Andrea Bocelli: Biography

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Andrea Bocelli.Image via Wikimedia Commons

Who Is Andrea Bocelli?

Andrea Bocelli (Italian: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing "Il mare calmo della sera".

Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo studio albums of both pop and classical music, three greatest hits albums, and nine complete operas, selling over 90 million records worldwide. He has had success as a crossover performer, bringing classical music to the top of international pop charts. Bocelli's album Romanza is one of the best-selling albums of all time, while Sacred Arias is the biggest selling classical album by any solo artist in history. My Christmas was the best-selling holiday album of 2009 and one of the best-selling holiday albums in the United States. The 2019 album Sì debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200, becoming Bocelli's first number-one album in both countries. His song "Con te partirò", a duet with Sarah Brightman taken from his second album Bocelli, is one of the best-selling singles of all time.

In 1998, Bocelli was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. He duetted with Celine Dion on the song "The Prayer" for the animated film Quest for Camelot, which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 1999, Bocelli was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards. He captured a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records with the release of his classical album Sacred Arias, as he simultaneously held the top three positions on the US Classical Albums charts.

Bocelli was made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006, and was later elevated to Knight Grand Cross in 2025. He was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2 March 2010 for his contribution to Live Theater, and Bocelli was awarded a gold medal for Merit in Serbia in 2022. Singer Celine Dion has said that "if God had a singing voice, it would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli", and record producer David Foster has often described Bocelli's voice as the most beautiful in the world.

Early Life: Where Is Andrea Bocelli From?

Early life

Andrea Bocelli was born to Alessandro and Edi Bocelli on 22 September 1958. His sight was impaired from birth due to congenital glaucoma. He stated that his mother's decision to give birth to him and overrule the doctor's advice - to abort the pregnancy due to a high possibility of the child being born with a disability - was the inspiration for him to oppose abortion.

Bocelli grew up on his family's farm, with a younger brother Alberto, where they sold farm machinery and made wine in the small village of La Sterza, near Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy, about 40 km (25 mi) south of Pisa.

Bocelli showed a great passion for music as a young boy. His mother has said that music was the only thing that would comfort him. Bocelli started piano lessons at age six and later learned to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, and drums. His nanny, Oriana, gave him the first record of Franco Corelli, and he began to show interest in pursuing the career of a tenor. By age seven, Bocelli was able to recognize the famous voices of the time and tried to emulate the great singers.

Andrea Bocelli's Career and Major Works

At age 12, Bocelli lost his vision completely after being hit in the eye with a football. Doctors resorted to leeches in a final attempt to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful and Bocelli remained blind.

Bocelli also spent time singing during his childhood. He gave his first concert in a small village not far from where he was born. Bocelli won his first song competition at age 14 with "'O sole mio" at the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio. He finished secondary school in 1980, and then studied law at the University of Pisa. To earn money, Bocelli performed evenings in piano bars, and it was there that he met his future wife Enrica in 1987. Bocelli completed law school and spent one year as a court-appointed lawyer.

1992–1994: Sanremo and Il mare calmo della sera

In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero held auditions for tenors to make a demo tape of his song "Miserere", to send to Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. After hearing Bocelli on tape, Pavarotti urged Zucchero to use Bocelli instead of him. Pavarotti eventually persuaded Zucchero to record the song with Bocelli, and it became a hit throughout Europe. During Zucchero's European concert tour in 1993, Bocelli accompanied him to sing the duet, and he was also given solo sets in the concerts, singing "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. Bocelli signed with the Sugar Music label in Milan after Caterina Caselli heard him sing "Miserere" and "Nessun Dorma" at a birthday party for Zucchero.

Andrea Bocelli's Personal Life and Relationships

In December, Bocelli entered the preliminary round of the Sanremo Music Festival in the category of Giovani, performing "Miserere". He won the preliminary competition with the highest marks ever recorded in the newcomers' section. On 28 December, Bocelli debuted in the classical world in a concert at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia. In February 1994, he entered the main Sanremo Festival competition with "Il mare calmo della sera", and he won the newcomers section, again with a record score. Following his win, Bocelli released his debut album of the same name in April, and it entered the Italian Top Ten, being certified platinum within weeks.

In May 1994, Bocelli toured with pop singer Gerardina Trovato. Four months later, he sang at Pavarotti's annual Charity Gala concert, Pavarotti International in Modena, where Bocelli sang Ruggiero Leoncavallo's "Mattinata" and sang a duet with Pavarotti, Maurizio Morante's "Notte e Piscatore". That same month, Bocelli made his opera debut as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa. He had been an agnostic, but around 1994, partly as a result of immersing himself in the works of Russian author Leo Tolstoy, Bocelli returned to the practice of the Catholic faith. He performed the hymn "Adeste Fideles" in Rome before Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica at Christmas.

1995–1997: Bocelli and Romanza

As winner of the newcomers' section at the 1994 Sanremo Festival, Bocelli was invited to return the following year. He entered the main competition with "Con te partirò" and finished in fourth place. The song was included on Bocelli's second album, Bocelli, produced by Mauro Malavasi and released in November 1995. In Belgium, "Con te partirò" became the best-selling single of all time.

Where Is Andrea Bocelli Now? Recent Years

Bocelli's third album, Viaggio Italiano, was released in Italy in 1996. He was invited to sing a duet with English soprano Sarah Brightman at the final bout of German boxer Henry Maske. Brightman approached Bocelli after she heard him singing "Con te partirò" while she was dining in a restaurant. Changing the title lyric of the song to "Time to Say Goodbye", they re-recorded it as a duet with members of the London Symphony Orchestra and sang it as a farewell for Maske. The single debuted atop the German charts, where it stayed for 14 weeks. With sales nearing three million copies, and a sextuple platinum award, "Time to Say Goodbye" eclipsed the previous best-selling single by more than one million copies. In 1996, Bocelli topped the Spanish singles chart with a duet with Marta Sánchez, "Vivo por ella", the Spanish version of "Vivo per lei", recorded with Giorgia for his 1997 compilation album, Romanza. He also recorded a Portuguese version of the song with Brazilian singer Sandy.

The same year, Bocelli recorded "Je vis pour elle", the French version of "Vivo per lei", as a duet with French singer Hélène Ségara. Released in December 1997, the song became a hit in Belgium (Wallonia) and France, where it reached No. 1 on the charts. To date, it is the best-selling single for Ségara, and the second for Bocelli after "Time to Say Goodbye". On 3 March, he appeared in Hamburg, Germany, with Sarah Brightman to receive the ECHO music award for "Best Single of the Year".

During the summer of 1997, Bocelli gave 22 open-air concerts in Germany, and an indoor concert in Oberhausen on 31 August. In September, he performed in concert at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa for the home video A Night in Tuscany (Italian: una notte nella Toscana) with guests Nuccia Focile, Sarah Brightman and Zucchero. The concert was also Bocelli's first concert to air on PBS, as part of the In The Spotlight series. It also marked Bocelli's debut to American audiences. On 14 September, in Munich, Germany, he received an ECHO Klassik Best Seller of the Year award for his album, Viaggio Italiano.

Back in Italy in Bologna on 27 September, Bocelli sang at the International Eucharistic Congress. On 19 October, he sang at the TeleFood benefit concert held in the Vatican City to raise awareness about world hunger. Six days later, Bocelli received a Bambi Award in the Klassik category in Cologne, Germany.

Andrea Bocelli's Legacy and Impact

1998–1999: Aria: The Opera Album, Sogno and Sacred Arias

Bocelli made his debut in a major operatic role in 1998 when he played Rodolfo in a production of La bohème at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari from 18 to 25 February. His fifth album Aria: The Opera Album was released in March.

On 19 April, Bocelli made his United States debut with a concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., followed the next day by a reception at the White House with then US President Bill Clinton. On 5 May, Bocelli appeared in Monte Carlo, winning two World Music Awards, one in the category "Best Italian Singer", and one for "Best Classical Interpretation". He was also named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 1998.

From June to August, Bocelli toured North and South America. In September, he received his second Echo Klassik award, this time for Best Selling Classical Album with Aria: The Opera Album. On Thanksgiving Eve, Bocelli was a guest on Céline Dion's television special These Are Special Times in which he joined Dion to sing "The Prayer" and he also sang "Ave Maria" solo. The duet was included on Dion's album These Are Special Times (1998) and was re-issued with the DVD of the TV special in 2007. The song also appeared on the Quest for Camelot soundtrack in 1998 and on Bocelli's album, Sogno, the following year.

In the New Year, Bocelli performed two concerts at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. At the 56th Golden Globe Awards held on 24 January, "The Prayer" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the film Quest for Camelot. At the 41st Grammy Awards ceremony on 24 February, Bocelli was nominated for Best New Artist, which was won by Lauryn Hill. Bocelli and Dion sang "The Prayer" at the ceremony. The song was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and performed by Bocelli and Dion at the ceremony held at the Los Angeles Music Center on 21 March.

From 11 to 24 April, Bocelli toured the West Coast of North America, from San Diego to Vancouver, with a final performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Actress Elizabeth Taylor stood by his side on the stage during the encore, while he sang "The Prayer". At the invitation of Steven Spielberg, Bocelli sang in Los Angeles on 15 May before Bill Clinton at an event on behalf of the Democratic Party. At the end of May, he toured Portugal and Spain and sang with Portuguese Fado singer Dulce Pontes. On 27 June, Bocelli took part in the Michael Jackson benefit concert for suffering children in Munich's Olympic Stadium.

From 10 July to 27 August, Bocelli appeared in a guest role for seven performances of The Merry Widow at the Verona Arena. As the "Tenor Conte Andrea" he performed three arias: "La donna è mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto; "Tu, che m' hai preso il cuor" from Franz Lehár's Das Land Des Laechelns and "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from Verdi's La traviata. On 10 September, together with soprano Daniela Dessì and two Polish singers, Bocelli performed at the Grand Theatre of Łódź in Poland. From 7 October to 19 November, he made his United States operatic debut in Jules Massenet's Werther at the Detroit Opera House with the Michigan Opera Theater.

Bocelli also performed at Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and gave further concerts in Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, and made an appearance on Jay Leno's first instalment of The Tonight Show. Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani then gave Bocelli the Crystal Apple award. His seventh album Sacred Arias, which contains exclusively sacred music, was released worldwide on 8 November, and two weeks later, it reached number one on the US Classic Billboard charts – making Bocelli the first vocalist to hold all top three places on the chart, with Aria, the opera album in second place, and Viaggio Italiano in third place. The album also included the hymn of...

Andrea Bocelli's career continues to be documented by reputable media; the facts above are drawn from Wikipedia's biography and public records.

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