olhos Compilation only	2004	BUY X
	I'll Be Your Lady	2006	BUY X
	Baby, I Don't Care Compilation only	2006	BUY X
	Back In Time	16th Jan 2006	BUY X
	La Playa Del Sol	14th Sep 2007	BUY X
	Rhythm Of The Night (vs Frisco)	Aug 2008	BUY X
	Angel	2010	BUY X
	Saturday	2010	BUY X
	My Song (La Lai)	2011	BUY X
	Hurry Up (feat. Mikey P)	11th Jan 2012	BUY X
	Queen of Town	20th Jun 2013	BUY X
	Stay With Me	17th Feb 2014	BUY X
	We Used To Love	28th Feb 2015	BUY X
	Super Model	1st May 2015	BUY X
	Baby, I Don't Care 2k20	21st Aug 2020	BUY X
	Baby, I Don't Care 2k21 (feat. Zooom)	10th Dec 2020	BUY X

Corona remixes

	The Rhythm Of The Night (The Special Summer Remixes)	1993	BUY X
	The Rhythm Of The Night	1994	BUY X
	The Rhythm Of The Night (re-remixes)	1994	BUY X
	The Rhythm Of The Night (UK Remixes)	1994	BUY X
	Baby Baby (The Unity Mixers Remixes)	1995	BUY X
	Try Me Out	1995	BUY X
	I Don't Wanna Be A Star	1995	BUY X
	The Power Of Love	1997	BUY X
	Walking On Music	1998	BUY X
	The Power Of Love	13th Jan 2022	BUY X
	The Power Of Love	16th Feb 2023	BUY X
	The Rhythm Of The Night (Samuele Sartini, Giacomo Miranda, Chris Estrella Official Remix)	27th Oct 2023	BUY X

Featurings and collaborations

	Simon from Deep Divas - Baby Baby	28th May 2013	BUY X
	Simon from Deep Divas - The Rhythm Of The Night	8th Jul 2013	BUY X
	Sean Finn - The Rhythm of the Night	8th Mar 2019	BUY X

Corona biography

Musical team : Francesco Bontempi (producer), Antonia Bottari, Ivana Spagna (authors), Giordano Trivellato, Antonio Puntillo, Franco Martinelli (for Don't Go Breaking My Heart), Peter W.Glenyster, Gaffey Michael (for The Rhythm Of The Night)

The singer of Corona is officially Olga Maria De Souza. Actually, the first hit The Rhythm Of The Night was sung by Jenny Bersola who also took part to the JK project (among others), while the following ones were sung by Sandy Chambers. So is Olga only a lipsyncing model ? The reality is between the two. Olga could be heard singing a capella choruses of her songs in many TV shows. This proves she knows how to sing and she sings well, but at the beginning of carreer she had a strong Brazilian accent.

Legend says that Olga met producer Francesco Bontempi in Rome . She first signed for a job of chorist, but finally Francesco decided to start a new project called Corona, using her face. At the beginning it was not easy because Olga had to learn a right English accent.

In December 1993 the first song The Rhythm Of The Night (strongly inspired from Save Me, a song of the group Say When!) was recorded at the Pink studio in Reggio Emilia, and was mixed at the Kristal studio in Massa by Francesco Alberti. It was released on the DWA Records Label all over the world and climbed charts everywhere. The song reached #1 in Italy and kept the position for 13 consecutive weeks. In England it was released by the multinational Warner Music and reached #2 in the official sales charts (more than 400.000 copies sold, gold record status). There, it was also remixed by Rapino Brothers. In Israel it reached #2. Finally the song reached the USA where it became #11 in the official sales charts,  and #1 in Canada.  It was awarded more than 15 gold and platinum records throughout the world, and proved itself the most loved and danced song of 1994. At Midem 1994 it was the most successful project. While Corona started taking part in TV shows, photo sessions, performances in discos and so on, Francesco began preparing new songs for the album. Then a fantastic remix of The Rhythm Of The Night and a videoclip, extensively aired by MTV, were released. In a short time, thanks to her World Tour, Olga became a very well-known star, loved by everyone for her beauty and personality. Some months passed before the release of the new single, because in countries such as Japan, the USA and Great Britain, The Rhythm Of The Night was still in great demand.

