I Believe may refer to:

Albums[link]

• I Believe (Rapture Ruckus album), or the title song
• I Believe (Sérgio Mendes album), or the title cover version of a Stevie Wonder song (see below)
• I Believe (Tata Young album), or the title cover version of a Carola Häggkvist song (see below)
• I Believe (Willie Norwood album), or the title song
• I Believe, by Johnny Cash, a reissue of songs from A Believer Sings the Truth
• I Believe, by the Lebron Brothers
• I Believe, by Lee Soo Young
• I Believe, by R.W. Hampton
• I Believe, by Tim Burgess

Songs[link]

• "I Believe" (1953 song), written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman; popularized by Frankie Laine
• "I Believe" (Ayaka song)
• "I Believe" (Blessid Union of Souls song)
• "I Believe" (Bon Jovi song)
• "I Believe" (Diamond Rio song)
• "I Believe" (EMF song)
• "I Believe" (Fantasia song)
• "I Believe" (Galleon song)
• "I Believe" (Marcella Detroit song)
• "I Believe" (Nikki Yanofsky song)
• "I Believe" (R. Kelly song)
• "I Believe" (Robert Plant song)
• "I Believe (A Soulful Re-Recording)", by Tears For Fears
• "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)", by Stevie Wonder
• "I Believe", by Abra Moore from On the Way
• "I Believe", by Booth and the Bad Angel
• "I Believe", by Bosson from One in a Million
• "I Believe", by Bro'Sis from Never Forget (Where You Come From)
• "I Believe", by the Buzzcocks from A Different Kind of Tension
• "I Believe", by Elliot Minor from Solaris
• "I Believe", by Era from The Very Best of Era
• "I Believe", by The High Spirits
• "I Believe", by Irfan Makki feat. Maher Zain
• "I Believe", by Joana Zimmer
• "I Believe", by Manowar from Dawn of Battle
• "I Believe", by Paulini from Superwoman
• "I Believe", by R.E.M. from Lifes Rich Pageant
• "I Believe", by Shin Seung Hun from the soundtrack of the 2001 film My Sassy Girl
• "I Believe", by Simian Mobile Disco from Attack Decay Sustain Release
• "I Believe", by Sounds of Blackness
• "I Believe", by Steve Perry from Street Talk
• "I Believe", by Stephen Gately, used as the theme song for the film Billy Elliot
• "I Believe", by Third Day from Wire
• "I Believe", by Tiffany Thornton and Kermit the Frog
• "I Believe", by Tigertailz from Wazbones
• "I Believe", by Tomomi Kahala from Love Brace
• "I Believe", by Yolanda Adams from the Honey soundtrack album
• "I Believe", from the musical Spring Awakening
• "I Believe", from the musical Altar Boyz
• "I Believe", from the musical The Book of Mormon
• "I Believe In Love", a song by Carola Häggkvist from My Show; covered by Tata Young under the title "I Believe"

Other uses[link]

• I Believe (play), a play by Gibson Kente

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "I Believe"
• Credo (disambiguation)
• I Believe in You (disambiguation)
• Believe (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

James Fortune (born November 29, 1978) is a gospel music singer. He is a graduate of Kempner High School in Sugar Land, Texas, and attended Cal State Northridge. He is the choir director at Higher Dimension Church in SW Houston, TX. Higher Dimension church was organized on January 23, 1999 at Judy Bush Elementary School. Under the leadership of Pastor Terrance Johnson, Higher D has grown from 29 members in 1999 to more than 12,000 with 10 operative lead ministries and a host of sub-ministries that cater the needs of kids, youth, men, women, couples and singles.

James Fortune & FIYA’s highly anticipated debut CD, “You Survived” was released in September 2004. He was honored at the 19th annual ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Music Awards for his hit single "You Survived" off the same album. “You Survived” also peaked as the #2 most played Gospel song in the country and has remained in the Top 7 for the last 3 years. The radio single, “God Can” features Micah Stampley and upcoming gospel artist Zacardi Cortez. James Fortune received a 2006 ASCAP Writers Award for “You Survived” alongside some of music’s finest like L.L. Cool J., Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin and J. Moss. FIYA has been nominated four years in a row for the Texas Gospel Youth & Young Adult Choir of the year. They have been featured on Eric Carrington’s album, “Soar”.

FIYA has been blessed to open up for various artists such as, John P. Kee, Kim Burrell, Stevie Wonder, Mary Mary, Donald Lawrence, Albertina Walker, Fred Hammond, Tye Tribbett & G.A. and many others. FIYA made their mark in the gospel arena when they participated in the “One Church Tour” with some other gospel greats such as Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers, RiZen, Smokie Norful, and Vickie Yohe.

James Fortune and F.I.Y.A.’s sophomore project on Black Smoke Music World Wide (formerly World Wide), “The Transformation”, was .released January 22, 2008. The first single “I Trust You” is dominating Gospel radio with 25 weeks straight at #1 and counting. Because of its crossover appeal, “I Trust You” is # 30 on Urban AC charts and #1 at WBLS in New York City, Urban AC’s # 1 station in the U.S.

