Pavarotti Dies

I guess the most famous of all opera singers (at least from where I'm sitting anyway) passed away last night after a battle with cancer.

I think he shot into the public eye in the UK when the BBC chose Nessen Dorma (sp?) for the World Cup theme tune one year (maybe 90 with Gazza etc?). Before that happened, I think you can count on one hand the number of Opera songs I had ever listened to, and there wasn't a single singer I could name.

This was followed up with various appearances with a number of different pop stars, and a bit of an upswelling in opera listening amongst the common man back home - The Three Tenors CD ended up in our house, along with a number of TV specials and the like.

Anyway, he's going to be missed - the BBC have a decent report up here.