It wasn’t until the beginning of March 1995 that Baby Baby (a cover of a Joy & Joyce song) had its full world-wide release. Vocalist Jenny Bersola refused to sing vocals for the second single, so Robyx organized an audition to search for a new vocalist. This is how Sandra Chambers was chosen to be the new studio vocalist. As in The Rhythm Of The Night, this new song had an easy chorus to memorize and a captivating European rhythm. The video clip was shot by a well-known Italian film company : the Film Master Clip. In a short time, Baby Baby whizzed up the charts making it another #1, as was to be expected. It reached n°5 in Israel. And once again Corona entered the American charts.

April 1995 was blessed with the long awaited debut album released by Corona with the title The Rhythm Of The Night with melodic and happy songs (a reflection of the artist’s personality). A collection of 16 songs, among which we can find two versions of The Rhythm Of The Night (one by Rapino Bros and the other, with Ice MC's participation, remixed by Lee Marrow) and a version of Baby Baby remixed by the English Dancing Divaz. The album was recorded in Italy, at Casablanca Recordings.

Corona went on tour to promote her album (she did the first part of Diana Ross' concerts) and America loved her beautiful smile and friendly attitude ! Radio and TV program directors were extremely enthusiastic about having her on their shows. Top of the Pops couldn't get enough of her. The tours throughout the world continued, and summer 1995 arrived. Corona was one of the biggest stars invited at 'Festivalbar', Italy’s most important summer event. She also took part 4 times to the mega dance concerts Dance Machine in France.

The third single, Try Me Out was released in July 1995. As usual it was a big hit in Italy (#2 in the charts), in Israel (#7), entered the UK-chart as #14. and reached the top 5 around most of the world. Many big names (MK, Alex Party, Lee Marrow) made remixes of it. The video, directed by Film Master Clip once again, had major TV airplay, making this 'Italian diva' become a superstar. Try Me Out was originally released in 1993, under the name of Lee Marrow featuring Charme. It was produced, created and arranged by Checco & Soul Train for a Lee Marrow Productions. At this time it was a quite slow house-track, not even close to beeing as energic as Corona's version.

A bit of a surprise was the 4th single : I Don't Wanna Be A Star, in disco style, out in November 1995. Recording took many time, studio vocalist Sandy was so exhausted that she was almost crying... and musical team chose the version with the almost crying voice. The song was remixed in a 70's disco style because it was the current trend. Legend says that Olga has always loved the magic of the 70’s and so she asked Lee Marrow to create a song in that vein : I Don't Wanna Be A Star was born ! The song was available in various styles, including eurodance, and there was also a video filmed in the Roman 'Dolce Vita' atmosphere, with plenty of the colours and flavours of the 70's. Some parts were strongly inspired from Geraldine Hunt Can't Fake the Feeling. I Don't Wanna Be A Star was covered by a project called The Troubles.

In summer 1996 Corona was invited to present the 'Festivalbar' show. It could have been the beginning of a new career in television... After that the Megamix was released, including the 4 hits The Rhythm Of The Night, Try Me Out, Don't Wanna Be A Star, and Baby Baby. Then Francesco Bontempi's contract with DWA ended. We could have thought that it was the end of the project, but in 1997 Corona was back with The Power Of Love, whose videoclip was shot in Arizona, and which did not become a very big hit. The next step was the album Walking On Music (12 tracks, released ZYX Music Germany) and the single Walking On Music with 12 different mixes available. The last single was releasedin March 1999 and is called Magic Touch. Afterwards, studio vocalist Sandy Chambers left the project.

2000 : Corona project was back with a new disco/dance single called Good Love. John O'Flynn, among others (including Christian De Walden, Carlo Nasi and Tony Ruggero), took part to the realization of the single. The third album was released in June 2001. Entitled And Me U , it contained 12 tracks plus a remix, and absolutely no eurodance. The album was only released in Brazil on Abril Music and had very little success over there. All the songs were produced in the USA at Zig Zag Productions studios in Los Angeles, California. And her new name would be Corona X, since apparently there were some legal issues preventing her from being Corona. It was anounced that Olga sung all the songs herself, but according to rumors they were actually performed by Bernadette "Brandy" Jones. Abril Music went bankrupcy, which stopped the album's promotion. All hope was lost to see it released internationally.

2002 : Corona's hit The Rhythm Of The Night was covered by Alex Christensen (producer of U 96, Rollergirl) who released it under the name of Alex C. feat. Yasmin K.

