In this Discussion
- manx9shrine September 2007
- spy9black September 2007
- tune1shade September 2007
Pavarotti dead
It's so far breaking news, the most recent article I can find talks about him being unconscious this morning but fark. Now the man's dead and I'm speechless. 
Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti, hailed by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, has died after a battle with cancer.
"Luciano Pavarotti died one hour ago," his manager Terri Robson said in a text message to Reuters.
He was 71.
The rotund, black-bearded singer helped bring opera to the masses and performed to vast stadium audiences round the world.
He shot to fame in 1963 after a stand-in appearance at London's Covent Garden.
Giuseppe di Stefano dropped out of the performance of "La Boheme" and Covent Garden lined up "this large young man" as a possible stand-in.
Critics were soon gushing about Pavarotti's voluminous voice.
Career highlights
Some say his biggest gift to the music world was when he teamed up with Spanish stars Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras at the 1990 World Cup and introduced operatic classics to an estimated 800 million television viewers round the globe.
Sales of opera albums shot up after the gala concert in Rome's Baths of Caracalla and since then Puccini's aria "Nessun Dorma" from his opera Turandot has been heavily associated with Pavarotti and soccer.
Another career highlight came in 1972, when he famously hit nine high C notes in a row in "Daughter of the Regiment" at New York's Metropolitan Opera.
He later referred to the Metropolitan Opera as "my home".
Thirty years after that performance, Pavarotti was still one of the highest paid opera singers in the world.
He often shocked purists with his appearances in live concerts, sometimes alongside pop and rock musicians.
In 1991, a crowd of 150,000 - including the Prince and Princess of Wales - braved the rain and cold in London's Hyde Park to hear him sing.
Health
Medical problems affected the final years of Pavarotti's career and he was forced to cancel several dates of his marathon worldwide farewell tour.
In July 2006, he underwent surgery in New York for pancreatic cancer.
After at least five rounds of chemotherapy, he retreated to his Modena villa in northern Italy.
Last month he was taken to a local hospital with a fever.
Since then he had been undergoing tests and treatment.
Pavarotti is survived by his wife and four daughters.
Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti, hailed by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, has died after a battle with cancer.
"Luciano Pavarotti died one hour ago," his manager Terri Robson said in a text message to Reuters.
He was 71.
The rotund, black-bearded singer helped bring opera to the masses and performed to vast stadium audiences round the world.
He shot to fame in 1963 after a stand-in appearance at London's Covent Garden.
Giuseppe di Stefano dropped out of the performance of "La Boheme" and Covent Garden lined up "this large young man" as a possible stand-in.
Critics were soon gushing about Pavarotti's voluminous voice.
Career highlights
Some say his biggest gift to the music world was when he teamed up with Spanish stars Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras at the 1990 World Cup and introduced operatic classics to an estimated 800 million television viewers round the globe.
Sales of opera albums shot up after the gala concert in Rome's Baths of Caracalla and since then Puccini's aria "Nessun Dorma" from his opera Turandot has been heavily associated with Pavarotti and soccer.
Another career highlight came in 1972, when he famously hit nine high C notes in a row in "Daughter of the Regiment" at New York's Metropolitan Opera.
He later referred to the Metropolitan Opera as "my home".
Thirty years after that performance, Pavarotti was still one of the highest paid opera singers in the world.
He often shocked purists with his appearances in live concerts, sometimes alongside pop and rock musicians.
In 1991, a crowd of 150,000 - including the Prince and Princess of Wales - braved the rain and cold in London's Hyde Park to hear him sing.
Health
Medical problems affected the final years of Pavarotti's career and he was forced to cancel several dates of his marathon worldwide farewell tour.
In July 2006, he underwent surgery in New York for pancreatic cancer.
After at least five rounds of chemotherapy, he retreated to his Modena villa in northern Italy.
Last month he was taken to a local hospital with a fever.
Since then he had been undergoing tests and treatment.
Pavarotti is survived by his wife and four daughters.
Comments
RIP Pavarotti
Pavarotti was amazing. He will definately be missed.
hope he'll be remembered and kept dear...