James Fortune has taken the initiative and believes his mission is to draw lost souls to Christ, encourage you to share in Christ’s unconditional love and peace, and live a life free from bondage and strongholds in God’s abundance according to John 10:10. Because of his calling, Fortune constantly writes ballads and Sunday morning worship songs, collaborates with stellar producers and songwriters, and creates music complete with life transforming principles.

James Fortune is a family man that recognizes his success is only as comparable to his obedience and yielding to God’s will. He invites you to transform your life and remain committed to your God given journey.

On an BET episode "Lift Every Voice" host CoCo Brother, James Fortune is interviewed and reveals the history behind writing the hit song "I Trust You"

External links[link]

• Fortune's Myspace site
• Review of "You Survived" album

This gospel music article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Katherine Jenkins
Background information
Born	(1980-06-29) 29 June 1980 (age 31)
Origin	Neath, Wales
Genres	Crossover, classical, operatic pop
Instruments	Voice (mezzo-soprano)
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Universal Warner Music Group
Website	KatherineJenkins

Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh lyric mezzo-soprano. She is a classical-popular crossover singer^[1][2] who performs across a spectrum of operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre and hymns.^[3]

After winning singing competitions in her youth, Jenkins studied at the Royal Academy of Music, modelled and taught voice. She came to wide public attention in 2003 when she sang at Westminster Cathedral in honour of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee. Since 2004, she has released numerous albums that have performed well on UK and foreign charts. In both 2005 and 2006, her albums received Classic Brit Awards as Album of the Year. She has also been seen widely in concert, including concerts for UK troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and has sung at sporting events, on television shows and in support of many charities. In Spring 2012, she competed on the US television show Dancing with the Stars, finishing in second place, behind NFL Super Bowl champion Donald Driver.^[4]

Early life and education[link]

Jenkins was born in Neath, Wales,^[5] where she and her sister Laura were raised by their parents Selwyn John and Susan. She has half-sisters from her father's first marriage, neither of whom she has met.^{[citation needed]}

She attended Alderman Davies Church in Wales Primary School in Neath and later Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School, received A grades in GCSEs and A Levels and participated in productions such as Calamity Jane and Guys and Dolls.^[6] She attended singing lessons with John Hugh Thomas and passed her Grade 8 examinations with distinction in both singing and piano.

Between 1990 and 1996, Jenkins was a member of the Royal School of Church Music Cathedral Singers and passed the St Cecilia Award, the highest RSCM award for female choristers.^[6] She was also a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales for three years,^[7] won the BBC Radio 2 Welsh Choirgirl of the Year contest (twice), and the BET Welsh Choirgirl of the Year competition. She was also awarded the Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir Scholarship for the most promising young singer. At the age of 17 she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music,^[6] where she studied Italian, German, French and Russian, graduating with honours^[7] and receiving a music teacher's diploma.

After working as a freelance singing teacher, a tour guide on the London Eye and as a model,^[8] she entered a modelling competition and became the Face of Wales 2000. She then decided to follow a musical career.^[6] Universal Classics and Jazz heard her demo and she was invited to an interview at which she sang Rossini's "Una voce poco fa".^[8] Universal offered Jenkins a six-album deal,^[8] the most lucrative in the United Kingdom's classical recording history, reportedly worth £1 million.^[6][9][10]

Record success[link]

Six out of seven of Jenkins's studio albums reached number one in the UK classical charts between 2004 and 2008, selling a total of more than 4 million copies. After her first album, Premiere, made her the fastest-selling mezzo-soprano to date^[6] she became the first British classical crossover artist to have two number one albums in the same year.^[11] She is the first female artist to win two consecutive Classical BRIT Awards: her second album, Second Nature, reached number 16 in the UK Albums Chart,^[9] and was Album of the Year in the 2005 BRIT Awards.

Jenkins's Italian-language version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" ("L'Amore Sei Tu"), first performed live at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire on 28 August 2005, was the first cut on her third album Living a Dream. After that album was released, uniquely, she held the top three positions in the classical crossover music chart.^[6][12] The album held the number one position for nearly a year and reached number four in the pop album charts.^[12] Jenkins repeated the success of Second Nature with her Living a Dream album when she won the classical BRIT award for Album of the Year for a second time.^[13][14]

Her fourth album, Serenade was released on 6 November 2006 and reached number five in the mainstream charts selling more than 50,000 copies in its first week, a record in the genre.^[6] The top four albums on HMV's classical charts were hers.^[15]

Her fifth album, Rejoice, was released on 19 November 2007 and included songs written specially for her,^[16] two by Take That's Gary Barlow.^[17] The album entered the pop album charts at number three,^[18] beating the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud.^[19] Jenkins commented "I never imagined when I was a young girl listening to them on the radio that I would outsell the Spice Girls and Celine Dion. It’s almost too much to take in. I can’t thank my fans enough for all their support."^[19]

On 20 October 2008 Jenkins released Sacred Arias, which is her last album with Universal Music. On 19 October The Daily Telegraph stated that Jenkins had signed the biggest classical recording deal in history, for US$10 million (£5.8 million), with Warner Music.^[20]

Jenkins released her next album, Believe, on 26 October 2009, the first with Warner Music. This album featured Andrea Bocelli and other musicians like André Rieu and Chris Botti. She made various TV appearances such as GMTV, Something for the Weekend and Piers Morgan's Life Stories on 24 October 2009 and on The Graham Norton Show on 2 November 2009. She performed the theme from The Godfather, Parla Piu Piano at Gary Barlow's Children In Need Rock The Albert Hall with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber. Later in December 2009, she performed a cover of Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" at The Royal Variety Performance. On 23 May 2010, she went to Argentina for the first time and sang Parla Piu Piano in the popular Argentinian show Susana Giménez.^[21]

In 2011, Jenkins released another album, Daydream.

