Andrea Bocelli (Italian: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born September 22, 1958) is an Italian tenor widely regarded as one of the greatest voices in classical and crossover music. He gained international fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival with his performance of "Il mare calmo della sera." Since then, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo studio albums encompassing both pop and classical genres, selling over 80 million records worldwide.
His albums, such as Romanza and Sacred Arias, have become some of the best-selling in history. Sacred Arias holds the distinction of being the highest-selling classical album by any solo artist, while Romanza is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Bocelli’s 2019 album Sì debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200, marking his first number-one album in both countries. Additionally, his duet with Celine Dion on the song "The Prayer" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and was nominated for an Academy Award.
In 1998, Bocelli was named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People, and he has received numerous accolades, including being made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006 and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010. David Foster once described Bocelli's voice as the most beautiful in the world, and Celine Dion has stated that "if God had a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli."