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Andrea Bocelli
Biography
Andrea Bocelli
has been called “the fourth tenor”. A disciple of Luciano Pavarotti and Zucchero
Fornaciari, the blind, Tuscany-born, vocalist has emerged as one of the most
exciting voices in contemporary opera. His participation in
Pavarotti’s 1992 hit, “Miserere,” and fornaciarls 1993 world tour
brought him international attention. Opera, however, represent only one side of
his musical persona. Bocilli has been equally successful as a pop ballad singer, having
recorded duets with Celion Dion, Sarah
Brightman and Eros Ramazzotti. Ai
Jarreau, who sang with Bocelli
during “The Night of Proms” in November 1995, praised Bocelli when he said “I have baf the honour to sing with the most
beautiful voice in the world.”
Bocelli grew up on farm in Lajatico, a rural village in
Tuscany
. Beginning piano lessons at the age of six, he later added flute and saxophone.
Born with poor eyesight, he became totally blind at the age of twelve following
a soccer accident.
Despite his obvious musical
talents, Bocelli didn’t consider a
career in music until he had studied law at the
University
of
Pisa
and had earned a Doctor of Law degree. Inspired to pursue music, he studied
with famed tenor Franco Gorelli, supporting
himself by performing in piano bars.
Bocelli
first break as a singer came in 1992 when Fornaciari auditioned tenors to record a demo tape of
“Miserere”, which hw had co-written with Bono
of U2. Successfully passing the audition, Bocelli
recorded the tune as a duet with Pavarotti.
After touring with
Fornaciari in 1993, Bocelli performed as a guest star in the Pavarotti, Bocelli sang with Bryan
Adams, Andreas Vollenweider and Nancy
Gustavasson. In November 1995, Bocelli
toured Holland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and France with “Night of
Proms,” which also featured Ai Jarreau,
Bryan Ferry, Roger Hodgson of Supertramp
and John Miles.
Bocelli’s
first two albums – Andrea Bocelli in
1994 and Bocelli in 1996 – showcased
his operatic singing. His thired effort, Viaggio
Italiano, featured famous arias and traditional songs from
Naples
. Although released only in
Italy
, the album sold more than 300,000 copies. With his fourth album, Romanza,
released in 1997, Bocelli turned to
pop music. The album included the
hit, “Time to Say Goodbye”, recorded as a duet with Sarah
Brightman. Bocelli continued to foucs on pop balladry with his fifth album. Sogono,
released in 1999, which featured a duet with Celine
Dion of the David Foster- and Carole
Bayer Sager- panned tune, “The Prayer” , sold more than ten million
copies received a Golden Globr awarded and led to Bocelli
being nominated for a Germany as “best new artist”. ~ Craig Harris, All
Misic Guide
Here is a short
sample of Time To Say Good Bye by Andrea Bocelli
(file size: 343Kb/ Format: MP3/ Bit-rate:
128kbps/ Duration: 21 seconds)
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