Concerts[link]

Jenkins first came to public attention when she sang at Westminster Cathedral honouring Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee in October 2003 and then supporting Aled Jones on tour.^[7][9] At the Rugby World Cup in 2003 she made her Sydney Opera House debut^[8] and, in August 2004, her first USA appearance, supporting Hayley Westenra at Joe's Pub in New York City.^[7]

Jenkins was the first person to perform the Home Nations anthem "The Power of Four" and began to appear regularly to sing the Welsh national anthem "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" at Welsh international rugby union matches, singing with Bryn Terfel at the 2005 Wales vs. England Six Nations match at the Millennium Stadium.^[8] She is now the official mascot for the Wales rugby union team.^[10]

On 22 January 2005 Jenkins sang in Cardiff at the Tsunami Relief Concert^[10] and in April and May of that year supported Irish tenor Ronan Tynan on his first US tour as a solo artist. That May she sang at Trafalgar Square to a 15,000-strong audience celebrating the 60th Anniversary of VE Day.^[22][23] At the Berlin stage of Live 8 in 2005, Jenkins sang the hymn "Amazing Grace",^[24] and she later helped to launch The Royal British Legion's poppy appeal at Covent Garden whilst wearing a dress made of 2,500 poppies.^[25]

With the Blue Man Group, Jenkins sang "I Feel Love" in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance on 21 November 2005.^[26] She performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, on 11 December 2005.^[27]

In November 2006 she performed before the Queen at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and joined fellow Welsh singer James Fox in the final verse of "Anthem" from the musical Chess.^[28]

In July 2007 Jenkins gave a concert at Margam Park in south Wales, performing alongside Paul Potts and Juan Diego Flórez.^[29] Jenkins extended a personal invitation to Potts to sing "Nessun dorma" at the concert.^[30]

In September 2007 Jenkins catwalk modeled at Naomi Campbell's Fashion Relief event for charity in a Julien Macdonald dress which was then bought by Sir Philip Green for £10,000.^[31]

In November 2007 she sang again at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and was named classical performer of the year at the Variety Club Showbiz Awards.^[32]

With Darcey Bussell she has appeared in a stage song-and-dance production, entitled Viva la Diva, paying tribute to stars^[33] including Madonna and Judy Garland.^[16] The show opened in Manchester in November 2007.^[33][34] Jenkins learned to tap dance, spending eight hours a week learning the choreography and running three miles a day to get fit.^[16] She performed the Welsh National Anthem on 17 May 2008 at the 2008 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth, becoming the first person to do this at an FA Cup Final.^[35]

Jenkins sings the Welsh national anthem at Sophia Gardens before the start of the 2009 Ashes.

At the beginning of 2009, Jenkins performed in South Korea with Plácido Domingo. This was Jenkins's third concert with Domingo having performed with him in Hong Kong in 2008 and Athens in 2007. They then performed together in May 2009 at The Classical Brit Awards.

On 8 July 2009 Jenkins performed at the opening ceremony of the Ashes Test Series between England and Australia at Sophia Gardens cricket ground in Cardiff. On Saturday 12 September 2009 she performed in Hyde Park for the Last Night of the Proms. On Monday 21 September she performed at the memorial service for Sir Bobby Robson, singing "Pie Jesu" at the request of Lady Robson.

On 12 November 2009, Jenkins performed a duet with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber for Children in Need at the Royal Albert Hall. The same month, Jenkins performed "I Believe" (from Believe) with Andrea Bocelli on his PBS Christmas Special. The duet appears in his album, My Christmas. Jenkins was scheduled to do her first Arena tour in March 2010.

On 24 May 2010, as part of the Argentina Bicentennial‎ she performed the Canadian Anthem at the Argentina VS. Canada World Cup warm-up football match in the River Plate Stadium at Buenos Aires.^[36] On 11 June 2010, Jenkins performed a live comedy routine with Armenian comedy pianist Kev Orkian for a private birthday party at which Motown legend Lionel Richie performed, along with the LSO (London Symphony Orchestra) and comedians Bobby Davro and Jethro.^[37] The comedy sketch was an updated version of an old Victor Borge routine which Orkian had written and developed with Jenkins. In her official blog, Jenkins mentions that she may one day perform the routine in public. On 3 July 2010, Jenkins took the stage at Cheltenham Racecourse, with the National Symphony Orchestra. She was supported by violinist Diana Yukawa.^[38]

Television[link]

On 23 December 2006, Jenkins appeared on ITV's Parkinson show, backed by the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir and a brass band.^[39]

She made a cameo appearance in two episodes of Emmerdale which saw 11.6 million viewers tune in to find out who killed popular character Tom King who was murdered on Christmas Day. She appeared in the show on 16 and 17 May 2007 which saw her opening the village pageant.^[40]

In July 2007, she performed live on Saving Planet Earth on BBC 1 to raise money for the BBC Wildlife Fund.^[41]

On 12 August 2007 she appeared on ITV's Britain's Favourite View, nominating Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower Peninsula as Britain's favourite view.^[42] She commented; "I grew up on the edge of the Gower, but it was still a holiday place for our family. We’d go on weekend breaks to Three Cliffs Bay – six miles down the road! That’s how gorgeous it is."^[43]

Jenkins live at Clumber Park in 2011.

On 21 October 2007 she sang "Time to Say Goodbye" with Andrea Bocelli on the Strictly Come Dancing results show. Jenkins and Darcey Bussell performed a segment of their show Viva la Diva before the Queen at the 79th Royal Variety Performance, televised on 9 December 2007.^[44] On 15 December, Jenkins performed on The X Factor final with contestant Rhydian Roberts, performing the song "You Raise Me Up".^[45] Jenkins made an appearance on Saturday Kitchen LIVE in December 2008.

Jenkins appeared in episode 3 of the fifth series of The Apprentice, performing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as part of a private recital to winning team Ignite. The programme was aired on BBC One on 8 March 2009. 2009 saw Jenkins performing on a large number of TV shows – The Royal Variety Performance, Children In Need Rocks The Albert Hall, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, This Morning, GMTV, Something for the Weekend, The Paul O'Grady Show, presenting for the BBC the week long series The Week We Went To War, Piers Morgan's Life Stories for ITV1, Strictly Come Dancing, The Graham Norton Show and The Andrew Marr Show.

Jenkins started 2010 by appearing as one of two mentors on ITV1s prime time Friday night show, Popstar to Operastar. She appeared in the 2010 Christmas Special of Doctor Who, "A Christmas Carol", in which she played Abigail Pettigrew – her first major acting role. Jenkins appeared as the featured singer on the 11 April 2011 episode of ABC's show Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) singing "Con te partirò" (Time to Say Goodbye) and "O mio babbino caro". She later sang "The Flower Duet" with DWTS regular Beverley Staunton.

On 23 October 2011, Jenkins appeared live on US television network, FOX from Wembley Stadium, performing "God Save the Queen" before the NFL game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears.^[46]

Jenkins appeared in season 14 of the U.S. TV series Dancing with the Stars, paired with a two-time champion of the show, Mark Ballas. The pair came in second place.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Her father, Selwyn, died of lung cancer at age 70 when she was 15.^[6][47] She has dedicated each award she received to him.^{[citation needed]} While Jenkins was studying at the Royal Academy of Music, at 19 years of age, she was attacked, beaten and robbed by an unknown assailant who attempted to rape her, but she fought the man off.^[48][49]

After Jenkins and Dame Vera Lynn were together at centre stage at the 60th Anniversary of VE Day in 2005 during the song "We'll Meet Again", the newspapers dubbed Jenkins "the new Forces' Sweetheart", a nickname given to Lynn during World War II.^[23] Lynn had said to Jenkins that she should "go out and entertain the troops," which Jenkins promised she would.^[23] In December 2005 and 2006 Jenkins travelled to Iraq to entertain the soldiers for Christmas.^[11][50] On her first visit to Iraq in 2005, when travelling to Shaibah, the largest British base in Southern Iraq, the helicopter she was travelling in was targeted by missiles. Anti-missile flares were deployed and the group landed safely.^[23]

In November 2008 Jenkins revealed to the Daily Mail that when she was a student she had taken class A drugs (cocaine and ecstasy) and cannabis. She noted that she was introduced to them by people she socialized with at the time and that she stopped taking them after signing her record deal in 2003.^[51] In the article Jenkins said "taking drugs is the biggest regret of my life".

Jenkins's autobiography, Time to Say Hello, was released on 28 January 2008, and was also serialized in The Mail on Sunday.^[49]

At the start of 2007 Jenkins made her first appearance in the British young people's Sunday Times Rich List which ranked her as the sixty-second richest young person in Britain with an estimated wealth of £9 million.^[52] In 2010, the Sunday Times Rich List placed her at joint 11th in the Top 20 Young Millionaires list alongside Leona Lewis and Charlotte Church with an estimated wealth of £11 million.

