2006 (MMVI) was a common year that started on a Sunday. In the Gregorian calendar, it was the 2006th year of the Common Era, or of Anno Domini; the 6th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 7th of the 2000s decade.

2006 was designated as: International Year of Deserts and Desertification.

International Asperger's Year.

Year of Mozart, marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Events

January

January 1 – Russia cuts natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute. January 5 – A hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia collapses, killing 76 pilgrims visiting to perform hajj. January 12 – A stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills 362 pilgrims. January 15 – NASA's Stardust mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a comet. January 25 – Pope Benedict XVI issues his first encycylical, Deus Caritas Est. January 27 – Celebrations are held in Salzburg and around the world, for the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

February

February 3 – An Egyptian passenger ferry carrying more than 1,400 people, sinks in the Red Sea off the Saudi coast. February 4 – The Wowowee stampede at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines kills 74 people and leaves 600 injured.

February 10–26 – The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy.

February 17 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126. February 19 – Pasta de Conchos mine disaster: Sixty-five miners die after becoming trapped underground, following an explosion in Nueva Rosita, Mexico.

March

March 4 – The final contact attempt with Pioneer 10 receives no response. March 9 – NASA's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water. March 10 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enters Mars orbit. March 28 – A scramjet jet engine, Hyshot III, designed to fly at 7 times the speed of sound, is successfully tested at Woomera, South Australia.

April

April 5 – A swan with Avian Flu is discovered in Cellardyke in Fife, Scotland (the first case in the United Kingdom). April 10 – A fire at the Brand India Fair, Victoria Park, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, kills at least 100. April 11 – The European Space Agency's Venus Express spaceprobe enters Venus' orbit. April 11 – President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium. April 20 – Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; 9 days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de-facto termination of the deal.

May

May 24 – East Timor's Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta officially requests military assistance from the governments of Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal. May 27 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes central Java in Indonesia, killing more than 6,000, injuring at least 36,000 and leaving some 1.5 million people homeless.

May – Human Genome Project publishes the last chromosome sequence, in Nature.

June

June 3 – Montenegro declares independence after a May 21 referendum. The state union of Serbia and Montenegro is dissolved on June 5, leaving Serbia as the successor state.

June 9 – July 9 – The 2006 FIFA World Cup begins in Germany.

June 18 – The first Kazakh space satellite KazSat is launched. June 28 – Operation Summer Rains: Israel launches an offensive against militants in Gaza.

July

July 1 – The Qingzang railway launches a trial operation, making Tibet the last province-level entity of China to have a conventional railway. July 6 – The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.

July 9 – Italy wins their fourth FIFA World Cup title.

July 9 – S7 Airlines Flight 778 crashes into a concrete barrier shortly after landing, killing at least 122 people and leaving many injured. July 10 – Pakistan International Airlines Flight 688 crashes in Multan, Pakistan shortly after takeoff. July 11 – A series of coordinated bomb attacks strikes several commuter trains in Mumbai, India during the evening rush hour. July 12 – 2006 Lebanon War: Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing 3. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel 2 days later. July 18 – The SS Nomadic, the last floating link to Titanic, returns home to a large reception in Belfast.

August

August 11 – A resolution to end the 2006 Lebanon War is unanimously accepted by the United Nations Security Council. August 22 – Pulkovo Airlines Flight 612 crashes near the Russian border in Ukraine, killing 171 people, including 45 children. August 22 – The ICM awards Grigori Perelman the Fields Medal for proving the Poincare conjecture, one of 7 Millennium Prize Problems; Perelman refuses the medal. August 24 – The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of 'dwarf planet' more than 70 years after its discovery.

September

September 19 – Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand declares a state of emergency in Bangkok as members of the Royal Thai Army stage a coup d'état. The army announces the removal of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from power. September 29 – Gol Flight 1907 (Boeing 737-800) collides with a business jet over the Amazon Rainforest, killing all 155 onboard.

October

October 9 – North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test. October 13 – South Korean Ban Ki-moon is elected as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations. October 29 – Aviation Development Company Flight 53 crashes shortly after takeoff in Nigeria killing 96 people.

November

November 2 – No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock becomes the most expensive painting after it was sold privately at $140 million. November 5 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging by the Iraqi Special Tribunal. November 12 – The former Soviet republic of South Ossetia holds a referendum on independence from Georgia. November 15 – Al Jazeera launches its English language news channel, Al Jazeera English. November 23 – A series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Sadr City, Baghdad, kill at least 215 people and injure 257 other people. November 30 – Typhoon Durian triggers a massive mudslide and kills at least 720 people in Albay province on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

December

December 5 – The military seizes power in Fiji, in a coup d'état led by Commodore Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama. December 13 – The Chinese River Dolphin or Baiji becomes extinct. December 24 – Ethiopia admits its troops have intervened in Somalia. December 26 – An oil pipeline explodes in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, killing at least 200 people.

December 30 – Basque nationalist group ETA detonates a van bomb at Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, ending a nine-month ceasefire.

Births

September 6 – Prince Hisahito of Akishino, son of Kiko, Princess Akishino and Prince Akishino

Deaths

January

January 3 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)

January 4 – Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1946)

January 6 – Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)

January 7 – Heinrich Harrer, mountaineer, explorer and author (b. 1912)

January 14 – Shelley Winters, American actress (b. 1920)

January 15 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1926)

January 19 – Wilson Pickett, American singer (b. 1941)

January 21 – Ibrahim Rugova, first President of Kosovo (b. 1944)

January 24 – Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)

January 27 – Johannes Rau, President of Germany (b. 1931)

January 30 – Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)

February

February 1 – Dick Brooks, American auto racer (b. 1942)

February 1 – Bryce Harland, New Zealand diplomat (b. 1931)

February 3 – Al Lewis, American actor (b. 1923)

February 4 – Betty Friedan, American feminist, activist, and writer (b.1921)

February 8 – Ron Greenwood, English football manager (b. 1921)

February 8 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese classical music/film composer (b. 1914)

February 9 – Sir Freddie Laker, British airline entrepreneur (b. 1922)

February 10 – J Dilla, American music producer (b. 1974)

February 12 – Peter Benchley, American writer (b. 1940)

February 12 – Ken Hart, American composer, journalist, and playwright (b. 1917)

February 13 – Andreas Katsulas, American actor (b. 1946)

February 13 – P. F. Strawson, English philosopher (b. 1919)

February 14 – Shoshana Damari, Israeli singer and actress (b. 1923)

February 15 – Sun Yun-suan, Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1913)

February 16 – Ernie Stautner, German-born American football player (b. 1925)

February 20 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveler (b. 1920)

February 22 – Anthony Burger, American musician and singer (b. 1961)

February 22 – Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Singapore politician (b. 1925)

February 23 – Mauri Favén, Finnish painter (b. 1920)

February 23 – Zarra, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)

February 24 – Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)

February 24 – Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)

February 25 – Darren McGavin, American actor (b. 1922)

February 25 – Florian ZaBach, American musician and TV personality (b. 1931)

February 27 – Linda Smith, English comedian (b. 1958)

March

March 1 – Harry Browne, American Libertarian Presidential candidate (b. 1933)

March 1 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947)

March 1 – Peter Snow, New Zealand doctor (b. 1935)

March 2 – Jack Wild, English actor (b. 1952)

March 3 – William Herskovic, Hungarian Holocaust hero and philanthropist (b. 1914)

March 4 – Edgar Valter, Estonian illustrator and cartoonist (b. 1929)

March 4 – John Reynolds Gardiner, American author and engineer (b. 1944)

March 6 – Dana Reeve, American actress, wife of Christopher Reeve (b. 1961)

March 6 – Kirby Puckett, U.S. baseball player (b. 1960)

March 6 – King Floyd, American singer (b. 1945)

March 8 – Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)

March 9 – Hanka Bielicka, Polish actress (b. 1915)

March 9 – John Profumo, British politician (b. 1915)

March 11 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (b. 1931)

March 11 – Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia (b. 1941)

March 13 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)

March 13 – Peter Tomarken, American game show host (b. 1942)

March 14 – Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (b. 1929)

March 15 – George Mackey, American mathematician (b. 1916)

March 22 – Lawrence Stephen, Nauruan politician (b. 1939)

March 23 – Cindy Walker, American songwriter (b. 1918)

March 24 – Lynne Perrie, English actress (b. 1931)

March 25 – Rocio Durcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)

March 25 – Richard Fleischer, American film director (b. 1916)

March 26 – Paul Dana, American race car driver (b. 1975)

March 27 – Stanislaw Lem, Polish writer (b. 1921)

March 28 – Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of Defense (b. 1917)

April

April 2 – Nina Schenk von Stauffenberg, German wife of soldier Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg (b. 1913)

