Luciano Pavarotti, opera’s greatest ambassador, passed away Thursday at the age of 71. As friends and performers pay tribute — like fellow tenor José Carreras, who said, "We have to remember him as the great artist that he was, the man with such a wonderful charismatic personality, very good friend and a great poker player" — I went to YouTube to relive some of his classic crossover collaborations. Sure, I found Bono dueting on "Ave Maria" and "Miserere" (and of course, "Miss Sarajevo"), but of all the clips I watched this morning, this one of Pavarotti singing "’O Sole Mio" with Bryan Adams is my favorite. I think it’s because Adams’ constant grin conveys the glee and fear of I’m singing with Pavarotti! I’m singing with Pavarotti!, while Pavarotti’s warm smile (and bow to Adams mid-song) shows such genuine appreciation for his effort.
My second favorite clip has Michael Bolton taking lead on Pavarotti’s signature aria, "Nessun Dorma." Not only does the maestro give Bolton a visual thumbs up, he also grants him the final vincero. If you watch carefully, you can see Bono, who is also onstage, clapping as Bolton holds the note. A pleasantly-surprised Simon LeBon applauds him, as well.
After the jump, some other great — and unlikely — Pavarotti duets.
Some other duets you might want to check out: Pavarotti with LeBon, with James Brown, with Barry White, and (really!) with the Spice Girls.
Comments (1-22) of 22 Add your comment
Aww, a sad day. What a wonderful singer and man. He will be missed. Thank you for the clips.
You’re just born with a voice like his. Such tone, such beauty. No voice lesson can give you that. Only a handful of people are blessed enough to get it. He will be missed.
I get goosebumps every time I hear “Nessun Dorma”! That voice! It seems so effortless. He will definitely be missed.
What is really sad is that his passing has now left the gate wide open for that hack Andrea Bocelli to come in and try and take over the void
. Who’s technique is awful and strained and is actually not blind at all (just ask several of my friends who have toured with him in his orchestra and caught him HA!)
Pavarotti was so good that he used a long skinny microphone while everyone else used the usual short fat ones.
Pavarotti not only had a beautifully recognizable voice, but his charisma seemed to shine through every time he sang. I plan on listening to all the Pavarotti items on my iPod today. Ciao, Signore.
My father used to take us for long drives in the car, and we’d listen to tapes of Pavarotti and sing along, even though we didn’t know Italian. I miss that.
Pavarotti rocks!! A sad day but his music will live forever.
I have new found respect for Michael Bolton. Pavarotti, we’ll miss you.
Pavarotti was the voice of nature and beauty. G-d bless you.
I was so depressed to hear the news. He will be missed. One of my favorite memories was his last performance at the Olympics. I remember after he was done singing you could hear one of the athletes yelling “You da man!”.
I’d like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Pavarotti, and say “Thanks.”
Not that I’m a huge opera buff, but my Dad is. One night, about two weeks before I was born, he turned on PBS to watch Pavarotti sing. Among the works he performed that night was Liszt’s “Petrarch’s “Sonnets To Laura.”
My mother thought it so beautiful and moving, she decided then and there to name me Laura.
Without that, my name would have been Daisy.
Thank you Pavarotti. I can’t thank you enough.
Rest in peace, Maestro. Rest in peace.
For me, Pavarotti reaches right into the heart.
Andrea Bocelli will be signing at his funeral.(Whoever sneered that he is a “hack” has either no ears or no heart but that is all out of place here.)
This is celebrating the love that Pavarotti brought to humanity.
Ciao maestro, big Luciano, shining bambino. Grateful for what he gave to us all.
CIAO BIG lUCIANO E GRAZIE PER AVER RESO GRANDE IL NOME DELL’iTALIA NEL MONDO.
Pavarotti made opera cool.
His voice=goosebumps.
My favorite Pavarotti YouTube clip is this 1992 duet with Sting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUh1SlrtEG0&v3
I love the last minute or so of the Bryan Adams performance where the look on Bryan’s face is pure “I can’t sing s*** compared to you”. Then at the end when they point at each other and Bryan Adams just laughs and lets the big man bring it home.
Who’s the guy in the hat who keeps chiming in on “Nessum Dorma”? The whole performance is so cute. Michael Bolton looks like he’s going to puke and I love Meatloaf, Bono et al. singing along like they’re drunk in the background.
Love the Spice Girls clip. It’s so wonderfully weird. He sounds like he’s singing a totally different song. I love how he jams along to the music and grins like a dirty old man the whole time.
Beautiful! The man was a singing genius. I love the sound of his voice. Bolton surprises me. He wasn’t bad. He actually held the note. Opera hits a spot in the core of one’s soul. Pavarotti had a big part in this. He will be dearly missed.
After his dath, I too was spending time on youtube. I was enchanted with Jon Bon Jovi singing with Pavarotti. The song is absolutely beautiful, and what is sad is that we are not living in peace.