In July 2010, Jenkins was reported to have bought a house with TV presenter Gethin Jones.^[53] In February 2011, they became engaged, but on 30 December 2011, Jenkins and Jones announced that they were no longer together.^[54]

Discography[link]

Studio albums:

• Premiere (2004)
• Second Nature (2004)
• Living a Dream (2005)
• Serenade (2006)
• Rejoice (2007)
• Sacred Arias (2008)
• Believe (2009)
• Daydream (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Katherine Jenkins

• Katherine Jenkins Official Site
• Katherine Jenkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Katherine Jenkins biography from BBC Wales
• Katherine Jenkins on Classicalx
• Official Record Label Website
• Katherine Jenkins Interview

Andrea Bocelli OMRI OMDSM
Bocelli rehearsing for his Under the Desert Sky concert in Lake Las Vegas, 2006
Background information
Born	(1958-09-22) 22 September 1958 (age 53) Pisa, Toscana, Italy
Genres	Adult contemporary, classical, easy listening, Latin pop, opera, operatic pop, pop, vocal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, harp, harmonica, guitar, drums, melodica
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Universal, Philips, PolyGram, Decca, Sugar
Website	Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli, OMRI, OMDSM (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist.^[1][2][3] Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a football accident.^[4][5]

Since winning the Newcomers section of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1994,^[6] Bocelli has recorded thirteen solo studio albums, of both pop and classical music, two greatest hits albums, and eight complete operas, selling over 75 million records worldwide.^{[7][8][9][10]} Thus, he is the biggest-selling solo artist in the history of classical music and has caused core classical repertoire to "cross over" to the top of international pop charts and into previously uncharted territory in popular culture.^{[1][11][12][13][14][15]}

In 1998, he was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.^[4] In 1999, his nomination for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards marked the first, and so far only time a classical artist had been nominated in the category, since Leontyne Price, in 1961.^[1][16] 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.^[1][16] With the release of his classical album, Sacred Arias, Bocelli captured a listing in the Guinness Book of World Records, as he simultaneously held the top 3 positions on the US classical albums charts.^[1][16] Six of his albums have since reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 200,^[17] and a record-setting 8, have topped the classical albums charts in the United States.^[18][19]

With 5 million units sold worldwide,^[20] Sacred Arias became the biggest-selling classical album by a solo artist of all time,^[1][16] and with over 20 million copies sold worldwide,^[20][21] his 1997 pop album, Romanza, became the best-selling album by an Italian artist of any genre in history,^[20] as well as the best-selling album by a foreign artist in Canada,^[22][23][24] and a number of other countries in Europe and Latin America.^[16] The album's first single, "Time to Say Goodbye", topped charts all across Europe, including Germany, where it stayed at the top of the charts for fourteen consecutive weeks, breaking the all-time sales record, with over 3 million copies sold in the country.^[1][16] The single went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.^[21][25][26]

Widely regarded as both the most popular Italian and classical singer in the world,^[27] Bocelli was made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006,^[28][29] and on March 2, 2010, was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Live Theater.^[30][31]

Early life[link]

Childhood and education[link]

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.^[32] At the age of 14 he won his first song competition, the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio with O sole mio.^[32]

After finishing secondary school in 1980, he studied law at the University of Pisa.^[32] To earn money Bocelli performed evenings in piano bars. He completed law school and spent one year as a court-appointed lawyer. It was there, in 1987, that he met his future wife, Enrica.

Loss of sight[link]

It was evident at birth that Bocelli had problems with his sight, and after visits to many doctors, he was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. In 1970, at the age of 12, he lost his sight completely following an accident during a football game.^[4][5] He was accidentally hit on the head during a match and suffered a brain haemorrhage. Doctors resorted to leeches in a desperate last-ditch effort to save his sight, but they were unsuccessful, and he remained blind.^[33]

Career[link]

[edit] 1992–94: Sanremo and Il mare calmo della sera

In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero held auditions for tenors to make a demo tape with of the song Miserere from his album of the same name, to send to Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. After hearing Bocelli on tape, Pavarotti urged Zucchero to use Bocelli instead of him. The demo tape was from Caterina Caselli, who had discovered Bocelli. Caselli is Bocelli's current manager and producer.

Zucchero eventually persuaded Pavarotti to record the song with him, and it became a hit throughout Europe. In Zucchero's European concert tour in 1993, it was Bocelli who accompanied him to sing the duet, and he was also given solo sets in the concerts, singing "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot.^[34] 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.^[34]

In February 1994 he entered the main Sanremo Festival competition with "Il mare calmo della sera", and he won the "Newcomers" section, again with a record score. His debut album, of the same name, was released and immediately entered the Italian Top Ten, going platinum within weeks.^[34]

In May he toured with Italian pop singer Gerardina Trovato.^[34] In September he sang at Pavarotti's annual Charity Gala concert, Pavarotti International in Modena, where he sang Ruggiero Leoncavallo's "Mattinata" and sang a duet with Pavarotti, Maurizio Morante's Notte e Piscatore. He also sang "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata in the finale, along with Nancy Gustafson, Giorgia, Andreas Vollenweider and Bryan Adams; and also Adams' song All for Love.^[34]

In September he made his opera debut as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa.^[35] 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.^[36] He performed the hymn, "Adeste Fideles" in Rome before Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica at Christmas.^[34]

[edit] 1995–97: Bocelli and Romanza – Conquering Europe and Latin America

As winner of the 1994 Newcomers section at the Sanremo Festival, he was invited to return the following year, entering the main competition with "Con te partirò" and finishing in fourth place.^[37]

The song was included in his album Bocelli which was produced by Mauro Malavasi and released in the spring. His third album, Viaggio Italiano, was released in autumn.^[37] Bocelli sang "Miserere" and "Funiculì, Funiculà" with guitarist John Miles.^[37] In Belgium, "Con te partirò" became the best-selling single of all time.^[38]

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.^[37] He topped the Spanish singles chart in 1996 with a duet with Marta Sanchez, "Vivo Por Ella", the Spanish version of "Vivo per lei", recorded with Giorgia for the Romanza album. He also recorded a Portuguese version of the song with Sandy Leah.

