Andrea bocelli houston Continue Bocelli's going to redirect here. For his second album, see Bocelli (album). Andrea BocelliOMRI OMDSMBocelli performs in September 2019Syound InformationBorn (1958-09-22) 22. ItalyGenresOperastic popclassical crossovereasy listeninglatin poptraditional popOccupation(s)Singer (tenor)songwritermulti-instrumentalistrecord producerInstrumentsVocalspianoflutefiddle Andrea Bocelli OMRI OMDSM (Italian pronunciation: [an啦drea bot啦lli]; (born 22 September 1958) is an Italian opera singer. composer, tenor and music producer. [2] [3] He was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma at 5 months, and became completely blind at the age of 12, after a football accident. After evenings in piano bars and competitions in local singing competitions, Bocelli signed his first record deal with Sugar Music. He became famous in 1994, winning the preliminary round of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing Miserere, with the highest marks ever recorded in the rookie section. Since 1982, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo studio albums of both pop and classical music, the three biggest hits and nine complete operas that have sold more than 90 million recordings worldwide. [4] [5] He had success as a crossover artist, bringing classical music to the top of international pop charts. [2] [6] [7] His first compilation album, Romanza, is one of the best selling albums of all time, while Sacred Arias is the best selling classical album by any solo artist in history. [8] My Christmas was the best selling holiday album of 2009[9][10][11] and one of the best selling holiday albums in the United States. [12] The 2019 Album Sì debuted first on the UK Albums Chart and the American Billboard 200 and became Bocelli's number one album in both countries. His song Con te partirò, part of his second album Bocelli, is one of the best-selling singles of all time. [13] In 1998, Bocelli was named one of people's 50 most beautiful people. [14] He duetted with Celine Dion for the song Prayer for the animated film Quest for Camelot, which won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. [2] In 1999, he was nominated for best new artist at the Grammy Awards. He captured the listing in the Guinness Book of World Records with the release of his classic album Sacred Arias, as he simultaneously held the top three positions in the US classical album charts. [2] Bocelli was made a great officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006 and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2 March 2010 for his contribution to the Live Theater. Singer Celine Dion said that if God had a voice of singing, he must sound similar to Andrea Bocelli,[2][15] and music producer David Foster often describes Bocelli's voice as the most beautiful in Early life Bocelli was born Alessandro and Edi Bocelli on September 22, 1958. [18] Doctors advised the couple to discontinue it because they predicted that the baby would be born with a disability. At birth, it became clear that Bocelli had numerous vision problems and was eventually diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. [19] He declared that his mother's decision to give birth to him and cancel the doctor's counsel was an inspiration to him against abortion. [19] Bocelli grew up on a family farm where he sold agricultural machinery and produced wine in the small village of La Sterza, a frazione in Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy, about 40 km south of Pisa. [20] His mother and younger brother Alberto still live in the family home; his father died in 2000. [21] Bocelli showed great passion for music as a young boy. His mother said music was the only thing that would please him. He started piano lessons at age 6 and later learned to play flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar and drums. [18] His nanny Oriana gave him the first record of Franco Corelli, and he began to show interest in pursuing a career as a tenor. [22] At age 7, he was able to recognize the famous voices of that time and tried to emulate great singers. [22] At the age of 12, Bocelli lost his sight completely after an accident during an association football match. [14] During the match, a goalkeeper hit him in the eye and suffered a brain haemorrhage. Doctors took up leeches in a last-ditch effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful and he remained blind. [24] Bocelli also spent time singing in childhood. He played his first concert in a small village near where he was born. [22] He won his first song contest at the age of 14 with 'O single mio at the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio. In 1980 he graduated from high school and then studied law at the University of Pis. [4] [18] In order to make money, he played evenings in piano bars, and it was there that he met his future wife Enrica in 1987. [18] He graduated from law school and spent one year as a court-appointed lawyer. [26] Career 1992-94: Sanremo and Il mare calmo della sera In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero held an audition for tenors to make a demo tape of his song Miserere, sent to Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. After hearing Bocelli on tape, Pavarotti called on Zuccher to use Bocelli instead. Zucchero eventually persuaded Pavarotti to record a song with Bocelli, and it became a hit across Europe. On the Zucchero European concert tour in 1993, Bocelli accompanied him to sing a duet, and he also received solo sets at concerts sung by Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot. [27] Bocelli signed with Sugar Music in Milan after Caterina Caselli heard Bocelli sing Miserere and Nessun Dorma at a birthday party for Zucchero. Inches Bocelli entered the preliminary round of the Sanremo music festival in the Giovani category, performing Miserere. He won the preliminary competition with the highest marks ever recorded in the rookie section. On December 28, he made his classical world debut at a concert at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia. In February 1994 he entered the main competition Sanremo Festival with Il mare calmo della sera and won the rookie section, again with a record score. After his victory, 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 he concerted with pop singer Gerardina Trovato. [27] In September, he sang at Pavarotti's annual charity gala concert, Pavarotti International in Modena, where he sang Ruggiero Leoncavallo's Mattinata and sang a duet with Pavarotti, Maurizio Morante's Notte e Piscatore. [27] In September, he made his operatic debut as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth at the Teatro Verdi in Song. [28] Bocelli was agnostic, but around 1994, partly as a result of immersion in the works of the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, he returned to the practice of the Catholic faith. [29] Before Pope John Paul II [27] 1995–1997: Bocelli and Romanza As the winner of the newcomers section at the Sanremo Festival in 1994, Bocelli was invited the following year. He entered the main competition with Con te partirò and finished in fourth place. [30] The song was included on his 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. [31] His third album, Viaggio Italiano, was released in Italy in 1996. [30] A sing duet with English soprano Sarah Brightman was invited to the final bout of German boxer Henry Maske. Brightman approached Bocelli after she heard him sing Con te partirò while she was dining at the restaurant. Changing the title of the song's lyrics 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. [32] The single debuted at the top of the German charts, where he stayed for a fortnight. With sales approaching three million copies, and a sextuple platinum award, Time to Say Goodbye eclipsed the previous best-selling single by more than one million copies. [30] In 1996, he took first place on 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. [citation needed] That same year, Bocelli recorded Je vis pour elle, the French version of Vivo per lei, as a duet with french 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's the best-selling single for Ségar and the second for Bocelli after Time to Say Goodbye. On March 3, he appeared in Hamburg, Germany, where Sarah Brightman won the ECHO music award for Best Single of the Year. In the summer of 1997 he played 22 open-air concerts in Germany and on 31 August a concert in Oberhausen. In September, he performed at a concert in Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pžim on a home video 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 the PBS part of the series In The Spotlight. It also marked the debut of Bocelli to an American audience. On 14 September in Munich, Germany, ECHO won the Klassik Best Seller of the Year award for his album Viaggio Italiano.