The Prayer

Background:

“I've never expected something from life. When I was young I used to say to my parents, ‘I wish to be a good son.’ When I married my wife and had my two babies I told her, ‘I wish to be a good husband and a good father.’ To my fans, I hope to be the right singer they are looking for.” Andrea Bocelli

Widely respected as the most celebrated Italian singer in the world, Andrea Bocelli has released over 20 pop and classical albums since his debut album “Il mare calmo della sera” in 1994. He earned ECHO Klassik Awards for “Viaggio Italiano” (1995), “Aria - The Opera Album” (1998) and “Sacred Arias” (1999) and Classical BRIT Awards for “Sacred Arias” (2002). A three time Grammy nominee, Bocelli picked up his first nomination in 1999 in the category of Best New Artist. He went on to earn his next two nominations for the popular duet “The Prayer” (from the 1999 album “Sogno”), which he sang with Celine Dion. The song also won a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song from the film “Quest for Camelot.” Other hits he has released include “Con te partirò” (from the 1995 album “Bocelli”) and its duet version “Time to Say Goodbye” (1996, with Sarah Brightman), “Vivo per lei (je vis pour elle)” (with Hélène Ségara), “Somos Novios (It's Impossible)” (with Christina Aguilera) and “Vive Ya” (with Laura Pausini). The worldwide hit “Time to Say Goodbye” won an ECHO Music Award and the Special Award at the 1997 RTL Golden Lion Awards. Bocelli has also performed in a number of sold out concerts around the globe.

Bocelli's new album, “My Christmas,” which was released in the U.S. in November 2009, peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200, becoming Bocelli's highest chart position in America since “Amore” (2006), which reached the Top 3.

In 2006, Bocelli was honored with the Grand Official of the Order of Merit of the Republic (Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana). He was also named one of People Magazine's “50 Most Beautiful People” in 1998.

Bocelli and his former wife, Enrica Cenzatti Bocelli, have two children together. He is now engaged to Veronica Berti but does not plan to get married again because of his Roman Catholic faith. The couple resides in Forte dei Marmi.

Blind

Childhood and Family:

The son of Alessandro (died on April 30, 2000) and Edi Bocelli, Andrea Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958, in Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy, and grew up on the family farm. Having been born with congenital glaucoma, young Andrea had problems with his sight and became completely blind at age 12 after a soccer accident. Despite his misfortune, he showed a great talent for music and began taking piano lessons at age 6. He soon added the flute, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, guitar, harp, and drums to his list of musical abilities. Andrea also developed a love for opera at an early age and sang throughout his youth. By age 14, he had won his first song competition. He recalled, “I was one of those children who would always be asked to sing for my relatives. I don't think one really decides to be a singer, other people decide it for you by their reactions.”

After completing his secondary education in 1980, Andrea attended the University of Pisa and later graduated as a Doctor of Law. He then worked as a court decreed lawyer for a year and used the money to pay for singing lessons with legendary tenor Franco Corelli. To make ends meet, he also performed evenings in piano bars and clubs. In one of his shows, in 1987, Andrea met Enrica Cenzatti. They were married on June 27, 1992, and their first child, Amos, was born on February 22, 1995. Their second son, Matteo, was born on October 8, 1997. Andrea and his wife divorced in 2002.

My Christmas

Career:

In 1992, Andrea Bocelli entered auditions for tenors held by Italian rock legend Zucchero to make a demo tape with him for the upcoming smash hit “Miserere” and ended up winning the spot. Zucchero then sent the demo to Luciano Pavarotti to persuade the well known classical singer to record the song with him. Pavarotti was very impressed with Bocelli's voice and later arranged to meet with him. Thanks to his high profile performance at Pavarotti's annual charity gala concert, Bocelli's reputation and popularity grew significantly. It occurred after Bocelli gained initial success at Zucchero's 1993 European tour, in which he performed “Miserere” in place of Pavarotti. He then landed a solo spot in the concerts and performed “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini's “Turandot” at the occasion. Eventually, Bocelli signed a record deal with the Sugar Records music label in Milan.