April 4 – Denis Donaldson, Irish Republican informer (b. 1950)

April 5 – Gene Pitney, American singer (b. 1941)

April 6 – Francis L. Kellogg, U.S. diplomat and prominent socialite (b. 1917)

April 8 – Gerard Reve, Dutch author (b. 1923)

April 11 – Proof, American rapper (D12) (b. 1973)

April 11 – Les Foote, Australian footballer (b. 1924)

April 11 – June Pointer, American singer (b. 1953)

April 12 – Rajkumar, Indian actor (b. 1929)

April 12 – William Sloane Coffin, American university chaplain and activist (b. 1924)

April 13 – Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist (b. 1918)

April 15 – Louise Smith, American race car driver (b. 1916)

April 17 – Calum Kennedy, Scottish singer (b. 1928)

April 18 – John Lyall, British football player and manager (b. 1940)

April 19 – Scott Crossfield, American pilot (b. 1921)

April 21 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1931)

April 23 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)

April 23 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace (b. 1912)

April 24 – Nasreen Huq, Bangladeshi social worker and human rights activist (b. 1958)

April 24 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)

April 24 – Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (b. 1927)

April 24 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Hungarian-born Hassidic rabbi (b. 1914)

April 25 – Jane Jacobs, American-born writer and activist (b. 1916)

April 25 – Peter Law, British politician (b. 1948)

April 29 – John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian economist (b. 1908)

April 30 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (b. 1934)

May

May 2 – Louis Rukeyser, American television host (b. 1933)

May 3 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter (b. 1921)

May 3 – Pramod Mahajan, Indian Bharatiya Janata Party politician and strategist (b. 1949)

May 3 – Earl Woods, American athlete and father of Tiger Woods (b. 1932)

May 6 – Lillian Asplund, last American survivor of the Titanic disaster (b. 1906)

May 6 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese activist (b. 1926)

May 7 – Richard Carleton, Australian journalist (b. 1943)

May 7 – Steve Bender, German musician (Dschinghis Khan) (b. 1946)

May 8 – Iain Macmillan, British photographer (b. 1938)

May 10 – Val Guest, British film director (b. 1911)

May 11 – Yossi Banai, Israeli singer and actor (b. 1932)

May 11 – Floyd Patterson, American boxer (b. 1935)

May 12 – Hussein Maziq, Former Libyan prime minister (b. 1918).

May 13 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian (b. 1923)

May 13 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American R&B; singer (b. 1949)

May 16 – Jorge Porcel, Argentine actor (b. 1936)

May 19 – Freddie Garrity, English singer (Freddie and the Dreamers) (b. 1940)

May 21 – Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, and songwriter (b. 1909)

May 22 – Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organisation (b. 1945)

May 23 – Lloyd Bentsen, American politician (b. 1921)

May 24 – Anderson Mazoka, Zambian politician (b. 1943)

May 24 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician (b. 1930)

May 25 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer and songwriter (b. 1941)

May 25 – Tobías Lasser, Venezuelan botanist (b. 1911)

May 25 – Kari S. Tikka, Finnish professor (b. 1944)

May 26 – Édouard Michelin, French businessman (b. 1963)

May 27 – Alex Toth, American comic book artist and cartoonist (b. 1928)

May 29 – Masumi Okada, Japanese actor (b. 1935)

May 30 – Shohei Imamura, Japanese film director (b. 1926)

May 30 – David Lloyd, New Zealand biologist (b. 1938)

June

June 1 – Rocio Jurado, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)

June 6 – Arnold Newman, American photographer (b. 1918)

June 6 – Billy Preston, American artist and musician (b. 1946)

June 6 – Hilton Ruiz, Puerto Rican jazz pianist (b. 1952)

June 7 – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant (b. 1966)

June 7 – John Tenta, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1963)

June 11 – Neroli Fairhall, New Zealand archer (b. 1944)

June 12 – Chakufwa Chihana, Malawi politician (b. 1939)

June 12 – György Ligeti, Hungarian composer (b. 1923)

June 12 – Kenneth Thomson, Canadian businessman and art collector (b. 1923)

June 13 – Charles Haughey, Prime Minister of Ireland (b. 1925)

June 13 – Hiroyuki Iwaki, Japanese conductor and percussionist (b. 1932)

June 14 – Jean Roba, Belgian comics author (b. 1930)

June 15 – Raymond Devos, French humorist (b. 1922)

June 18 – Gica Petrescu, Romanian musician (b. 1915)

June 23 – Aaron Spelling, American television producer (b. 1923)

June 25 – Arif Mardin, Turkish-born music producer (b. 1932)

June 25 – Jaap Penraat, Dutch architect and resistance fighter (b. 1918)

June 30 – Mohamed Haneef, Maldivian Politician and former Vice-President of Islamic Democratic Party of Maldives (b. 1946)

June 30 – Robert Gernhardt, German satirist (b. 1937)

July

July 1 – Ryutaro Hashimoto, 53rd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)

July 1 – Fred Trueman, English cricketer (b. 1931)

July 3 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (b. 1941)

July 5 – Gert Fredriksson, Swedish kayaker (b. 1919)

July 5 – Kenneth Lay, American businessman (b. 1942)

July 6 – Kasey Rogers, American actress, author, and biker (b. 1925)

July 7 – Tom Weir, Scottish climber, author, and broadcaster (b. 1914)

July 7 – Rudi Carrell, Dutch entertainer (b. 1934)

July 7 – Syd Barrett, English singer, songwriter, and guitarist (b. 1946)

July 7 – John Money, Sexologist (b. 1921)

July 7 – Elias Hrawi, former President of Lebanon (b. 1925)

July 8 – June Allyson, American actress (b. 1917)

July 8 – Catherine Leroy, French photographer (b. 1945)

July 10 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel (b. 1965)

July 11 – Ross M. Lence, American political scientist (b. 1943)

July 11 – John Spencer, British snooker player (b. 1935)

July 13 – Red Buttons, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)

July 16 – Bob Orton, American wrestler (b. 1929)

July 17 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (b. 1918)

July 18 – Raul Cortez, Brazilian actor (b. 1931)

July 19 – Jack Warden, American actor (b. 1920)

July 20 – Lim Kim San, Singapore politician (b. 1916)

July 20 – Ted Grant, British politician (b. 1913)

July 21 – Ta Mok, Cambodian military leader (b. 1926)

July 21 – Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese-born actor (b. 1933)

July 22 – José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountain climber (b. 1965)

July 22 – Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, Italian-born Brazilian actor and playwright (b.1934)

July 25 – Ezra Fleischer, Romanian dissident, later Israeli writer (b. 1928)

July 25 – Hani Mohsin, Malaysian actor (b. 1965)

July 28 – David Gemmell, British author (b. 1948)

July 30 – Murray Bookchin, American libertarian socialist (b. 1921)

August

August 3 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (b. 1915)

August 3 – Arthur Lee, American musician (b. 1945)

August 6 – Hirotaka Suzuoki, Japanese Seiyu (b. 1950)

August 9 – James van Allen, American physicist (b. 1914)

August 11 – Mike Douglas, American entertainer (b. 1925)

August 13 – Tony Jay, English-born actor (b. 1933)

August 13 – Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish musician (b. 1975)

August 15 – Te Atairangi Kaahu, Maori queen (b. 1931)

August 15 – Faas Wilkes, former Dutch football player(b. 1923)

August 16 – Alfredo Stroessner, President of Paraguay (b. 1912)

August 19 – Oscar Miguez, Uruguayan football player (b. 1927)

August 20 – Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)

August 21 – Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916)

August 21 – S. Yizhar, Israeli writer (b. 1916)

August 23 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian musician and bandleader (b. 1928)

August 23 – Wolfgang Priklopil, Austrian kidnapper of Natascha Kampusch (b. 1962)

August 26 – Rainer Barzel, German politician (b. 1924)

August 26 – Clyde Walcott, Barbadian cricketer (b. 1926)

August 27 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian filmmaker (b. 1922)

August 27 – Maria Capovilla, Ecuadorian supercentenarian and last remaining person born during the 1880s (b. 1889)

August 30 – Glenn Ford, Canadian actor (b. 1916)

August 30 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)

August 30 – Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, New Zealand jurist and member of the British House of Lords (b. 1926)

September

September 1 – György Faludy, Hungarian poet (b. 1910)

September 2 – Charlie Williams, British comedian (b. 1927)

September 2 – Bob Mathias, American athlete (b. 1930)

September 2 – Willi Ninja, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1961)

September 4 – Steve Irwin, Australian environmentalist and television personality (b. 1962)

September 4 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (b. 1942)

September 4 – Colin Thiele, Australian author and educator (b. 1920)

September 8 – Hilda Bernstein, English-born author, artist, and activist (b. 1915)

September 9 – Richard Burmer, American composer and musician (b. 1955)

September 9 – William B. Ziff, Jr., American publishing executive (b. 1930)

September 10 – Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga (b. 1918)

September 11 – Joachim Fest, German historian and journalist (b. 1926)

September 11 – Johannes Bob van Benthem, Dutch lawyer (b. 1921)

September 14 – Elizabeth Choy, Singaporean World War II hero (b. 1910)

September 14 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born actor and bodybuilder (b. 1926)

September 15 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist (b. 1929)

September 15 – Abe Saffron, Australian nightclub owner and property developer (b. 1920)

September 16 – Rob Levin, American computer programmer (b. 1955)

September 17 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite, sister of John F. Kennedy (b. 1924)

September 17 – Dorothy C. Stratton, Director of the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve (b. 1899)

September 19 – Roy Schuiten, Dutch cyclist (b. 1950)

September 19 – Hugh Kawharu, New Zealand academic and Māori chief (b. 1927)

September 20 – Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (b. 1932)

September 20 – John W. Peterson, American composer (b. 1921)

September 23 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (b. 1921)

September 23 – Aladár Pege, Hungarian musician (b. 1939)

September 24 – Tetsuro Tamba, Japanese actor (b. 1922)

September 26 – Byron Nelson, American golfer (b. 1912)

September 26 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American propagandist for Japan in World War II (b. 1916)

September 29 – Walter Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1915)

October

October 6 – Buck O'Neil, American baseball player (b. 1911)

October 6 – Wilson Tucker, American writer (b. 1914)

October 7 – Anna Politkovskaya, American-born Russian journalist (b. 1958)

October 8 – Mark Porter, New Zealand race car driver (b. 1975)

October 9 – Paul Hunter, British snooker player (b. 1978)

October 10 – Michael John Rogers, English ornithologist (b. 1932)

October 11 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (b. 1972)

October 13 – Mason Andrews, delivered America's first test tube baby; former mayor of Norfolk, Virginia (b. 1919)

October 14 – Freddy Fender, American singer (b. 1937)

October 16 – Lister Sinclair, Canadian broadcaster and playwright (b. 1921)

October 16 – Valentín Paniagua, President of Peru (b. 1936)

October 18 – Anna Russell, British-born comedian and music satirist (b. 1911)

October 20 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910)

October 24 – Enolia McMillan, American first female president of the NAACP (b. 1904)

October 25 – Danny Rolling, American murderer (b. 1954) (executed)

October 28 – Red Auerbach, American basketball coach and official (b. 1917)

October 28 – Trevor Berbick, Jamaican boxer (b. 1955)

October 30 – Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (b. 1926)

October 31 – Pieter Willem Botha, former State President of South Africa (b. 1916)

November

November 1 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress & director (b. 1966)

November 1 – William Styron, American writer (b. 1925)

November 2 – Adrien Douady, French mathematician (b. 1935)

November 2 – Wally Foreman, Australian sports commentator (b. 1948)

November 3 – Paul Mauriat, French musician (b. 1925)

November 3 – Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1937)

November 4 – Frank Arthur Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1915)

November 4 – Sergi López Segú, Spanish footballer (b. 1967)

November 5 – Mustafa Bülent Ecevit, Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist (b. 1925)

November 5 – Samuel Bowers, American Ku Klux Klansman and convicted killer (b. 1924)

November 8 – Basil Poledouris, American composer (b. 1945)

November 9 – Ed Bradley, American journalist (b. 1941)

November 10 – Gerald Levert, American singer (b. 1966)

November 10 – Jack Palance, American actor (b. 1919)

November 15 – Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian fashion model (b. 1985)

November 16 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)

November 17 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927)

November 17 – Bo Schembechler, American football coach (b. 1929)

November 17 – Ruth Brown, American singer (b. 1928)

November 20 – Robert Altman, American film director (b. 1925)

November 20 – Andre Waters, American football player (b. 1962)

November 21 – Pierre Amine Gemayel, Lebanese politician (b. 1972)

November 22 – John Allan Cameron, Canadian musician (b. 1938)

November 23 – Alexander Litvinenko, Russian-born spy (b. 1962)

November 23 – Philippe Noiret, French actor (b. 1930)

November 23 – Anita O'Day, American singer (b. 1919)

November 23 – Willie Pep, American boxer (b. 1922)

November 24 – Walter Booker, American jazz bassist (b. 1933)

November 24 – Juice Leskinen, Finnish singer and songwriter (b. 1950)

November 25 – Leo Chiosso, Italian poet (b. 1920)

November 25 – Valentin Elizalde, Mexican singer (b. 1979)

November 25 – Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner, American actress, journalist and publisher (b. 1916)

November 26 – Dave Cockrum, American comic book artist (b. 1943)

November 27 – Alan Freeman, Australian-born broadcaster and disc jockey (b. 1927)

November 28 – Bernard Orchard, British biblical scholar (b. 1912)

December

December 3 – Craig Hinton, British novelist (b. 1964)

December 4 – Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor (b. 1987)

December 5 – David Bronstein, Soviet Union chess grandmaster (b. 1924)

December 6 – John Feeney, New Zealand documentary film-director (b. 1922)

December 7 – Jeane Kirkpatrick, American political theorist and U.N. ambassador (b. 1926)

December 7 – J. B. Hunt, American trucking magnate (b. 1927)

December 8 – Jose Uribe, Dominican Major League Baseball player (b. 1959)

December 10 – Augusto Pinochet, Chilean dictator (b. 1915)

December 12 – Paul Arizin, American basketball player (b. 1928)

December 12 – Peter Boyle, American actor (b. 1935)

December 12 – Raymond P. Shafer, American politician (b. 1917)

December 13 – Lamar Hunt, American sports executive (b. 1932)

December 13 – "Homesick" James Williamson, American blues musician (b. 1910)

December 13 – Federico Crescentini, Sanmarinese football player (b. 1982)

December 14 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish record executive (b. 1923)

December 14 – Mike Evans, American actor (b. 1949)

December 15 – Clay Regazzoni, Swiss race car driver (b. 1939)

December 16 – Don Jardine, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1940)

December 18 – Joseph Barbera, American animator (b. 1911)

December 20 – Yukio Aoshima, Japanese politician, novelist and TV-actor (b. 1932)

December 20 – Ma Ji, Chinese actor (b. 1934)

December 21 – Saparmurat Niyazov, President of Turkmenistan (b. 1940)

December 22 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (b. 1960)

December 23 – Robert Stafford, American politician (b. 1913)

December 23 – Dutch Mason, Canadian blues musician (b. 1938)

December 23 – Marilyn Waltz, American actress, model, and Playboy Playmate (b. 1931)

December 24 – Braguinha, Brazilian songwriter (b. 1907)

December 24 – Charlie Drake, English comedian (b. 1925)

December 24 – Frank Stanton, American television executive (b. 1908)

December 24 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian musician, composer, poet and comedian (b. 1961)

December 25 – James Brown, American singer (b. 1933)

December 26 – Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)

December 29 – Charles Addo Odametey, Ghanaian football player (b. 1937)

December 30 – Saddam Hussein, 5th President of Iraq (b. 1937)

December 30 – Antony Lambton, Viscount Lambton, British politician (b. 1922)

Awards

Nobel Prizes

Chemistry – Roger D. Kornberg.

Economics – Edmund Phelps.

Literature – Orhan Pamuk.

Peace – Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank.

Physics – John C. Mather, and George F. Smoot.

Physiology or Medicine – Andrew Z. Fire, and Craig C. Mello.

Major holidays

January 1 - New Year's Day

January 6 – Feast of Epiphany or Día de los Reyes Magos (Day of the Magi Kings) or La Fête des Rois (Feast of the Kings).

January 7 – Christmas in the Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic and other Eastern Christian church calendars.

January 10 – Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 12).

January 11 – Vaikunta Ekadashi is observed by Hindus.

January 14 – Mahayana Buddhist New Year.

January 29 – Lunar New Year

January 31 – Muslim New Year.

February 1 – Imbolc Cross-quarter day (Celebrated on February 2 in some places).

February 9 – Day of Ashurah.

February 13 – Tu Bishvat.

February 28 – Mardi Gras.

March 13 – Jewish holiday of Purim begins at sunset.

March 14 – Sikh New Year.

March 21 – Iranian New Year's Day (Norouz).

March 30 – Hindu New Year.

April 5 – Qingming Festival.

April 11 – Birth anniversary of Muhammad.

April 12 – Pesach or Passover begins at sunset, continues for a week.

April 13 – Theravada Buddhist New Year.

April 13 – Punjabi New Year.

April 14 – Good Friday in the Western Church Calendar, Sikh Holiday of Vaisakhi.

April 14 – Puththaandu Tamil New Year in the Tamil Calendar, observed by people in Tamil Nadu.

April 16 – Easter in the Western Church Calendar.

April 21 – Good Friday in the Eastern Church Calendar.

April 23 – Easter in the Eastern Church Calendar.

May 1 – Beltane Cross-quarter day.

June 1 – Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins at sunset.

August 1 – Lammas Cross-quarter day.

August 2 – Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av begins at sundown; it extends until the night of August 3.

September 22 – Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown. Continues until nightfall of the 24th.

September 23 – First day of Ramadan.

October 1 – Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins at sundown. Ends at nightfall of the 2nd.

October 21 – Hindu festival of Diwali.

October 23 – Islamic festival of Eid ul-Fitr.

October 31 – Samhain Cross-quarter day.

December 15 – Hannukah.

December 21 – Wiccans celebrate the festival of Yule.

December 25 – Christmas in the Western Church Calendar.

December 31 – Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha begins (ends on January 2, 2007).

References

External links

Tony Rickardsson (born on 17 August 1970 in Avesta, Dalarna County, Sweden) is a retired Swedish motorcycle speedway rider. He is widely acknowledged as being the most successful speedway rider of the current era, having won six Speedway World Championship titles in 15 attempts. He has two daughters, Michelle (born in 1997) and Natalie (born in 2002) with his wife Anna. He most recently rode for Masarna from Avesta in the Swedish Elitserien league, Unia Tarnów in the Polish Ekstraliga and for the Poole Pirates, King's Lynn Stars, Arena-Essex Hammers and Oxford Cheetahs in the British Elite league.

Career summary

Promising talent

, Poland, 2005]] In 1989 he became Swedish team champion with the now defunct Stockholm U team. The next year, he won the individual Swedish championship, a title he's won six times since, including three times in a row from 1997 to 1999. That year, he also won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Lviv. In 1991, he made his debut at the World Championship in Göteborg, and surprised many by winning silver. This promising performance was followed up by two fourteenth-places at the next World Championship, before he won the last single-event World Championships in an extra play-off race against Dane Hans Nielsen and Australian Craig Boyce. In 1993 he won the Speedway World Pairs Championship with Per Jonsson and Henrik Gustafsson. He also won the 1994 World Team Championship.

World dominance

Despite being on or near the top of the tables in the new Speedway Grand Prix series, organised as six events where points were tallied at the end, Rickardsson failed to win a single individual Grand Prix event in the next three years, and only won a World Championship silver and a Swedish Championship in that time. However, from 1998 onwards, he was dominant. He won three of six events in 1998, including a home win in Linköping, and ended up beating fellow Swede Jimmy Nilsen by 12 points. This year, he also won the Elitserien with Valsarna of Hagfors, being the highest averaging rider that season, and he won the British Elite League with Ipswich, averaging the highest for them as well. 1999 was an almost equally stunning season, although it started badly when he got disqualified in the first race at Prague, finishing eleventh. After three races, he was third, 24 points behind Tomasz Gollob, who looked to be cruising to victory. However, Gollob ran into trouble in the fourth race at Coventry, being forced to retire after the introductory stages and finishing eighth, meaning that Rickardsson caught up 15 points in one race. With one event left at Vojens, Gollob still led by four points, but in a quarter-final heat where Ryan Sullivan had been excluded and he only had to finish in the top two to qualify for the semi-final, Gollob finished third, and the pressure was off Rickardsson - who would now win if he finished in the top six. This recovery gave him Swedish sport's arguably greatest award, Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal (lit.: The Achievement Medal), for the best achievement of the year.

21st century

Rickardsson continued to win titles throughout the new century, although Mark Loram won the 2000 World Championship despite not winning a single event. Rickardsson won one - at Wrocław, but was too inconsistent to win the overall title. However, he again won the Elitserien, this time with his local team Masarna from Avesta, as he and team-mate Leigh Adams were the two highest averaging riders in the entire league. In 2001 he was back on the World stage, winning the World title with a record 121 points from six Grand Prix events, only missing one final - the last, at home on Stockholms Stadion, which was really academic as only a thirteenth place could possibly have robbed him of the title. He managed to win at home in the next Grand Prix series in 2002,which gave him three individual wins as he won his fifth World Championship. In 2003, he finished third overall. Thirteenth place finishes in Gothenburg, Bydgoszcz and Vikingskipet at Hamar ruining his bid for the title, and a concussion kept him out of the Swedish team that won the World Cup at Vojens (though he was part of a qualifier race and hence stands with a World Cup medal - his only title that year). The following year he managed to win the Swedish Championship at Målilla, but consistency eluded him as Jason Crump pipped him to the World title by three points (although the lead was 17 points before the final race). He followed this up with another extremely strong season in 2005. With 6 First positions at Wrocław (1st Event), Krško (3rd), Millennium Stadium (4th), Idrætsparken (5th) in København, Praha (6th) and Lonigo (9th); a second in the Swedish event at Eskilstuna (2nd); third in the Scandinavian held in Målilla (7th) and a lowly 9th in the Polish Grand Prix held at Bydgoszcz (8th Event). Even with such a poor finish in Poland, however, he had already virtually sown up the Championship in the 7th Grand Prix in Målilla, ahead of Jason Crump. After the sixth event held in the Czech Republic, he was first in the points per event table of the Elitserien (the Swedish Domestic Elite League). Though Tony stated that he would give up racing after the 2006 season, he sadly announced his early retirement from both World Championship and Domestic Speedway on the 1st of August 2006 at a press conference in Stockholm, in order to pursue his interest in racing cars instead. Rickardsson was a contestant on the TV4 television show Let's Dance 2008 in which he finished 2nd.

Summary of Titles

World Champion 6 times (1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005)

World Pairs Champion 1993

World Cup winner 4 times (1994, 2000, 2003, 2004)

Swedish individual champion 7 times (1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004)

Swedish League Champion 3 times (1989 with Stockholm, 1998 with Valsarna, 2000 with Masarna)

Polish League Champion 3 times (2001 with Torun, 2004, 2005 with Tarnow)

Peter Craven Shield (British team competition) Champion 2 times (1998 with Ipswich, 2001 with Poole)

British Elite League Champion 3 Times (1998 with Ipswich, 2003 & 2004 with Poole)

Speedway Grand Prix results

Trivia

He was nominated for the most prestigious Swedish sports awards for many years before finally winning in 2006. For the last four years the Swedish comedian Robert Gustafsson often appeared as him, talking sarcastically about how the winners deserved the prize while he was annoyed about never winning.

References

http://www.rickardssonracing.com/

Speedway Home Page

http://www.speedwayhistory.com

Speedway Info

Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Swedish speedway riders Category:Individual Speedway World Champions Category:Speedway World Cup winners Category:Speedway World Pairs Champions Category:Polonia Bydgoszcz riders Category:Ipswich Witches riders Category:Oxford Cheetahs riders Category:Poole Pirates riders Category:King's Lynn Stars riders Category:Lakeside Hammers riders

Carl Robert Olof Gustafsson (born 20 December 1964 in Katrineholm) is a Swedish comedian, actor, and member of Killinggänget. He has sometimes been called "the funniest man in Sweden".

Style of comedy

While Killinggänget is mostly known for its use of irony and pop-culture references, Gustafsson usually employs a more traditional and physical style of comedy, such as slapstick and playing characters with highly exaggerated personalities. He is well known for his range of voices and accents, and his tendency to play people who end up hurting themselves. This style is a lot more pronounced when he is working solo or with other people outside Killinggänget.

Some of the roles that Robert has portrayed include:

Greger: An obviously homosexual fireman dressed in a plaid kilt.

Various old people: Gustafsson is known for portraying old and often rather senile individuals.

Bertil: An accident-prone gardener who has his own tv-show Lost in my own garden. This role was inspired by a 1980s Swedish gardening show where the host accidentally cut his thumb with a knife, but kept going as if nothing had happened. This role led to some of Gustafsson's more gory comedy.

In addition, Gustafsson is a skilled imitator and his many famous imitations include Sven Wollter, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Tony Rickardsson, Robert Aschberg and Magnus Härenstam as well as former Prime Ministers Göran Persson and Carl Bildt.

Fame

Gustafsson is one of Sweden's most famous and beloved comedians, having appeared in many TV shows and films. He has also appeared on Norwegian television, in the show Åpen Post. Besides his iconic work with Killinggänget he has been a cornerstone of Swedish entertainment for many years. He has played in sitcoms such as Rena rama Rolf, and been a regular guest on comedy shows such as Gäster med gester and Parlamentet, a popular panel show similar to BBC's If I Ruled the World.

Filmography

2007 - Hjälp!

2006 - "Jul i Tøyengata" - Tvnorge's julekalender

2006 - Ice Age 2 (Swedish voice)

2005 - En decemberdröm - SVT:s julkalender 2005

2005 - Robotar(Robots) (Swedish voice)

2004 - Four Shades of Brown (Fyra nyanser av brunt )

2003 - Skenbart – en film om tåg

2002 - Ice Age (Swedish voice)

2001 - Monsters, Inc. (Swedish voice)

1999 - Fyra små filmer

1997 - Lilla Jönssonligan på styva linan

1996 - Att stjäla en tjuv

1995 - Alfred

1994 - Lust

1993 - Sunes sommar

1993 - Drömkåken

1991 - Underjordens hemlighet

1985 - Skrotnisse och hans vänner (voice)

In 2004 his performance in Four Shades of Brown earned him a Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

References

External links

Official homepage

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Swedish actors Category:Swedish comedians

Paul Francis Conrad (June 27, 1924 – September 4, 2010) was an American political cartoonist from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During college, Conrad started cartooning at the University of Iowa for the Daily Iowan. While serving with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, during World War II, Conrad received a B.A. in art in 1950. After receiving his degree, he worked for the Denver Post, where he spent 14 years before joining the Los Angeles Times.

He was chief editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times from 1964 to 1993 and had been syndicated to hundreds of newspapers worldwide. Conrad drew numerous cartoons about Richard Nixon's downfall. One cartoon showed Nixon, during his last days as president, nailing himself to a cross. Another example, the Los Angeles Times refused to run. Just prior to the vote to impeach President Nixon, Conrad drew the president in only a pair of tight fitting underwear, with the caption "The Last Nixon Supporter in Washington." He was also named in Richard Nixon's enemy list in 1973.

Conrad wrote several books and his work is in the permanent exhibition of the United States Library of Congress.

He earned the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1964, 1971 and 1984. Conrad has also won two Overseas Press Club awards (1981 and 1970) and in 1988, the Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) honored him with his seventh Distinguished Service Award for Editorial Cartooning.

Conrad is survived by his wife, Kay King, a former society writer for The Denver Post, two sons, two daughters and one grandchild.

References

External links

Pro and Conrad.com, official site

Paul Conrad Cartoons 1963–1969 at Syracuse University (primary source material)

PAUL CONRAD: DRAWING FIRE site for Independent Lens on PBS

Paul Conrad

Comics archive

Category:1924 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American editorial cartoonists Category:People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Category:Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning winners Category:University of Iowa alumni

Name	Andrea Bocelli
Background	solo_singer
Born	September 22, 1958Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, harp, harmonica, guitar, drums, melodica
Voice type	Tenor
Genre	Adult contemporary, classical, easy listening, Latin pop, opera, operatic pop, pop, vocal
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Years active	1992–present
Label	Universal, Philips, PolyGram, Decca, Sugar
Url	Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli, Born with poor eyesight, he became totally blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident.

Since winning the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1994, Thus, he is the biggest-selling solo artist in the history of classical music.

In 1998, he was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 1999, his nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards marked the first time a classical artist had been nominated in the category, since Leontyne Price, in 1961. The Prayer, his duet with Celine Dion for the animated film, The Quest for Camelot, won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award in the same category.

With over 5 million units sold worldwide, Sacred Arias became the biggest-selling classical album by a solo artist of all time, and a number of other countries in Europe and Latin America.

In 2006, Bocelli was made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic,

Early life

at Lajatico, Tuscany]]

Childhood and Education

Bocelli was born in 1958 to Alessandro and Edi Bocelli. They lived on the family farm, selling farm machinery and making wine in the small village of La Sterza, a frazione of Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy, which is about 40 km south of Pisa. Bocelli's mother and younger brother Alberto still live in the family home. Bocelli's father died in 2000.

As a young boy, Bocelli showed a great passion for music. His mother has said that music was the only thing that would comfort him. At the age of six he started piano lessons, and later also learned to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, harp, guitar and drums.

Bocelli would also spend time singing during his childhood. At the age of 14 he won his first song competition, the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio with O sole mio. Bocelli signed with the Sugar Music label in Milan after the group's president heard Bocelli sing Miserere and "Nessun Dorma" at a birthday party for Zucchero.

In December Bocelli entered the preliminary round of the Sanremo Music Festival in the category of Giovani, performing both parts of the duet Miserere. He won the preliminary competition with the highest marks ever recorded in the Newcomers section. On 28 December, he debuted in the classical world in a concert at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia. Bocelli had been an agnostic, but around 1994, partly as a result of immersing himself in the works of Tolstoy, he 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.

The song was included on his album Bocelli which was produced by Mauro Malavasi and released in spring. His third album, Viaggio Italiano, was released in autumn.

In 1996, Bocelli was invited to sing a duet with English soprano Sarah Brightman at the final bout of German IBF World Light-Heavyweight boxing champion Henry Maske. Brightman, a friend of Maske, approached Bocelli after she heard him singing "Con te partirò" whilst 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 fourteen 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.

Back in Italy in Bologna on 27 September, he yet again sang before the Pope at the International Eucharistic Congress. On 19 October, he sang at the TeleFood benefit concert held in the Vatican City, and organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization to raise awareness about world hunger. On 25 October he received a Bambi award, an annual television and media prize awarded by the German media company Hubert Burda Media, in the Klassik category in Cologne, Germany. On 19 April Bocelli entered the United States (USA) market 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. He was also named one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people of 1998. At the 41st Grammy Awards ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on 24 February, Bocelli was nominated in the Best New Artist category which was won by Lauryn Hill. Bocelli and Dion received a standing ovation after singing The Prayer.

In January 2001, Bocelli portrayed the main character in Pietro Mascagni's opera L'amico Fritz at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona and again performed the tenor part in Verdi's Requiem. On 19 March the Requiem album was released with Bocelli as tenor. From 22 March to 6 April he toured North America accompanied by Cecilia Gasdia and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. On 17 June he performed at the re-opening of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In July he performed two concerts in Dublin with Ana María Martínez and the New Symphony Orchestra. At the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice on 4 October he presented his new album Cieli di Toscana and was recognised for having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. In October he opened the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sicilian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini in Catania. On 28 October, he sang Franz Schubert's Ellens dritter Gesang as a representative of the Roman Catholic faith, during a memorial concert at Ground Zero in New York City for the victims of the September 11 attacks there. In November he received the Platinum Europe Award for one million sales of the album Cieli di Toscana, and at the Italian Music Awards he was given a special award from the Federation of the Italian Music Industry for his merits as an "Ambassador of Italian music in the world". He performed seven more concerts in the US accompanied by Ana María Martínez, and on 23 December, in front of the President of Italy and other guests of honour, he sang the Italian national anthem as well as works of Bellini and Verdi at the traditional Christmas concert in the Italian Senate, which was broadcast live on television for the first time.

2002–05: Sentimento and Andrea

In Berlin on 5 February he received a Goldene Kamera award in the "Music & Entertainment" category. On 6 March he received two World Music Awards in Monte Carlo: "World best selling classical artist" and "Best selling Italian artist". On 11 March, he gave a concert for peace at the Basilica di San Marco a Venezia in Venice, accompanied by the orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice and conducted by Lorin Maazel. On 15 March he took part in the opening of Walt Disney Studios Park in Marne-la-Vallée France. On 7 May Bocelli and Tony Renis received a Telegatto Italian Television award for the soundtrack of the series Cuore. On 23 May he received the 2002 Classical BRIT Award for "Outstanding Contribution to Music". On 27 May he performed at the Villa Madama in Rome in front of USA president George W. Bush and Italian president Silvio Berlusconi. On 28 May he took part in "Pavarotti & Friends" charity concert in Modena in aid of Angola. In June he again toured the USA, then on 26 July and 3 August he portrayed Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the 48th Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. On 14 October he and Lorin Maazel presented his new album Sentimento to a worldwide audience. Further presentations took place in Milan and New York, and the album was released on 4 November, selling over two million copies in 40 days. On 24 October he started his Sentimento tour in Zürich which took in large arenas in several European and North American cities.

