Andrea Bocelli
Listening to opera music, while growing up on a farm in Tuscany , taught Andrea Bocelli how to express himself through music. Despite the fact that he lacks extensive opera and classical music training, his goal is to communicate through song, and even Celine Dion, no stranger to singing herself, has said that “If God had a singing voice, it would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.”
Bocelli was born on December 22, 1958, in Lajatico, Tuscany, with congenital glaucoma. At the age of twelve he was tending goal in a soccer game, and was hit in the head. The injury, combined with his congenital glaucoma, caused his eventual blindness. Playing the organ in church, he won the Margherita d’Oro with O Sole Mio. After attending the University of Pisa , Bocelli earned his law doctorate, and worked for a year as a lawyer.
Returning to his love of music, Bocelli worked playing in piano bars to pay for his opera training and after hearing him sing at a party, a scout signed him to a record contract. He auditioned for Italian rock star Zucchero Fornaciari, who was looking for a tenor for Miserere, and was initially overlooked. Once Luciano Pavarotti auditioned and heard the tape of Bocelli, he encouraged Fornaciari to hire Bocelli instead of himself. Fornaciari ended up deciding to hire Pavarotti to record with him, but invited Bocelli on the tour.
Entering the Italian song contest Sanremo Festival, Bocelli sang Il Mare Calmo Della Sera, won the contest, and also found himself with a gold record as he recorded it. The following year he entered the contest again with the song Con te Partirò, which came in fourth place. A year later, he recorded Con te Partirò as a duet with Sarah Brightman, and it stayed at the top of the German charts for six months, breaking sales records all over, including becoming the best-selling single of all time in Germany.
Bocelli followed this success by performing for the Pope and eventually releasing his music worldwide. He entertained fans in the with a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. , followed by a White House reception. With his worldwide career in full swing, he toured with Celine Dion in North America and South America . He also sang the first live opera broadcast on the internet from the Detroit Opera House with Denyce Graves.
Finding great success on television, Bocelli performed in several televised concerts, such as Pavarotti & Friends 2, Celine Dion: These are Special Times, and Sarah Brightman in Concert. He also released his own concert, direct to video, Andrea Bocelli: A Night in Tuscany. Along with recording albums of classical, pop, and opera, Bocelli also recorded for soundtracks, among them the animated movie Quest for Camelot and the television series The Sopranos. Perhaps his most interesting appearance has been along with David Foster as a guest on the television show, American Idol. With the theme of the show being love songs, the two men helped the contestants choose songs and work on their crafts. Bocelli became so taken with Katharine McPhee that after she lost in the finale to Taylor Hicks, Bocelli invited her to appear with him on his American dates on his tour that summer.
Bocelli married his wife, Enrica in 1992, and together they have two sons, Amos and Matteo. They separated in 2006. He sums up his life with a quote from The Little Prince: “You see clearly only through your heart. The essential is invisible to the eye.” |