In February 1994, Bocelli competed in the Italian Sanremo Music Festival and won the newcomers section of the festival with the song “Il mare calmo della sera.” His debut album, “Il mare calmo della sera,” named after the song, was released later that same year on April 18 and quickly climbed toward the Top 10. It earned platinum certification within weeks.

Bocelli released the sophomore effort “Bocelli” in 1995. Produced by Mauro Malavasi, the album reached double platinum status in Italy and multi platinum across Europe. It sold over 2 million copies and was certified 4x’s platinum in Germany, becoming the sixth highest selling album in the country's history. “Bocelli” produced the classical crossover song “Con te partirò,” which stayed at No. 1 for six weeks in France and Switzerland and became the biggest hit ever in Belgium after topping the charts for over 10 weeks. The song gained further success when Bocelli re-recorded it with British soprano Sarah Brightman under the new titled “Time to Say Goodbye” (1996). The new version was a massive hit in several countries and brought Bocelli a 1997 ECHO Music Award for Best Single of the Year. The song also picked up the Special Award at the 1997 RTL Golden Lion Awards and spawned “Vivo per lei (je vis pour elle),” a duet he sang with French singer Hélène Ségara, which became a smash hit in Belgium and France. The song became Bocelli's second best selling after “Con te partirò.” The Spanish version of the song, “Vivo Por Ella,” which he recorded with Marta Sanchez, became a No. 1 hit in Spain in 1996.

The third album, “Viaggio Italiano,” (1995, released internationally in 1997), which also marked Bocelli's first classical album featuring some of the best known opera arias and Neapolitan songs of all time, such as “Nessun Dorma,” “O Sole Mio” and “la Donna è Mobile,” sold nearly 300,000 pieces in Italy, but would eventually sell more than 2 million copies worldwide. It won Bocelli a 1997 ECHO Klassik for Bestseller of the Year.

“Romanza” was launched in 1997. The album went multi platinum in many countries, including the U.S. (4x’s Platinum), Switzerland (7x’s Platinum), Portugal (5x’s Platinum), Norway (2x’s Platinum), Belgium (2x’s Platinum) Australia (5x’s Platinum) and Argentina (6x’s Platinum). To date, “Romanza” has sold over 16 million units worldwide. Also in 1997, Bocelli was awarded a Bambi Award by the German media company.

Bocelli made his debut in a major operatic role when he was cast as Rodolfo in a 1998 production of “La bohème” at the Teatro Comunale in Cagliari, Italy. Shortly thereafter, he released “Aria - The Opera Album” in March 1998. It has sold more than 3.5 million copies globally and won the tenor a 1998 ECHO Klassik for Best Selling Classical Album. The same year, he also netted two World Music awards in the categories of Best Italian Singer and Best Classical Interpretation.

In 1999, Bocelli released the classical “Sogno” on Phillips Records. The album peaked at No. 4 in the U.S. and the U.K. and was a runner up on the Norwegian albums charts. It contained “The Prayer,” a duet sung with Celine Dion that was previously included in Dion's 1998 album “These Are Special Times.” The song peaked at No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and No. 8 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the film “Quest for Camelot.” It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and two Grammys in 2000 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Previously, Bocelli received a 1999 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