In February 2003, Bocelli performed Madama Butterfly in an exclusive Monte Carlo concert, which was attended by Caroline, Princess of Hanover. In March for the first time he appeared as a producer, at the Sanremo Festival, where the young artists Allunati and Jacqueline Ferry sang for his new record label, Clacksong. In May his second complete opera, Tosca, was released. At a private benefit gala for the Royal National Institute of Blind People Bocelli sang in front of the British Royal Family. On 24 May he performed in a benefit concert for the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art in the Piazza del Campo in Siena, with sopranos Maria Luigia Borsi and Lucia Dessanti, baritone Soo Kyung Ahn, and violinist Ruth Rogers, accompanied by Marcello Rota and the Orchestra Città di Pisa. Three days later he was again invited to perform at "Pavarotti & Friends" in Modena and sang a medley of Neapolitan songs together with Pavarotti. In June he continued his Sentimento tour in Athens and Cyprus. In September he took part in a concert for the Justice ministers and Interior ministers of the European Union at the Parco della Musica in Rome. He then resumed his tour, accompanied by Maria Luigia Borsi, Ruth Rogers and Marcello Rota. In November he once again toured in the United States, this time accompanied by Ana Maria Martinez, Kallen Esperian and Steven Mercurio. In December he gave his first concert in China and at the end of the month sang Gounod's Ave Maria at Pavarotti's wedding in Modena.

In September he performed his "Once in a Lifetime" tour in Australia with concerts in Sydney and Melbourne and one concert in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he was joined on stage by New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra. concert in Paris, in 2005.]] On 15 October he performed at the People Conference Hall in Beijing, China, and on 17 October at the Great Hall in Shanghai.

During early 2005 Bocelli was on tour including performances in Madeira, Hungary, Norway, USA, UK, Italy and Germany. He also appeared in Sesame Street singing "Time to Say Goodnight" a parody of Time to Say Goodbye as a lullaby to Elmo. On 21 March he performed on the Music for Asia benefit concert in Rome, televised on Italia 1, in aid of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake appeal.

In June he performed at the Deutsche Opera in Berlin. On 2 July he performed at the Paris concert as part of the Live 8 event. Also during the second part of the year, he performed in Croatia, Serbia, Italy, the US, Dubai, Switzerland and finally in Scandinavia.

On 26 February Bocelli sang "Because We Believe" from his Amore album in the Carnevale section of the closing ceremony of the Torino Olympics with a worldwide television audience. He also began another tour with a concert at the Piazza di Castello in Turin. In March he was honoured by the Italian state with a Grande Ufficiale Italian Order of Merit (Grand Officer of the Italian Republic), given to him by then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi for his worldwide work for his country as a singer. The award was presented to him at the Sanremo Festival where he performed a duet with American singer Christina Aguilera on 4 March. and the tenor part from Gioachino Rossini's Messa di Gloria and in Naples where he took part in Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle. American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee performed at three of Bocelli's concerts in California from 9 June to 11 June singing duets of Somos Novios and The Prayer with Bocelli. They also performed on 'J. C. Penney Jam: The Concert for America's Kids and recorded duet versions of Somos Novios for the resulting album, and also Can't Help Falling in Love on the CD of the Under the Desert Sky DVD.

In June he sang the Italian duet version of "Because We Believe", "Ama, credi e vai", with Gianna Nannini at the "großen Fan Party" at the opening of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in Berlin in front of billions of worldwide television viewers.

On 1 July 2007, Bocelli performed "The Music of the Night" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, in a special musicals medley during the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Bocelli returned to his home town for a triumphant concert at the newly created Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico on 5 July 2007, with guest appearance by Kenny G, Heather Headley, Lang Lang, Elisa, Sarah Brightman and Laura Pausini. The concert was later released as Vivere Live in Tuscany. In September he debuted at the Avery Fisher Hall, in New York, with four concerts. October saw the release of the opera album of Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with Bocelli singing the role of Canio. In November he won the "Best Italian Artist" and "World's Best-selling Classical Artist" awards at the World Music Awards. In December he finished his 2006 tour with more concerts in North America and Europe. , Japan, during his 2008 Asian Tour.]] To promote the album, he performed "Canto della Terra" at The Alan Titchmarsh Show on the BBC in London on 1 February; was interviewed by Fabio Fazio on the Italian talk show Che tempo che fa on RAI 3 in Italy; and performed "Canto della terra", "A te" and "Besame mucho" from the album, as well as "My way" on 2 February; and made an appearance on The South Bank Show in London, where he sang the French aria "Pour mon âme" on 3 February. Then on 10 February, he performed "The Prayer" at the 50th Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles, with Josh Groban in a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, and sang "Dare to live" with Heather Headley the following day on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

On 7 May 2008, he sang at Steel Aréna in Košice, Slovakia, in front of 8,000 people. Then 13 May he sang at the "Teatro delle Muse" in Ancona, Italy, for a charity concert for "Francesca Rava – N.P.H. Italia Onlus", a foundation that helps poor and disabled children around the world.

On 2 June 2008 he performed at the Piazza del Duomo, Milan in front of 80,000 people during a concert celebrating the anniversary of the Republic of Italy's formation. Bocelli released the complete opera recording of Carmen in Italy in the same year, which he recorded in 2005. Myung-whun Chung conducted the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Chœur de Radio France for the recording, and Welsh Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, was part of the Ensemble. The recording was not released internationally, until March 2010. , a single-disc collection of some of the arias and duets of the recording, was also released in 2010.

On 20 July, Bocelli held his third concert at the Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, his hometown. The concert was a tribute to the cinema of Italy. Its performers included Italian composer and musician Nicola Piovani, Italian ballet dancer Roberto Bolle, Israeli singer Noa, and Charice. Then on 31 July, he performed at a concert in Vingis Park in Vilnius, Lithuania, in front of more than 18,000 people. Australian singer Tina Arena performed two duets with Bocelli -- "Canto Della Terra" and "The Prayer" -- at the closing stages of the concert.

On 7 August 2008, he held a benefit concert at Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina, and was accompanied by Czech National Symphony Orchestra.

On 26 September 2008, during the 2008 Veneto Festival, he held a concert in the Church of the Eremitani in Padova, Italy, in front of about 1000 people. He was accompanied by the I Solisti Veneti orchestra, celebrating its 50th birthday and conducted by Claudio Scimone, and by the Wiener Singakademie choir. The concert was a celebration of Giacomo Puccini's 150th birthday.

On 10 October and 11 he performed at Petra, singing "Dare to live" with Laura Pausini, as well as performing E Lucevan le Stelle from Tosca. On 19 October he sang "O Surdato 'Nnamurato" and a duet of "Non Ti Scordar Di Me" with Cecilia Bartoli, both from the Incanto album, during the ECHO Awards in Germany; and later presented the soprano with an ECHO award. On 24 October, he performed at Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples, as a tribute to the city, where he celebrated the Italian release of Incanto. Performing with him were flautist Andrea Griminelli, Italian pop singer Massimo Ranieri and soprano Cecilia Bartoli, with Steven Mercurio conducting the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. On 31 October, he performed a solo version of "The Prayer", as well as "Because", a song from Incanto, live on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

On 21 November and 22, Bocelli was amongst a quartet of soloists (soprano Sabina Cvilak, mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich and bass Alexander Vinogradov) to sing Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, conducted by Plácido Domingo, at the Washington National Opera in Washington, DC. Bocelli sang twice in the piece and later the two famous tenors sang The Pearl Fishers duet which would be the first aria they had ever sang together. On 25 November and 26 he starred alongside soprano Verónica Villarroel in an opera in concert of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the "Municipal Auditorium" in San Antonio, Texas. He returned to the United Kingdom, December 16, for an appearance on The One Show, broadcast live by BBC One, and on The Alan Titchmarsh Show which aired December 18, on ITV1.

On November 21, a segment of Leute Heute, a German tabloid-program on ZDF, was about My Christmas and Bocelli's meeting in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI and 250 other artists, an event which was broadcasted live earlier that day in Italy, by Rai Uno. Bocelli was also joined by the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano, in his home in Forte dei Marmi, where they sang "Caro Gesù Bambino", a song from My Christmas which was originally recorded by the choir in 1960. Rai Uno also broadcast the performance later that day, during the Zecchino d'Oro Festival. The following day, Bocelli was among Fabio Fazio's guests, on his popular Italian talk-show, Che tempo che fa, broadcast on Rai Tre. During the program Bocelli talked about his album and performed "The Lord's Prayer", "White Christmas", and "Silent Night". It was also announced that Bocelli would return to the show on December 20 and give a live concert of My Christmas. Bocelli also took part in the annual 2009 José Carreras Gala, on December 17, where he sang Adeste Fideles, before singing "White Christmas" with José Carreras for the very first time; this was broadcast live, by Das Erste, in Germany. He then returning to Italy, for a concert in the Upper Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi, on December 19, which was broadcast directly after the Urbi et Orbi blessing of Pope Benedict XVI, December 25, on Rai Uno.

In North America, Bocelli gave 6 concerts. On November 28, he performed in the Bank Atlantic Center, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He later performed in the Air Canada Centre, in Toronto, Canada, in the Izod Center, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the William Saroyan Theatre, in Fresno, California (changed from the much larger Save Mart Center due to scheduling conflicts), in the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, and finally in the Honda Center, in Anaheim, California, on December 3, 5, 8, 12, and 13. His last three arena concerts alone grossed a total of over 5,6 million dollars, placing him third on Billboard Magazine's week's Hot Tours ranking, behind the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Il Divo, who both held over 5 times more concerts worldwide, compared to Bocelli's three in the U.S., explaining their better showings.

