He made thousands of people dance and have fun at every latitude. Among the pioneers of discos, a legendary figure in the world of DJs, Claudio Tempesta passed away at the age of 64. Hospitalized in the palliative care department of the Rimini Hospice, his condition had worsened in recent weeks due to an incurable disease. Born in Urbino, but very well known throughout the Riviera, he was at the consoles of the best discos for fifty years: from Joy in Madrid to Taboo in London up to Le Bain douche in Paris. But it was from Duke Federico’s city that his dazzling career began, and more precisely from the Skorpio nightclub then frequented by students of the University of Urbino. Until he landed on the Riviera where his records played for years on the decks of the most beautiful nightclubs: Baia Imperiale, Insomnia; the New Jimmy, the Bikini, the Io street club. An esteemed professional, his name was also linked to Rimini Summer Pride, first as a DJ and then as artistic director.
“Everyone loved him very much – says Marco Conti, president of Arcigay of Rimini – and for us it is truly a great loss; an immense pain. I remember his many participations in the Rimini SummerPride first as a DJ and then gradually his great commitment to our initiative also to the pride management. In 2015 he had specially composed a piece whose rights went to Arcigay. I want to remember in particular his generosity, his altruism. Sometimes, yes, he was a great grumpy and he also had a character a bit of a smoker. He was demanding in his work but was endowed with a sensitive soul and boundless goodness”.
Claudio Tempesta had added his other great passion to his disc jokey activity: fashion. In 1980, after his disco debuts, he moved to Rome where he attended the Academy of Costume and Fashion. And for years he had alternated the profession of stylist with that of DJ. But music was his true great passion. “He was a courageous and free person – Marco Conti still remembers – so much so that he married Francoise Rouge in New York when no form of homosexual union yet existed. He and his husband, a stainless union that lasted many years, did so much for our community and for Arcigay Rimini “Alan Turing“. His memory will remain alive in us forever”. The date of his funeral in Urbino is yet to be established.
