Il Divo ("divine male performer" in Italian) is a multinational operatic pop vocal group created by music manager, executive, and reality TV star Simon Cowell. Formed in the United Kingdom, they are also signed to Cowell's record label, Syco Music. Il Divo is a group of four male singers: Spanish baritone Carlos Marín, Swiss tenor Urs Bühler, American tenor David Miller, and French pop singer Sébastien Izambard. To date, they have sold more than 26 million albums worldwide.
Band history
The idea behind Il Divo's creation came to Cowell after hearing
Andrea Bocelli singing ''
Con te partirò'' while watching
The Sopranos. Aware of this new appreciation for lyrical voices and
classical music, he decided to form a multinational quartet (the members hail from
Spain,
Switzerland,
France, and the
United States, the name being in
Italian) that tried to recreate the style of
The Three Tenors.
Simon Cowell conducted a worldwide search for young singers who were willing to embark on the Il Divo project, which lasted two years, from 2001 until December 2003, when the fourth member of Il Divo, American tenor David Miller, was signed. The well-established formation of Il Divo comprises a renowned Spanish baritone, Carlos Marín; two classically trained tenors, Swiss Urs Bühler and American David Miller; and a French pop singer, Sébastien Izambard.
Il Divo sings in English, Italian, Spanish, French, and Latin. Il Divo was named the Most Multinational UK No.1 Album Group in the 2006 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
On 25 April 2007, Il Divo performed on American Idol in one of the "Idol Gives Back" episodes, which raised money for children in the U.S. and Africa. For every vote cast during that show, Idol sponsors Coca-Cola, AT&T;, and others donated money to Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF) and other groups such as Save the Children and America's Second Harvest.
On 12 December 2008, Il Divo performed their new song at the Swedish Idol 2008 finale in the Globen Arena in Stockholm.
As Barbra Streisand's Guests
Having just completed a six-month tour of
America,
Australia, and
Europe, Il Divo then participated in all 20 concerts by
Barbra Streisand in her
North American tour as her special guests. "Streisand: The Tour" with Il Divo was ranked second for all tours for 2006, generating $92.5 million in gross sales.
2006 World Cup
On 9 June 2006, Il Divo performed the
2006 FIFA World Cup official song, "
The Time of Our Lives," with
R&B; singer
Toni Braxton live, at half-time, during the opening match between
Germany and
Costa Rica, and again a month later at the 9 July closing ceremony. The song is available exclusively on the ''
Voices from the FIFA World Cup'' compilation album, and on the European reissue of
Braxton's album ''
Libra'', but not on any Il Divo album. A shortened version of the song is featured on the second disc of Braxton's greatest hits album.
Discography
''Il Divo'' (2004)
Recording started in the first half of 2004 in
Sweden, with producers
Quiz & Larossi,
Per Magnusson &
David Kreuger and in the UK with producer
Steve Mac. This self-titled album contained the Spanish rendition of
Toni Braxton's hit "
Unbreak My Heart" (''Regresa a Mí''), (Braxton had originally released "Regresa a Mi" as a b-side to her 1996 single, "Unbreak My Heart"); their second single and first original song "
Mama";
Sinatra's "
My Way" (''A mi manera''); "
Nella Fantasia," and 1994's
San Remo Festival winner "Passerà."
The album hit the #1 slot on both Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com after a career-defining appearance on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' on 5 April 2005, where they performed "Regresa a Mi".
In the United Kingdom, the ''Il Divo'' album knocked Robbie Williams out of the number 1 spot in the UK charts, Williams allegedly said to them at the "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" film premiere, “So you are the four idiots who have forced me off my number one spot!”.
This multiplatinum-selling CD became number one in the charts in a total of 13 countries around the world, and achieved top 5 placing in 25 countries.
''Ancora'' (2005)
This was recorded in both
Sweden and
London with producers
Per Magnusson,
David Kreuger and
Steve Mac, who were also the producers of their first album. Released on 7 November 2005 in the UK, it hit number one both in the UK and
Australia within one week. ''Ancora'' was released in the US on 24 January 2006. It entered the
Billboard albums chart at number 1, selling more than 150,000 copies during its first week of sales.
Highlights include "Isabel," "I Believe In You (Je crois en toi)," a duet with Céline Dion, a Spanish version of Secret Garden's "You Raise Me Up" (Por ti seré), and a Spanish cover of Eric Carmen's "All by Myself." Two of the tracks on the non-American release of this CD, "O Holy Night" and a version of Schubert's "Ave Maria," also appear on 2005's ''The Christmas Collection''.
''The Christmas Collection'' (2005)
Recorded in 2005, the album is a collection of Christmas and holiday-inspired songs.
''Voices'' (2006)
Is a collection of songs released at the time of the
2006 FIFA World Cup.
''Siempre'' (2006)
Released on 21 November 2006 in the United States and one week later in the rest of the world.
''The Promise (2008)''
The album was released globally on 10 November 2008, except in the US and Canada, where it was released on 18 November 2008, Ireland where it was released on 7 November 2008, and Japan, on 26 November 2008.
The album reached the No.1 spot in the UK on 16 November 2008. The album was produced by Steve Mac. According to the credits on the DVDs, the bagpipes in ''Amazing Grace'', both on this album and in the performance in the ''In the Coliseum'' DVD, are played by Robert White.
