 Villa died in 1987; on his gravestone are the words "Vita sei bella, morte fai schifo" (""Life, you are fine; death, you stink"").Together with Domenico Modugno Villa holds the record for the most wins at the Sanremo Music Festival, where he won the competition in 1955, 1957, 1962 and 1967.In 1963 he won the Festival di Napoli with the song "Jamme ja".