Think of a tenor and who springs to mind, the now deceased Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras but certainly not the young handsome star who has taken the opera scene by storm over the past few years.

Russell Watson was born on 24 November 1966 in Salford, Lancashire, England. Although Russell has always had a passion for singing since he was a young man he never really felt that was a career path he wanted to follow.

His first job was as a bolt-cutter in Irlam, Salford and being married young and with a wife and baby to support he made an extra income by singing Elvis Presley and Neil Diamond hits in local clubs and bars. While singing in a bar one night he was requested to sing ‘Nessun Dorma’ and although he was not professionally trained in opera it opened a door to his new career.

In 1998 he was invited to sing at the football ground of the Manchester United Football Club, famous for having David Beckham on the team. Old Trafford hosted the memorial football match for the Munich air disaster, and during the interval Russell was billed to sing to the crowds which he commented was a huge privilege for a lifelong Manchester United fan. However, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute when former French footballer player Éric Cantona requested that Mick Hucknall, of Simply Red, sing instead.

However, just one year later, in 1999 Russell sang the UK's national anthem for Queen Elizabeth II, at the rugby Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

Finally Watson got to sing at Old Trafford before the last match of the Premiership season between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. After the game, when his team had won the league championship, he returned on to the pitch to sing the Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song "Barcelona", during which he tore off his dinner jacket to reveal a Manchester United shirt.

Following the devastating Asian tsunami in December 2004, Russell banded together with the Robin Gibb and Barry Gibb and several other artists, Boy George, Steve Winwood, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Sir Cliff Richard, Bill Wyman, America, Kenny Jones, Chicago, Brian Wilson and Davy Spillane, to record a charity single to raise aid for the victims of the tsunami.

This sealed his future in the hearts of the UK public and he was soon riding high and after his debut album, The Voice was released in May 2001 his next album due for release in 2006 was predicted to reach the top ten in the album charts but it had to be delayed due to the removal of a benign brain tumour but later the album That’s Life was released in March 2007.

In September 2006, when Watson flew to Los Angeles, California, to record the album That's Life, while on the flight, he told his producer that he was experiencing terrible pressure inside his skull. When they landed, his producer suggested a game of tennis to clear his head. Watson could not see the ball at all. After a visit to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an MRI scan, he was advised that he had a developing pituitary adenoma, a type of brain tumour, which was the size of two golf balls. According to Watson, "Since an early age I've had an in-built premonition, a vision that I wouldn't make 40. For the previous seven years I'd have a recurring nightmare in which my head exploded. And here I was with a brain tumour on the eve of my 40th birthday; I thought, 'This is it, I was right, I knew it'."

Watson has two daughters with his now ex-wife. The children are Rebecca and Hannah and since realizing the severity of his condition he is reported to have said that as his priorities have changed and made him appreciate the importance of relationships, of friends and family and, most of all, my two daughters.

Unfortunately for Watson, on 24 October 2007, it was discovered that he had developed a second, more aggressive brain tumour, after he suffered headaches and nosebleeds. His chances of recovery have been stated as being significantly lower than his first tumour, due to the nature of the tumour, which was not even detected at his most recent check-up just a few weeks previously.

As of October 25^th 2007 Russell is currently undergoing major surgery to remove the tumour. He is currently in intensive care after emergency surgery was carried out.

Russell's condition remains critical.

ABB