Wicked Game (2011)
According to Sony Music International the upcoming album is titled "Wicked Game" and scheduled for release on 25 November 2011. Il Divo premiered the first song from the album, Dove L'Amore, in a live performance at the Classical Brit Awards on Sunday 12 May 2011. At the same event Il Divo received the award for 'Artist of the Decade'.
DVDs
Mama
The Il Divo release "
Mama" – The Video, which includes exclusive footage of the "Making of the Video," a live recording of "Mama – Live In New York," plus a photo gallery.
Encore / Ancora
An open air "live" concert filmed at the
Teatro Romano (aka
World Heritage site "Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida") in
Mérida, Spain, 2005 and was released as DVD on 24 January 2006. The DVD features 8 tracks, including:
Concert
''Si Tu Me Amas''
''Isabel''
''O Holy Night''
''Heroe''
''All By Myself (Solo Otra Vez)''
Extras
Il Divo Revealed (documentary interspersed with concert songs)
Regresa A Mi (Unbreak My Heart) (Music video)
Mama (Music video)
Live at the Greek Theater
The second official DVD release of Il Divo, this contains the full live concert performed on 27 June 2006 at the
Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California as part of their World Tour 2006. This recording captures all the songs that have established the group's popularity, such as their breakthrough hit "Regresa A Mi" through to their original songs such as "Mama," "Si Tu Me Amas," and the only song taken from their Christmas album, "Rejoice." They also performed a previously unreleased rendition of the iconic song "
Somewhere" as featured in the musical ''
West Side Story''. Most releases in the
United States of America do not have "Everytime I Look At You" on it as a major music distributor bought the rights to it in order to promote this song as a bonus track on their release of the DVD, despite the tracklisting on the back-covers still listing the track.
Setlist (in order)
Regresa a mi
All by myself (Solo otra vez)
Passerà
Isabel
Nella fantasia
Rejoice
Pour que tu m'aimes encore
I Believe In You (Je crois en toi)
Unchained Melody (Senza catene)
Every Time I Look At You
Si tú me amas
Feelings
Mama
Somewhere
Hero
My Way (A mi manera)
Extras
The Time of our Lives video - performed with Toni Braxton as the official 2006 FIFA World Cup song. It features three versions in English, German and the International one.
Up-close and personal interview - focuses on the group's reflections of their success so far.
Live at the Coliseum (2008)
The DVD was released in the UK on 1 December 2008, but the show was in Pula, Croatia.
It features performances of:
Amazing Grace
The Power Of Love (La Fuerza Mayor)
Hallelujah (Alleluia)
The Winner Takes It All (Va Todo Al Ganador)
Adagio
With an in-depth 30 minute interview entitled 'The Promise – Il Divo In Conversation.'
An Evening With Il Divo - Live In Barcelona (2009)
While partaking in their largest worldwide tour, Il Divo recorded and released
An Evening With Il Divo – Live In Barcelona, a live DVD with an accompanying 10-track CD with songs from the concert. It was recorded at Il Divo’s largest capacity performance in Europe and took place at Palau Sant Jordi on 3 April 2009 with attendance of 20 000 people. Added to the setlist are two previously unrecorded songs by the band,
Bridge Over Troubled Water and
The Impossible Dream. Extras include a "behind the scenes footage/making of the tour" interview with Il Divo. Il Divo turned to the famous choreographer
William Baker for a fresh look and feel, as his most famous work is for vastly different music and performers, mainly
Kylie Minogue.
CD/DVD Track Listing:
Disc 1: The CD1. Regresa A Mi (Unbreak My Heart)2. Unchained Melody (Senza Catene)3. La Promessa4. Adagio5. Somewhere6. Nights in White Satin (Notte Di Luce)7. Without You8. Aleluya9. Amazing Grace10. My Way (A Mi Manera)
Disc 2: The DVD1. Somewhere2. Unbreak My Heart (Regresa A Mi)3. La Promessa4. Angelina5. Isabel6. Bridge Over Troubled Water7. She8. Passera9. Unchained Melody (Senza Catene)10. Mama11. Nights In White Satin (Notte Di Luce)12. The Winner Takes It All (Va Toda Al Ganador)13. Without You (Desde El Dia Que Te Fuiste)14. Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore15. Everytime I Look At You16. Hallelujah (Aleluya)17. Adagio18. La Vida Sin Amor19. Caruso20. The Power Of Love (La Fuerza Mayor)21. My Way (A Mi Manera)22. Amazing Grace23. The Impossible DreamDVD Bonus: On Tour With Il Divo
Bibliography
Romancing The World (2005)
Author: Allegra Rossi
Format: Hardback 128 pages
Date of publication: 10 November 2005
Publisher: Orion
ISBN 9780752875194
Our Music, Our Journey, Our Words (2007)
Author: Il Divo
Format: Paperback 192 pages
Data of publication: 6 September 2007
Editor: Headline Book Publishing
ISBN 9780755316571
Notes
External links
Official website
LiveJournal Fan Community
Il Divo Belgium website
Spanish website
Il Divo profile on the C Music TV channel
Il Divo section on ClassicalX
Belgium Il Divo Fansite
Belgium Il Divo Forum
Il Divo Brazilian Fanclub
Il Divo Kingdom ru
Category:Multinational musical groups
Category:Musical groups established in 2004
Category:Opera crossover singers
Category:Musical quartets
Category:Sony BMG artists
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