The same year, Bocelli recorded "Je vis pour elle", the French version of "Vivo per lei", as a duet with French singer Hélène Ségara. Released in December 1997, the song became a hit in Belgium (Wallonia) and France, where it reached #1 on the charts. To date, it is the best-selling single for Ségara, and the second for Bocelli after "Time to Say Goodbye". On 3 March he appeared in Hamburg, Germany, with Sarah Brightman to receive the ECHO music award for "Best Single of the Year".^[37]

In August, Bocelli appeared at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Italy, and then at the World Youth Festival in Paris, where he again sang in the presence of the Pope. In the summer, he gave 22 open air concerts in Germany, as well as an indoor concert in Oberhausen on 31 August. In September he performed in concert at the Piazza dei Cavalieri in Pisa for the home video A Night in Tuscany (Italian: una notte nella Toscana) with guests Nuccia Focile, Sarah Brightman and Zucchero. The concert was also Bocelli's first concert to air on PBS. On 14 September in Munich, Germany, he received an ECHO Klassik "Best seller of the year" award for his album, Viaggio Italiano.^[37][39]

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.^[37]

[edit] 1998–99: Aria, Sogno and Sacred Arias – Breaking into the United States

Bocelli made his debut in a major operatic role in 1998 when he played Rodolfo in a production of La bohème at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari from 18 February to 25 February. His fifth album Aria - The Opera Album was released in March.^[40] On 19 April Bocelli entered the United States (US) 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.^[40] On 5 May, he appeared in Monte Carlo, winning two World Music Awards, one in the category "Best Italian Singer", and one for "Best Classical Interpretation".^[40][41] He was also named one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people of 1998.^[4]

In June, July, and August, he toured North and South America. Bocelli's final concert of the tour which was also his debut at Madison Square Garden on August 6, 1998, was sold out. In September, he received his next Echo Klassik award, this time for "Best selling classical album" with Aria - the opera album.^[40] On Thanksgiving Eve Bocelli appeared as a guest on Céline Dion's Television special These Are Special Times in which he joined Dion with their hit The Prayer from Dion's album These Are Special Times and he also sang Ave Maria solo. Dion introduced him by saying, "I heard someone say – If God had a singing voice, he would sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli." As a result of his appearance on the show, his popularity in the US further increased.^[40] Dion's album containing The Prayer was released in 1998 and re-issued with the DVD of the TV special in 2007. The song appeared on the Quest for Camelot soundtrack in 1998 and on Bocelli's album, Sogno, the following year.

At the New Year, he performed two concerts at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. The hotel used Con te partirò in its advertisements, further increasing his popularity in the US.^[40] He also performed the first Internet live-opera broadcast in its entirety from the Detroit Opera House, with Denyce Graves.^{[citation needed]} At the 56th Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on 24 January, The Prayer won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the film Quest for Camelot.^[42] 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.^[42] The song was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and performed by Bocelli and Dion at the ceremony held at the Los Angeles Music Center on 21 March.^[42]

From 11 April to 24 April, he toured the West coast of North America from San Diego to Vancouver, with a final performance before over 18,000 spectators at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Actress Elizabeth Taylor stood by his side on the stage during the encore, while he sang The Prayer.^[42]

At the invitation of Steven Spielberg, Bocelli sang in Los Angeles on 15 May before Bill Clinton at an event on behalf of the Democratic Party. At the end of May he toured Portugal and Spain and sang with the Portuguese Fado singer Dulce Pontes. On 27 June he took part in the Michael Jackson benefit concert for suffering children in Munich's Olympic Stadium.^[42]

From 10 July to 27 August, he appeared in a guest role at seven performances of The Merry Widow at the Verona Arena in Rome.^[35][42] As the "Tenor Conte Andrea" he performed three arias: "La donna è mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto; "Tu, che m' hai preso il cuor" from Franz Lehár's Land des Laechelns and "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" from Verdi's La traviata, again receiving standing ovations.^[42]

On 10 September, together with soprano Daniela Dessi and two Polish singers, he performed at the Great Theatre of Łódź in Poland. From 7 October to 19 November, he made his United States operatic debut in Jules Massenet's Werther at the Detroit Opera House with the Michigan Opera Theater.^[35] He was cheered by the audiences, but criticized by the press.^[42]

