(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 3 - Roby Facchinetti, the 78-year-old vocalist and keyboard player of legendary Italian pop band Pooh, was burgled at gunpoint in his Bergamo villa on Sunday night, Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Friday.
    The incident comes shortly before the band's historic reunion with former lead singer Riccardo Fogli at the Sanremo Song Contest.
    Corriere said three gunmen threatened Facchinetti, his wife Giovanna and their son Roberto before getting them to hand over jewels, watches and other valuables.
    The masked burglars then fled and police have so far been unable to catch them.
    Pooh, one of Italy's oldest and most popular pop groups, are to reunite for the Sanremo Song Festival this month, organizers said in mid-January.
    The three surviving members of the band, who lost a member in November 2020, will be reunited with long-time solo artist and former lead vocalist Fogli on the first night of the weeklong annual pop extravaganza on February 7, said organizer and presenter Amadeus.
    Fogli, along with Roby Facchinetti, Dodi Battaglia and Red Canzian, will perform a medley of hits in memory of Stefano D'Orizio, he said.
    Pooh, all of whose members are in their seventies, formed in 1966 in Bologna.
    Over the course of their career, Pooh have sold over 100 million records.
    Some of the band's most popular songs include "Parsifal", "Dove comincia il sole" (Where The Sun Begins) and "Pensiero" (Thought). (ANSA).