Richard Benson (musician)

Richard Benson
Richard Benson in 2014 during a show in Ciampino, Italy
Background information
Birth name	Richard Philip Henry John Benson
Born	(1955-03-10)10 March 1955 Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom
Died	10 May 2022(2022-05-10) (aged 67) Rome, Italy
Genres	Progressive rock Blues rock Hard rock Heavy metal
Occupation(s)	Guitarist-singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1971–2022

Richard Philip Henry John Benson, known as Richard Benson (10 March 1955^[1] – 10 May 2022) was an English–Italian guitarist.

Career

Benson probably moved to Rome in 1965. In 1971 he joined the progressive rock band Buon Vecchio Charlie. In 1972, he took part in the festival "Villa Pamphili".^[2]

From 1978 to 2013 he hosted TV shows relating to new musical releases of the time. The music was mostly hard rock and heavy metal, but also jazz, funk, blues, fusion and Italian rock.

In 1983, Benson released his first LP, Animal Zoo. In 1984, he released the LP Renegade. In 1987 he was included on the compilation album, Metal Attack (RCA Italy – Talent).

In 1992, Benson played himself in Carlo Verdone's movie Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato. In the second half of the 1990s he gave concerts in Rome. In 1999, he released his first CD, Madre Tortura.

Benson has then appeared in Italian national broadcast television as a music critic (Rai 2), together with Max Giusti. His work in the show was comical instead of serious. He played a sort of parody of his own character. In June 2013, he created an online television channel, "RichardBensonTV". He hosts a show there about heavy metal music. RichardBensonTv closed after just over a year.

In 2015 he released his second CD, L'inferno dei vivi.^[3]

In November 2016, it was announced that Benson had heart disease.^[4] He died in Rome on 10 May 2022, at the age of 67.^[5]

Discography

• 1990: Buon Vecchio Charlie (recorded in 1971)
• 1983: Animal Zoo (single)
• 1984: Renegade (single)
• 1999: Madre Tortura
• 2015: L'inferno dei vivi

References

1. "Richard Benson". BBC. Retrieved 19 January 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. (in Italian) Infos at stampamusicale.altervista.org
3. (in Italian) Richard Benson torna nei negozi con "L'inferno dei vivi, Panorama, 18 March 2015.
4. Roma, Richard Benson è malato: "Sono rimasto senza un soldo, aiutatemi", Repubblica.it
5. "Morto Richard Benson, il musicista aveva 67 anni". Fanpage.it. 10 May 2022.

Other websites

• Article on la Repubblica
• Richard Benson on IMDb