Andrea Bocelli Biography [1958-2022] The fascinating life of the tenor who was on the verge of not being born

When he was only 3 years old, he was being treated for his eyesight in a hospital and there was no way to calm him down, the child cried and cried, until suddenly he heard in a nearby room an opera that another patient had played.

Immediately he calmed down awakening something in him that still remains, his passion for music 🎶

Bocelli attended a school for blind children. As he excelled in the choir his parents decided that he should start studying piano. He would also learn flute, saxophone 🎷 and other instruments.

• At the age of 12, he was playing a soccer game with his friends and the ball hit him in the eyes. The damage was definitive for his sight, leaving him totally blind.
• He went through a very difficult period, but with great willpower he kept going by focusing more and more on music.

In 1972, when he was just 14 years old, he won his first young talent contest. Everything was going well, until puberty, when he lost his voice 🗣️

Little by little he recovered it, but he had also lost his confidence, so, despite continuing part-time playing and singing in bars and clubs, he focused on his studies and got a doctorate in law.

• His life would change in 1986, at the age of 28, when she was introduced to the man who would become his teacher, Italian tenor Franco Corelli.
• Franco touch Andrea what the music of silence was. A technique in which you remain silent as much as you can to take care of the voice so that it is at rest when it’s the teim to sing.
• Andrea Bocelli called his autobiography ‘The Music of Silence‘, which will become a film later.

In 1992 Andrea Bocelli married Enrica Cenzatti, whom he met years before when he played the piano in Pisa. They had 2 sons, Amos and Matteo Bocelli. They would divorce in 2002 💔.

Pavarotti would record Miserere with Zucchero achieving a spectacular success.

• It was a very tough time for Andrea Bocelli. Despite having done the demo, he was waiting for an opportunity to sing it in concert and finally make himself known.
• He spent his days by the phone ☎️, waiting for a call. Finally, it rung, and it was Zucchero inviting Andrea to join him on his European tour.

The tour was sold out. By the end of it Luciano Pavarotti finally met Andrea Bocelli, asking him to join the 2nd edition of “Pavarotti & Friends“.

None of the criticism Andrea Bocelli suffered in the past claiming that he would never become a recognized lyric singer stopped him. Indeed, in 1993 he signed his first record contract.

1994 would be his year 👆🏽.

• He won the prestigious Italian festival of San Remo, with the highest score to date, singing ‘Il mare calmo della sera (The calm sea of the evening)‘.
• That would be the title of his 1st album, which includes wonderful versions of Caruso and E lucean le stelle (And the stars shone), from Puccini’s opera Tosca.

His popularity was spreading like wildfire, and it became even wider in 1995 thanks to his 2nd album, ‘Bocelli‘, which included memorable tunes like:

• Con te Partirò (we’ll tell you the story behind the song shortly): The English version featuring Sarah Brightman, ‘Time to Say Goodbye‘, would be part of Bocelli’s next record, ‘Viaggio Italiano‘. It is one of the best songs ever.
• Vivo per lei (I live for him): Although the song was not very successful at first, its Spanish version with singer Marta Sanchez, ‘Vivo por ella‘, is already a classic in Spanish-speaking countries ❤️
• Per amore (For love): A gorgeous hidden gem in the album.

In the 2010s the world goes crazy with Andrea Bocelli. His 2000 album ‘Sacred Arias’ became the best-selling classical music record by a solo artist in history. He then went on a world tour.

• He also released an album singing Verdi and another of La Boheme (Puccini), his first complete opera, with maestro Zubin Mehta conducting. Later he would record Verdi’s Requiem ⚰️
• That unforgettable year he also sang with Celine Dion the mega-hit ‘The Prayer‘.

Unfortunately, not everything could be happiness, Alessandro Bocelli, Andrea’s father, dies one day before he was to sing to Pope John Paul II in Rome. His mother, Edi Bocelli, insists him to fulfill his commitment. He did so.

• In July 2000 he performs a concert in the Statue of Liberty, dedicating the song ‘Sogno (Dream)‘ to his father.

Andrea Bocelli is invited to sing at the opening ceremony of Expo 2010 in Shanghai, delighting the world with ‘Nessun Dorma‘.

• The following day, he takes part in a concert at the Shanghai stadium in front of 80,000 people 🏟️.

2011 is another good year as he releases ‘Notte Illuminata‘, performs a unique concert called ‘One Night at Central Park‘, and creates his own foundation, ‘ABF Andrea Bocelli Foundation‘.

In 2014 Andrea Bocelli marries Veronica Berti 👰🏽 From that union, Andrea’s third child, Virginia Bocelli, would be born.

‘Cinema‘ is the name of the album that in 2015 got Andrea Bocelli and Ariana Grande together for the delicate ‘E piu ti penso (And more I think of you)‘.

• Bocelli, who processes a deep Catholic faith, starts a new tour to propagate the mission of the family according to the Church, on behalf of Pope Francisco ⛪.
• The album Cinema, dedicated to film songs, includes a breathtaking version of the main theme of Gladiator, ‘Nelle Tue Mani (Now we are free‘,

2020 is the year of Andrea Bocelli’s last album so far, ‘Believe‘.

• In December of that year Bocelli gave an emotional concert called ‘Music for hope‘, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Already in 2021, we find Andrea on the soundtrack of ‘Fatima‘, performing the fantastic original theme ‘Gratia plena‘.