Following much speculation about the state of his health, it was announced this morning that Luciano Pavarotti died overnight, after a year long fight against pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
As previously reported, the opera star was admitted to hospital on 8 Aug, and stayed in under observation for longer than initially expected, but did return home last week. However, his manager Terri Robson announced today: "The great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, died today at 5:00 a.m. at his home in Modena, the city of his birth. The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness".
Pavarotti began his singing career in his home country of Italy at that start of the sixties, inspired by his father who was also a fine singer. He quickly built a reputation as a star of the opera in Europe, though it was through his work in the US that he really became a celebrity of the genre - most notably following a 1978 performance for New York's Metropolitan Opera which was broadcast live on PBS.
His fame become even more mainstream during the Italian World Cup in 1990, firstly when the BBC used his performance of Giacomo Puccini's 'Nessun Dorma' as their theme tune for the event, sending the song into the music charts, and then through the hugely high profile 'Three Tenors' concert in Rome on the eve of the World Cup Final where he shared the stage with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo who, by performing a combination of opera pieces and more light-hearted songs, opened themselves to a much more mainstream audience.
Pavarotti performed a 'farewell tour' in 2004, including a last opera performance back at the Metropolitan Opera. He also sang at the opening of the 2006 Olympics in Turin, after which he stepped back from public performance as he underwent surgery to remove a pancreatic tumour.
'Three Tenors' co-star Domingo is among those who have already paid tribute to the late opera star, telling reporters this morning: "I always admired the God-given glory of his voice - that unmistakable special timbre from the bottom up to the very top of the tenor range. I also loved his wonderful sense of humour and on several occasions of our concerts with José Carreras we had trouble remembering that we were giving a concert before a paying audience, because we had so much fun between ourselves".