He also performed at Rodeo Drive in Hollywood and gave further concerts in Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, and made an appearance on Jay Leno's first installment of The Tonight Show. Then Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani gave him the Crystal Apple, a gift to celebrated personalities from New York City. His seventh album Sacred Arias, which contains exclusively sacred music, was released worldwide on 8 November, and two weeks later reached first place in the US Classic Billboard charts – making Bocelli the first vocalist to hold all top three places on the chart, with Aria, the opera album in second place, and Viaggio Italiano in third place. The album also included the hymn of the Holy Year 2000 which was chosen as the official version by the Vatican in October.^[42] To promote "Sacred Arias", Bocelli recorded his second PBS concert of the same name at the Roman church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, in Rome, in 1999, with an orchestra conducted by Myung-whun Chung, singing most of the songs from the album. The special was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program during the 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Immediately after his return to Italy, Bocelli sang in Florence at a meeting of the centre-left Heads of State. Invited by Queen Elizabeth II, he performed at the annual Royal Variety Performance in Birmingham, UK, on 29 November. On 30 November, his book La musica del silenzio, an autobiographical novel, was released in Italy.^[42]

From 12 December to 21 December he performed six concerts in Barcelona, Strasbourg, Lisbon, Zagreb, Budapest and Messina, directed by Lorin Maazel, some of which were broadcast on local television. He also performed on German television; Wetten, dass..? on 11 December and the José Carreras Gala in Leipzig on 17 December. On 31 December, he finished a marathon twenty-four concerts in thirty days, with a concert at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New York in front of 8,000 people, welcoming in the new millennium.^[42]

[edit] 2000–01: Verdi and Cieli di Toscana

At the 42nd Grammy Awards on 23 February, Bocelli was nominated twice. The Prayer was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Bocelli performed it with Dion at the ceremony. His "World Tour 2000" started on 31 March. In May his Sacred Arias album was voted album of the year by listeners of the Classic FM radio station in the UK. His world tour continued from 12 May to 14 May with four concerts in Japan and South Korea. At the end of the UEFA European Football Championship he performed with Valery Gergiev and Renée Fleming at a concert on the River Maas in Rotterdam. On 6 July he performed at the Statue of Liberty in New York City for his third PBS special. The concert was a dedication to his father, who died in the beginning of 2000. He was accompanied by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Steven Mercurio with special guest Soprano Ana Maria Martinez and a surprise appearance by Sarah Brightman to sing with Bocelli on "Time To Say Goodbye." For the final encore he dedicated "Sogno" to his late Father. On 17 August, he performed in Giuseppi Verdi's Messa da Requiem at the Verona Arena in Rome. His seventh album Verdi was released on 11 September. In September he also performed three concerts in Australia. He received another Echo Klassik award for "Bestseller of the year" for Sacred Arias. In November his first complete opera recording, La Bohème was released. In December he received another award in Germany, the Goldene Europa for classical music.^[43]

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.^[44]

[edit] 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".^[45] On 27 May he performed at the Villa Madama in Rome in front of US 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 US, 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.^[46]

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.^[47] 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.^[47] A day later he received two awards for Sentimento at the 2003 Classical BRIT Award held at the Royal Albert Hall in London – "Best selling classical album" and "Album of the year".^[48] 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.^[47]

Bocelli won the "Favourite Specialist Performer" award at the UK National Music Awards in October 2003.^[49] 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.^[47]

In Bologna in January he performed as Werther in four performances of the opera of the same name. In April and May he toured Asia again, visiting Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore. In May he took part in a concert at Circo Massimo in Rome organised by Quincy Jones to launch the "We are the Future" project. In June his third complete opera Il trovatore was released. In July he played the part of Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca at the 50th Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, and he took part in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) global campaign for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.^[50]

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.^[51]

On 15 October he performed at the People Conference Hall in Beijing, China, and on 17 October at the Great Hall in Shanghai.^[52]

During early 2005 Bocelli was on tour including performances in Madeira, Hungary, Norway, US, UK, Italy and Germany.^[53] He also appeared in Sesame Street singing "Time to Say Goodnight" a parody of Time to Say Goodbye as a lullaby to Elmo.^[54] 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.^[55]

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.^[53] On 28 August he performed at the Faenol Festival held in Vaynol, Wales and organised by Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel.^[55] In December his first contemporary music concert took place at a Lake Las Vegas village resort in Nevada, US, which was recorded for PBS and released as the Under the Desert Sky DVD. He also took part in the Royal Christmas Show, which took place in several cities in the US in December. The album Werther was released in December. During 2005 he was invited by Pope Benedict XVI, George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth II to perform at special events.^[53]

[edit] 2006–07: Amore and Vivere, Greatest hits

On 18 February he sang at the Toyota Center in Houston during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2006 All-Star Weekend, and broadcast live on the TNT Cable television network.^[56]

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.^[29] He also began another tour with a concert at the Piazza di Castello in Turin.^[57] 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.^[28][29] From 31 March to 2 April he took part in the Maggio Musicale in Florence where he sang the Canto di pace (Canto of peace) by Marco Tutino^[58] and the tenor part from Gioachino Rossini's Messa di Gloria and in Naples where he took part in Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle.^[29][57]

In April 2006, he featured as a guest coach on American Idol helping the finalists sing the week's themed songs, "Greatest Love Songs." He also performed on that week's results show.^[59] 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^[60] 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.^[61] 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 Ruggiero 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.^[29]

Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's duet version of "Con te partirò" was used in the 2007 film Blades of Glory, as an ice skating song. K-1 mixed martial arts fighter, Akiyama Yoshihiro started using "Con te partirò" as his ring entrance music. On 8 September Bocelli sang an arrangement of Mozart's Ave verum corpus at the funeral of Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy.

