Biography (read more)
Luciano Pavarotti was born in 1935 in Modena, Italy, and began serious vocal study in 1954 with Arrigo Pola, later continuing with Ettore Campogalliani. After roughly seven years of training, he made his professional opera debut in 1961 as Rodolfo in La bohème. His international profile grew through the 1960s with debuts at the Vienna State Opera and La Scala, and his celebrated 1972 Metropolitan Opera performance of La fille du régiment, in which he sang nine effortless high Cs, brought him widespread fame in the United States.
Pavarotti became one of the most commercially successful and widely recognized opera singers in history, selling more than 100 million records and earning the nickname “King of the High Cs.” As one of the Three Tenors, his 1990 World Cup concert recording became the best-selling classical album of all time, and he was celebrated for popularizing opera with mass audiences worldwide. He was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors, was named a UN Messenger of Peace, and his final public performance of “Nessun dorma” at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics remains iconic.
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