Luciano Pavarotti

The world-renowned opera tenor lost his fight with pancreatic cancer on the morning of September 6, 2007. Hailing from Modena, Italy, Pavarotti grew to international stardom in the 1970s and continued a robust career performing at the New York Metropolitan Opera, recording hit records in the 1980s and 1990s, and supporting charity causes.

Perhaps his greatest contribution was bringing opera to the masses. With his Three Tenors efforts, Pavarotti, along with tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, crossed over into the popular market. It was his voice and, as Connie Chung remarked, his “bad boy” image that so captivated audiences.

Pavarotti was born in 1935 in Modena, Italy. His mother worked in a cigar factory while his father was both a baker and singer. It was his father’s musical recordings that first fostered in Pavarotti a love for opera. Before taking up opera, he studied to be a primary school teacher and was for a time, an insurance salesman. At 19, Pavarotti discovered he possessed perfect pitch and fell under the mentorship of Arrigo Pola, a respected tenor of Modena.

The Italian debut for the singer came in 1961 as the poet Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme. As the curtains closed, Pavarotti thus began his forty-year career. Pavarotti told BBC journalist in 2005, “Let's say, the beginning, I am an elementary school teacher. And on 21 April, 1961 I became a tenor. That is a very, very significant date for me.”

After working in Austria, Russia and Italy, Pavarotti made his American debut in 1963 in Cammarano’s Lucia di Lammermoor with the acclaimed Australian soprano, Joan Sutherland, in Miami. By 1977, Pavarotti was a sensation. Recording Live From the Met in March of that year, again taking on his role from La Boheme, television audiences across America came to love the proud Italian tenor.

The apex of his voice was certainly in the 1960s and 1970s. But his fame continued to grow into the 1980s, a feat rather admirable in the opera world where age matters. After receiving five Grammy awards in 1978, Pavarotti scored his first American gold record featuring pieces outside the classical repertoire entitled O Sole Mio -- Favorite Neapolitan Songs.

His greatest accomplishment of his latter years was his work with the Three Tenors. The group’s mainstream appeal made Pavarotti a household name with their debut at the 1990 FIFA World Cup 1994 self-titled album.

Pavarotti’s personal life proved patchier than his professional. While a charitable man, raising millions of dollars through benefit concerts, his family life was turbulent. After a public adulterous scandal, Pavarotti left his wife of thirty-five years, Adua Veroni, for his twenty-six year old secretary, Nicoletta Mandovani. With the snubbing of the Catholic Church, as well as some of the public, Pavarotti fell under further public scorn with tax evasion charges. This was a gloomier time for the singer who was also aging rapidly.

In the last years of his life, Pavarotti settled into old age. Performances grew more sporadic, often cancelled, and he failed to complete his 2004 operatic tour. His last performance was on March 13, 2004 as Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca. Pavarotti received a twelve-minute standing ovation from fans and admirers before gracefully bowing off stage.

At the time of his death at age 71, Luciano Pavarotti was a legend, superstar and pop icon of the opera world. Known for his hearty masculine demeanor, as well as his effortless High-C, he embodied the allure and mystery of many of the characters he portrayed.

When Larry King interviewed Luciano Pavarotti in 2003, he asked the singer if he still got “a kick” out of singing for live audiences. Pavarotti responded, “My heart is going on and the applause are telling me that I did well. And so, I have a kick, like you say.”

Bio contributed by: Ilana Fried