Luciano Pavarotti was one of the greatest and most popular opera singers of the modern age. Born in Modena, Italy, in 1935, Pavarotti initially trained to become a goalkeeper, and was known as a devoted fan of Juventus. At the age of 19 he gave up his sporting ambitions and turned to music instead. By the early 60s Pavarotti was performing in opera houses as a tenor and winning acclaim as a superb young talent. He travelled the world and in 1972 made a breakthrough in America with a New York performance that inspired 17 curtain calls. He began to appear on national TV shows and his recordings frequently sold to gold or platinum success.
In the 80s Pavarotti continued to perform in operas across the world, often for crowds of thousands. He became a world star in 1990 when his rendition of "Nessun Dorma" was chosen as the BBC theme for their coverage of the World Cup in Italy. The song was hugely successful - it reached No.2 on the pop charts - introducing Pavarotti to an audience that was otherwise disinterested in opera. On the eve of the World Cup Final, he performed with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras as The Three Tenors. The recorded concert became the biggest-selling classical record of all-time. Throughout the 90s Pavarotti would go on to perform in front of unprecedented crowds for opera singers: an estimated 500,000 people watched him perform in New York in 1993.
In the new millenium, Pavarotti began to struggle with health problems, and his performances were limited to very special events. His last live show was at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006, where he again sang "Nessun Dorma" to a rapturous reception. In September 2007, Pavarotti died from pancreatic cancer, he was 71.
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