Also in 1999, Bocelli launched “Sacred Arias,” which featured music composed in a traditional Christian style. It sold over 5 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling classical album by a solo artist of all time, and won a 2000 ECHO Klassik for Bestseller of the Year, a 2000 Classical BRIT for Album of the Year as well as a Goldene Europa for Classical Music. The album “Verdi” followed in 2000. A No. 2 hit in Italy, the album went on to sell more than 2 million copies worldwide. In early 2001, Bocelli portrayed the main character in Pietro Mascagni's opera “L'amico Fritz” at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. He again performed the tenor part in “Verdi's Requiem.” The “Requiem (Verdi)” album, conducted by Valery Gergiev, was released in March with Bocelli as the tenor. Later that same year, the European classical album “Cieli di Toscana” hit the music stores and he was awarded a 2001 Platinum Europe. In 2002, Bocelli won World Music Awards for World Best Selling Classical Artist and Best Selling Italian Artist, a Classical BRIT for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the Telegatto Award for his contribution to the soundtrack of the Italian TV series “Cuore.” Also that year, Bocelli released “Sentimento,” a classical album conducted by Lorin Maazel. It peaked at No. 12 in the U.S. and No. 7 in the U.K. and went on to sell 3.5 million worldwide. For his work on the album, he was handed Classical BRITs in 2003 in the categories of Best Selling Classical Album and Album of the Year. Following many concert performances during 2003, including a benefit concert for the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art, he returned to the studio to record the album “Andrea,” which was released in 2004 to great success. In the Netherlands, the album spent 33 weeks at No. 1 on the Dutch Albums Top 100. It has since sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide. He also toured around the world and released several operas, including “Tosca” (2003), “Werther” (2005), “Cavalleria rusticana” (2007, recorded 2004), “Pagliacci” (2007) and “Carmen” (2008, recorded in 2005).

On January 31, 2006, Bocelli resurfaced with a new album titled “Amore,” which was released by Sugar Records, Opera & Blues Records, and Decca Records. Produced by David Foster and Humberto Gatica, it became a Top 3 hit on Billboard Top 200 and topped the albums charts in the Netherlands. Also in 2006, Bocelli was handed two World Music Awards for Best Italian Artist and World's Best Selling Classical Artist.

A compilation album called “The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere” followed on October 22, 2007. Released by Decca and Sugar Records, the album rose to No. 9, No. 4 and No. 3 in the U.S., the U.K. and Norway, respectively, and went on to sell over 3 million units. The duet song “Vive Ya,” the Spanish version of “Dare to live (Vivere),” which he sung with Laura Pausini, was nominated for a 2008 Latin Grammy for Record of the Year.

On November 4, 2008, Bocelli released “Incanto,” which was produced by Clive Bennett. The album sold over 5 million units in its first four months and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2009 Classical BRIT Awards.

Recently, on November 3, 2009, Bocelli released the holiday album “My Christmas” in North America under Philips Records. Produced by David Foster, the album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, becoming his highest chart position in America to date, and No. 1 on the Classical Albums and Holiday Albums charts. The album is also a success in Canada and was released in Italy by Sugar and the rest of the world by Universal on November 20. Ten days later, the album was released in the U.K. by Decca Records.

“I could have never predicted such big love, even from my Italian fans! I can only say what a wonderful job everyone has done in Italy and the U.S. and thank them for believing in me.” Andrea Bocelli

Awards:

• Telegatto: Platinum, 2008

• World Music: Best Italian Artist and World's Best Selling Classical Artist, 2006

• ITV National Music: Favorite Specialist Performer, 2003

• Classical BRIT: Best Selling Classical Album and Album of the Year, “Sentimento,” 2003

• Telegatto: The Soundtrack of the Series “Cuore,” 2002

• Classical BRIT: Outstanding Contribution to Music, 2002

• Goldene Kamera: Music & Entertainment, 2002

• World Music: World Best Selling Classical Artist and Best Selling Italian Artist, 2002

• Platinum Europe: Over 1 Million Sales of the Album “Cieli di Toscana,” 2001

• Italian Music: Federation of the Italian Music Industry, Special Award, for his merits as an “Ambassador of Italian music in the world,” 2001

• Goldene Europa: Classical Music, 2000

• Classical BRIT: Album of the Year, “Sacred Arias,” 2000

• ECHO Klassik: Bestseller of the Year, “Sacred Arias,” 2000

• ECHO Klassik: Best Selling Classical Album, “Aria - The Opera Album,” 1998

• World Music: Best Italian Singer and Best Classical Interpretation, 1998

• ECHO Music: Best Single of the Year, “Time to Say Goodbye,” 1997

• RTL Golden Lion: Special Award, “It's Time to Say Goodbye,” 1997

• ECHO Klassik: Bestseller of the Year, “Viaggio Italiano,” 1997

• Bambi: 1997

• Sanremo Music Festival: Newcomers, 1994