In the United States, Bocelli made a number of high profile TV appearances. He first performed "White Christmas" at the 83rd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, broadcast live on NBC, November 26. He performed the song again on November 30 during The Today Show also live. His appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show during her Holiday Music Extravaganza, where he sang "What Child Is This", with Mary J. Blige, and later closed the show with Adeste Fideles, was also aired the same day, and was later rebroadcast on December 23. Bocelli also sang "Adeste Fideles" and was interviewed by Barbara Walters and Joy Behar on The View, which aired Decembe 2, on ABC. On December 8, he performed "Jingle Bells" with The Muppets on NBC's The Jay Leno Show. He also performed a number of songs from the album, including "The Christmas Song" with Natalie Cole, during a dinner at David Foster's mansion in Malibu, which was featured on The Dr. Phil Show, on December 10. Bocelli also performed "White Christmas" and "Silent Night", on the Larry King Live and Fox & Friends holiday-specials, broadcast December 23, on CNN, and December 19, 24 and 25, on Fox News.

In Brasil, following the success of the South American leg of the Incanto tour, were over 100,000 people attended his free concert at the São Paulo's "Parque Indipendencia", earlier in the year, it was announced that Bocelli would hold another Open-Air, entrance free, concert in Florianópolis, on December 28, where a crowd of about a million people was expected to attend. However, due to financial and political reasons, the concert was later canceled on short notice, along with all the other events scheduled for Christmas in the city.

2010: Hollywood Walk of Fame and FIFA World Cup

On January 31, 2010, during the 52nd Grammy Awards, Bocelli, Mary J. Blige and David Foster joined forces again, singing "Bridge over Troubled Water" to raise awareness for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. The three had previously made an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live, January 28, 2010, to announce the performance.

On March 2, he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Live Theater, at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Roosevelt Hotel.

On March 12, Bocelli made an appearance on Skavlan, in Oslo, Norway, to promote his upcoming Scandinavian tour, giving a rare interview to the show's host Fredrik Skavlan, and later performing "Voglio Vivere Cosi", from his 2008 album Incanto, with Norwegian Boys' choir, Sølvguttene.

In April, he returned to Scandinavia, for a concert in Telenor Arena, in Oslo, Norway, on April 8, a concert in Forum Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on April 9, and finally a concert in the Ericsson Globe, in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 11. He was joined by Tony Award winner Heather Headley and 120 musicians from the Stockholm Concert Orchestra, in all three concerts, and by Swedish mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman in his Swedish concert.

On April 30, Bocelli sang "Nessun Dorma" during the opening ceremony of the Expo 2010, in Shanghai, China, in front of twenty heads of state and government, including Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The following day, on May 1, he held a concert, titled Charming China, at Shanghai Stadium, in front of an audience of 80,000 people, along with Chinese singers Song Zuying and Jay Chou, and Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang; the China Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied them under the direction of its artistic director Yu Long. The concert was later broadcasted by Shanghai TV, and by CCTV channels throughout mainland China.

The two appearances coincided with Bocelli's Asian tour, consisting of a concert in Budokan, Tokyo, Japan, on April 28, a concert in Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea, on May 2, a concert in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Hong Kong, on May 4, a concert in Taipei Arena, Taipei, Taiwan, on May 6, The concert was later broadcasted, in its entirety, by Channel NewsAsia, on May 28 and 29, and by Okto, on May 30, in Singapore. An orchid in the Botanic Gardens' National Orchid Garden was also named after Bocelli in response to the concert. Australian pop singer Delta Goodrem performed again with Bocelli in all five concerts, after suporing him in his U.S. My Chritmas 2009 winter tour.

On May 18, during the 2010 World Music Awards, Bocelli performed ""Un Amore Cosi Grande" from his 2008 album, Incanto, and received his seventh World Music Award, for "Best Classical Artist".

On July 5, Bocelli gave a concert at the opening of the Khan Shatyry Entertainment Center, in Astana, on the occasion of Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev's 70th birthday. Among the guests were, the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, the President of Tajikistan, Emomalii Rahmon, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva, the Crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the King of Jordan, Abdullah II.

On July 9, Bocelli headlined the "Celebrate Africa: The Grand Finale" Concert of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, at the Coca-Cola Dome, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to mark the end of the World Cup, two days before the World Cup final. During the concert, Bocelli was joined by Canadian rock star, Bryan Adams, Italian flautist, Andrea Griminelli, and South African singers, Nianell and Pretty Yende. FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, South Africain president, Jacob Zuma, and Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, were among the 12,000 in attendance.

On July 13, Montenegrin Statehood Day, Bocelli gave a concert at the seaside resort of Sveti Stefan, in western Montenegro, to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Sveti Stefan Hotel. During the hour-long show, on a stage right in front of the island-hotel’s perimeter wall, Bocelli sang well-known arias, as well as some of his more popular hits, to the assembled dignitaries, including Montenegro’s top officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps and many faces from cultural, political and public life, as well as many current and former tourist entrepreneurs who had contributed to the development of Montenegrin tourism. A screening of the film Homage to Rome, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, who was present during the event, and starring Bocelli, in his cinematographic debut, and Italian fashion model, Monica Bellucci, was shown prior to the special concert. The event was also attended by the President of the European Parliament, MEP, Jerzy Buzek, European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, the President of Lazio, Renata Polverini.

On July 25, Bocelli held the fifth and final edition of the Teatro del Silenzio, in his hometown of Lajatico, Tuscany, to an audience of 10,000, double the amount of the first edition of the annual Festival, held in 2006. After performing with Spanish tenor, Plácido Domingo and Welsh Mezzo-soprano, Katherine Jenkins on the previous edition of the Festival, in 2009, Bocelli's guests included the only other surviving member of The Three Tenors, Spanish Catalan tenor, José Carreras, and Italian rock singer, Zucchero. Sculptures by Swiss artist Kurt Laurenz Metzler, who attended the concert, were exhibited during this year's edition. The Teatro del Silenzio has in past incorporated sculptures by artists such as Arnaldo Pomodoro and Igor Mitoraj. Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, who was also in attendance, donated a Bronze statue she had made of Bocelli, to the city of Lajatico, in the afternoon just before the concert. Bocelli was also awarded the Pisano Doc, during the dress rehearsal for the concert, on July 24, "in recognition for a great citizen, who with his extraordinary art and his humanity brings great prestige, honor and respect to the city of Pisa," and received, the 2010 Premio Lunezia nel mondo, during a private ceremony held on July 21, for "the musical-literary quality of his songs."

In September 2010, Bocelli held a concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, in Athens, Greece. The concert was attended by George Papandreou, the prime minister of Greece and Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, among others. All proceeds were donated to help cure cancer. Bocelli also gave concerts in Cairo, Egypt, in front of the pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza, as well as a fundraising concert inside the famous Duomo di Milano to benefit victims of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

As part of the 2010 leg of the My Christmas Tour, Bocelli gave two concerts in the two largest indoor arenas of the United Kingdom, The O2 Arena, in London, and The M.E.N Arena, in Manchester, in late November 2010. In early December, Bocelli gave 6 concerts in the United States. He will perform in Madison Square Garden, in New York City, Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey, TD Garden, in Boston, Toyota Center, in Houston, Staples Center, in Los Angeles, and the MGM Grand's Garden Arena, in the Las Vegas Strip. The Toyota Center concert, in Houston, was attended by former president George Bush, Sr. and first lady Barbara Bush.

Bocelli also toke part in the Christmas in Washington special on December 12, in the presence of president Barack Obama and the first lady. On December 19, Bocelli gave a concert, conducted by Claudio Scimone, in the Italian Senate. The concert was attended by Italy's top officials including Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano, Renato Schifani, the president of the Italian Senate, Gianfranco Fini, the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See.

Voice

With the exception of the negative views of some Classical music critics, Bocelli is widely celebrated as a singer and is admired around the world.

Franco Corelli, one of the greatest Spinto tenors of the twentieth century, praised Bocelli's voice after hearing it for the first time during a Master class in 1986, in Turin, and would later give him private lessons. Another great Italian tenor who championed Bocelli's singing from the very beginning was Luciano Pavarotti. Pavarotti publicly admired Bocelli's voice and played an early part in the younger man's career. Bocelli would later sing during both his wedding ceremony, in 2003, and his funeral, in 2007.

