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Factsheet

• At 19, he and his father, a singer and baker, performed with the Gioachino Rossini choir of Modena at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, where they won first prize in a voice competition.
• After winning the prestigious Concorso Internazionale singing contest in 1961, he left his job as a schoolteacher and made his operatic debut as Rodolfo in a production of La Boheme.
• Founded the Opera Company of Philadelphia/Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition in 1980 to encourage opera hopefuls.
• To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his operatic debut, performed La Boheme in his hometown of Modena, Italy, and also became the first Westerner to give a concert in Beijing's Great Hall of People.
• His 1990 album The Essential Pavarotti was the first classical album to reach the top of the UK pop charts.
• Along with fellow Three Tenors Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, performed the theme for the 1990 World Cup Finals in Rome.
• In 1992, launched Pavarotti and Friends, a benefit concert aimed at raising funds to help victims of war and civil conflict.
• Grief-stricken, he declined an invitation to sing at the 1997 funeral of his close friend Diana, Princess of Wales, but performed on a tribute album alongside Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen and U2.
• Received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001.
• In 2004, received a 12-minute standing ovation for his final performance in a staged opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera House.