On 21 October 2007, he sang "Con te partirò" with Katherine Jenkins on the UK television series Strictly Come Dancing results show, and on 30 October, he sang "The Prayer" with Céline Dion during an ITV Special An Audience with Céline Dion. The show was broadcast on 23 December. Alongside fellow Italian singer Laura Pausini, he sang Vive Ya during the 2007 Latin Grammy Awards. The song, originally released in 1997 as a duet in Italian between Bocelli and Italian singer-songwriter Trovatto on Bocelli's Romanza, was also released in English on his 2007 album, The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere, as Dare to Live. The album, Vivere, sold over 3 million copies.

[edit] 2008: Incanto and Carmen

On 20 January 2008, Bocelli received the Italian TV award Telegatto in platinum for Italian music in the world, in Rome. He sang "La voce del silenzio" – "The voice of silence" – and "Dare to Live" during the ceremony.^[62]

Bocelli with fiancée Veronica Berti in Tokyo, 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.^[62]

In April he toured in Asia with performances in Tokyo, Taichung, Taiwan, and Seoul. Each concert was attended by over 15,000 people.^[63]

On 7 May 2008, he sang at Steel Aréna in Košice, Slovakia, in front of 8,000 people.^[64] 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.^[64]

On 23 May 2008 he sang The Prayer with Katharine McPhee in a Las Vegas tribute concert for Canadian producer and songwriter David Foster. Bocelli later praised Filipina teen-aged singer Charice, whom he had first heard perform at that concert.^[65][66]

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.^[64]

From June 17 to June 28, Bocelli played the role of Don José on stage, opposite Hungarian mezzo-soprano Ildiko Komlosi as Carmen, in Georges Bizet's opera at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, in Rome, for four nights.^[67][68][69] 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.^[70] The recording was not released internationally, until March 2010.^[71] Carmen: Duets & Arias, a single-disc collection of some of the arias and duets of the recording, was also released in 2010.^[72]

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.^[73] Then on 31 July, he performed at a concert in Vingis Park in Vilnius, Lithuania, in front of more than 18,000 people.^[74] Australian singer Tina Arena performed two duets with Bocelli – "Canto Della Terra" and "The Prayer" – at the closing stages of the concert.^[75]

On 7 August 2008, he held a benefit concert at Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina, and was accompanied by Czech National Symphony Orchestra.^[74] Then, during the rest of August, he was on tour in Australia and New Zealand—for the third time—with performances at Vector Arena, Auckland, on the 20th; Entertainment Centre, Brisbane on the 22nd; Acer Arena, Sydney, on the 24th, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, on the 27th; and Burswood Dome, Perth, on the 30th. His fiancée and both of his sons accompanied him on the tour.^[74] Tina Arena performed again with him in all 5 concerts during the tour.^[76]

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.^[77]

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.^[78] 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.^[79]

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, D.C.^[80] 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.^[81] 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.^[81] He later held a concert at "Atrio de la Catedral" in Campeche, Mexico, on 28 November, where he sang songs from Incanto as well as some of his Spanish hits, including Besame Mucho, Somos Novios, Amapola and Por ti Volare – the Spanish version of Con te Partiro.^[81]

[edit] 2009: My Christmas, first holiday album

On May 27, 2009, Bocelli sang "Il Gladiatore", from the Gladiator soundtrack, followed by the UEFA Champions League Anthem, which is based on "Zadok the Priest" by G.F. Handel, during the opening ceremony of the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final, in the Stadio Olimpico, in Rome.

On November 3, My Christmas, his first Holiday album, produced by David Foster, was released and went on to become the best-selling Holiday album of the year.

The Andrea Bocelli & David Foster Christmas Special, the PBS special of the album, first aired on Thanksgiving night in the United States, and continued to be broadcast in the United States and Canada throughout the month of December. In late November, the program was broadcast in Mexico and in the UK; it later aired, December 15 and 25, on Italia 1, in Italy, December 19, on TVE2 and TROS, in Spain and the Netherlands, and Christmas Eve, on vtm and RTL-TVI, in Belgium and Luxembourg.

On November 3, during the World Premiere of Disney's A Christmas Carol, in Leicester Square, London, following the switching on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights, Bocelli led the St Paul's Cathedral Choir, and more than 14,000 people across the capital, as they broke the Official Guinness World Record for the biggest ever Christmas Carol sing-along, singing "Silent Night". He completed his performance in Leicester Square with, "God Bless Us Everyone", the closing song of the movie, which he provided the vocals for in English, Italian and Spanish.^[82][83] 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 BankAtlantic 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 United States, explaining their better showings.^[84]

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 December 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,^[85] 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[link]

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.^[86][87][88] The three had previously made an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live, January 28, 2010, to announce the performance.^[88][89]