A rare track was released by DWA under the name of Corona. It is entitled Yo Tengo Un Novio En Hawai, composed by F. Bontempi, Peter W. Glenister and Michael Gaffey. The lyrics were written by Annerly Gordon, Giorgio Spagna, Peter W. Glenister and Michael Gaffey. The melody was the same as The Rhythm Of The Night.

2004 : Corona recorded a track entitled A Cor Dos Teus Olhos (means "the colour of your eyes", which was featured on the compilation Brazil 5000-3.

2005 : in an interview on DWA Records website, Olga gave the info that she was "really very busy in America, in fact The Rhythm of the Night is going through a rebirth there and I'm often a guest at various performances and shows. I’m also preparing a single in Portugese (my mother tongue) that you'll soon hear being talked about!!" she explained. She got signed under Shake Records and, at the end of the year, the name of her forthcoming new single was revealed : Back In Time. Apparently, she was allowed to use the Corona scene name again.

2006 : on the 7th January, Corona performed in a TV show on the French television channel France 2. She sung her hit The Rhythm of the Night, then, during a short interview during which she showed she was still in very good shape, she sung a part of her new single Back In Time acapella. According to her, Back In Time should be released in France next summer. Frenchies are still waiting...

April : an original song callled Baby I Don't Care by Corona was released on a US compilation produced by Giuseppe D called Evolutions - DJ Giuseppe D.

Corona gave an interview on May 20th to RLB Attiva Radio. Between May and August she'll be on tour in Italy. The first show happened in Rombiolo, on May 21st as second part of the group Stop & Go, an Italian pop band. She played the new hits, as well as the old ones.

Corona's next single was entitled I'll Be Your Lady. It entered the Czech charts at the end on September.

2007 : Sunblock feat. Sandy did a cover of Corona's hit Baby Baby, it was #16 on the Danish dancechart at the end of April.

Corona was among the stars who contributed to the welfare concarte Papafriends, organized by famous guitar player Steve Hackett for the benefit of sick and hungry children. In 2008, she should also perform at the concert Food Force Festival.

In September, Corona's new single was released in Italy. It was entitled La Playa Del Sol. She was working on a new album.

In October, a cover of her hit The Rhythm Of The Night was released by Favretto. It featured raps and vocals by Dhany and Jenny B. Corona's new album should come in March or April 2008.

2008 : Hermes House Band released a cover of Corona's The Rhythm Of The Night. A little later, Verano also did a cover of Corona's hitsingle. Then, in August of the same year, a new version of The Rhythm Of The Night was released under UK label AATW as Frisco vs Corona. It featured the original Jenny B vocals. A video was shot, featuring Olga.

2010 : In January, Flo Rida released a remix of The Rhythm Of The Night. In April, the title of Corona's new single was revealed : it would be entitled Girando, and it would be a mix of English and Brazilian Portuguese. In May, Olga announced in an interview that she was currently working on a new album. new remixes of The Ryhtm Of The Night were released under label DWA Italy, as Simon from Deep Divas vs Corona. French DJ Chris Garcia also released his own version of Corona's classic for the summer, this time featuring a new vocalist.

Corona's new album Y Generation was released in July. It was an amazing dance album. Corona's long awaited new single is entitled I'm Not An Angel. In October, the album reached #1 on iTunes, category best dance album.

2011 : next single by Corona to be released from her current album Y Generation should be My Song (Lai Lai Lai), but nothing finally came out.

2012 : Corona's new single is a collaboration with Mickey P. entitled Hurry Up. in June, Corona released a remixed version of her album Y Generation, entitled My Y Generation Remixed. Her hit The Rhythm Of The Night was covered by Cascada.

Olga has been married with Italian composer and impresario Gianluca Milano since 2003. She loves to be called the Brazilian Cinderella

M's Music paradise
DWA Records
Fred's Dance Web Site
Dance Artists Infos
CoronaX online
Thanks to Shimon O'Hana for the charts positions
Thanks to Fred Oudoul, Madenn, Denis "DJ Hooligan" Zhabkine, Anders Bøgh, Augusto Vilar, Tavi Meran and Vision for the latest news

Corona biography was last updated Thu, September 3rd 2020

Charts (singles)

The Rhythm Of The Night		#3	#3	#1	#1	#5	#4	#2	#11
Baby Baby		#16		#1		#26	#11	#5	#57
Try Me Out		#11				#45	#23	#6
I Don't Wanna Be A Star		#18						#22
Megamix		#40						#36
Back In Time	#15				#36

Links to Corona

Partner shops

Concert tickets