After conducting Bocelli in the Verdi album, in 2000, Zubin Mehta commented that "Andrea's voice is special in many ways. First of all, he has a complete control from forte to pianissimo on any note. The end of 'Celeste Aida,' he attacks the high B flat full voice and then pulls it down to nothing — hardly anybody can do that, it's also very risky on the stage at the opera. But it's not that we tried it 15 times and he got it once; he can do it every time. He can also, in the middle of a phrase, without breathing, change the color of a note, so it's a conductor's dream to ask and to get it because most people can't do that." The interview where Mehta made those comments was featured in a BBC documentary about Bocelli, entitled the "Story Behind the Voice". Mehta also compared Bocelli's voice to the old Italian style of singers, such as Tito Schipa.

The same documentary also featured an interview with Spanish Catalan tenor, José Carreras. He commented that "The first time I had the possibility to listen to Andrea, he was apart of the Sanremo Festival. And I thought wow, that's a nice voice, very beautiful color, very tenor like." He proceeded by saying, "I always thought that he has a wonderful instrument, that he knows very much how to use it."

Similarly, during a 1999 interview on The Charlie Rose show, American soprano Renée Fleming praised Bocelli's voice, by saying "first of all the sound is beautiful. There is something very soulful about the way he sings and it's captured the hearts of something like, the last I've heard eleven million fans." Grammy winning Puerto Rican soprano, Ana María Martínez, who performed with Bocelli on many occasions, also said that "More than anything, Andrea has something that is unique in that he brings this light that is always around him. And this purity of heart and beauty of sound just touches the listener. It can’t be described."

French Canadian singer Celine Dion famously said while introducing him during her Christmas Special for These Are Special Times, in 1998, that "if God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli," Taylor has been a passionate fan of Bocelli's since the beginning of his music career in the mid-90's. Other fans include, Prince Albert of Monaco, Sarah, The Duchess of York, and actress Isabella Rossellini. and Pope John Paul II,

Other world class artists from both the Pop and Opera worlds have also publicly expressed their admiration, including opera singers Plácido Domingo, and Cecilia Bartoli, who collaborated with Bocelli, and conductor Myung-whun Chung, who conducted Bocelli's 1999 allbum, Sacred Arias. Some point to his "poor phrasing, uneven tone and lack of technique."

In 1999, The New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini in his review of Bocelli's North American opera debut at the Detroit Opera House in the title role of Massenet's Werther commented, "The basic color of Mr. Bocelli's voice is warm and pleasant, but he lacks the technique to support and project his sound. His sustained notes wobble. His soft high notes are painfully weak. Inadequate breath control often forces him to clip off notes prematurely at the end of phrases." In December 2000 Tommasini again criticised Bocelli, this time for his La bohème album when he claimed that Bocelli "still has trouble with basic things, like breath support" and his voice had been "carefully recorded", "to help it match the trained voices of the other cast members in fullness and presence."

In describing Bocelli's singing, New York Times music critic Bernard Holland noted, "the tone is rasping, thin and, in general, poorly supported. Even the most modest upward movement thins it even more, signalling what appears to be the onset of strangulation. To his credit, Mr Bocelli sings mostly in tune. But his phrasing tends toward carelessness and rhythmic jumble... The diction is not clear." Similarly, classical music critic Andrew Clement found Bocelli's studio opera recordings consistently disappointing in quality: "Bocelli's profoundly unmusical contribution, with its unvaryingly coarse tone, wayward intonation and never a phrase properly shaped, fatally undermines all their contributions." Anne Midgette of The New York Times agreed, noting "a thinness of voice, oddly anemic phrasing (including shortchanging upper notes of phrases in a most untenorial manner), a curious lack of expression."

During a 2009 performance in New York, the music critic Steve Smith wrote "For cognoscenti of vocal artistry the risks involved in Mr. Bocelli’s undertakings, both then and now, need no explanation. Substantial technical shortcomings masked by amplification are laid bare in a more conventional classical setting. Mr. Bocelli’s tone can be pleasant, and his pitch is generally secure. But his voice is small and not well supported; his phrasing, wayward and oddly inexpressive."

Recognition

.

Honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contribution to live theater, at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in 2010.

ECHO music award for "Best Single of the Year", for Time to Say Goodbye, in 1997.

World Music Awards for "World's Best-selling Classical Artist" in 2010.

Personal life

Bocelli met his first wife, Enrica Cenzatti, while singing at piano bars early in his career. Bocelli lives with his girlfriend and manager, Veronica Berti. They met in 2002.

The couple live in a spacious villa, which used to be a hotel, in Forte dei Marmi on the Mediterranean, complete with recording studio. Meanwhile, Bocelli's estranged wife and two sons live in the couple's previous residence in the same comune, in Versilia.

On 30 April 2000, Bocelli's father, Sandro Bocelli, died. His mother encouraged him to honour his commitments, and so he sang for the Pope, in Rome, on May 1, and immediately returned home for the funeral. At his July 5 performance, filmed for PBS as American Dream—Andrea Bocelli's Statue of Liberty Concert, Bocelli dedicated the encore Sogno (Dream), from his 1999 album Sogno, to the memory of his father. Bocelli serves as its honorary president and performs for one night only, every July, the rest of the year, the theatre remains silent.

Since the opening in 2006, Bocelli has held 5 concerts, in every July, with guests ranging from opera singers Plácido Domingo and José Carreras to classical crossover artists Sarah Brightman and Katherine Jenkins, as well as Italian rock and pop stars Zucchero, Laura Pausini, and Elisa. Bocelli's guests have also included instrumentalists Lang Lang, Chris Botti, and Kenny G. The 2007 edition of the "Teatro del Silenzio" was released on DVD in 2008.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

1994: Il Mare Calmo della Sera

1995: Bocelli

1996/1997: Viaggio Italiano

1997: Aria – the opera album

1999: Sogno

1999: Sacred Arias

2000: Verdi

2001: Cieli di Toscana

2002: Sentimento

2004: Andrea

2006: Amore

2008: Incanto

2009: My Christmas

Compilation albums

1997: Romanza

2007:

Collaborative albums

1997: A Hymn for the World

1998: A Hymn for the World 2 (Voices From Heaven)

2000: Verdi's Requiem

2010:

Complete opera recordings

2000: La Bohème

2003: Tosca

2004: Il Trovatore

2005: Werther

2006: Pagliacci

2007: Cavalleria Rusticana

2008/2010: Carmen

2010: Andrea Chénier

Singles

Duet singles

1995: "Vivo per lei" (with Giorgia)

1996: "Vivo por ella" (with Marta Sánchez)

1996: "Time to Say Goodbye" (with Sarah Brightman)

1997: "Ich lebe für sie" (with Judy Weiss)

1997: "Je vis pour elle" (with Helene Segara)

1999: "The Prayer" (with Celine Dion)

2001: "L'Abitudine" (with Helena Hellwig)

2006: "Somos Novios (It's Impossible)" (with Christina Aguilera)

2006: "Because we believe" (with Marco Borsato)

2006: "Ama credi e vai" (with Gianna Nannini)

2007: "Dare to live" (with Laura Pausini)

2008: "Vive Ya" (with Laura Pausini)

2009: "What Child Is This" (with Mary J. Blige)

2010: "Bridge over Troubled Water" (with Mary J. Blige)

Solo singles

1994: "Il mare calmo della sera"

1995: "Con te partirò"/"Vivere"

1995: "Macchine da guerra"

1995: "Per amore"

1999: "Ave Maria"

1999: "Canto della Terra"

2001: "Melodramma"

2001: "Mille Lune Mille Onde"

2004: "Dell'amore non si sa"

2004: "Un nuovo giorno"

2009: "White Christmas/Bianco Natale"

Live albums & videos

1998: A Night in Tuscany

2000:

2002: Tuscan Skies (Cieli di Toscana)

2006:

2006: Under the Desert Sky

2008: Vivere Live in Tuscany

2008: Incanto The Documentary

2009: My Christmas Special

Bibliography

2000: The Music of Silence: A Memoir (La musica del silenzio) - Autobiography

2010: The Music of Silence: A Memoir - Reworked autobiography

See also

Teatro del Silenzio

Andrea Bocelli discography

List of Popera artists

List of Easy Listening artists

List of Adult Contemporary atists

List of awards and nominations received by Andrea Bocelli

List of best-selling music artists

References

External links

Bocelli's official site

Official German fan site (English version)

Bocelli Community

Official forum

Bocelli on Myspace.com

Bocelli on Facebook.com

Bocelli on Youtube.com

Bocelli on discogs.com

Biography of Andrea Bocelli, from RAI International

Bocelli pages at Music City

Andrea Bocelli on Universal Classics and Jazz Website

Andrea Bocelli section on classicalx.com

C Music TV Profile of Andrea Bocelli

Bocelli lyrics

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