Andrea Bocelli Biography

He was born as the son of Alessandro and Edi Bocelli. His mother had been advised to abort the fetus while she was pregnant with him. She refused vehemently and insisted on giving birth to her child.

His family lived on a farm and sold farm machinery and made wine for a living. He suffered from congenital glaucoma and completely lost his sight in a sporting accident when he was 12.

He displayed a great love for music from a young age. He learned piano, flute, saxophone, guitar, and drums as a young boy.

As a seven-year-old, he could recognize the voices of the great singers of those times and even tried to sing like them. He participated in music competitions and gave concerts while still young.

He finished school in 1980 and studied law at the University of Pisa. He performed in piano bars in the evenings to earn some money.

He found his big break in 1992 when a demo tape containing Bocelli’s rendition of the song ‘Miserere’ was sent to Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti who was highly impressed by the young musician. The duo recorded a duet which became a smash hit throughout Europe.

He accompanied Italian rock star Zucchero on his European concert tour in 1993. He sang duets with him and was also given solo sets in the concert. He performed at a concert at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia in December of the same year.

He entered the Sanremo Music Festival where he won the preliminary round with the song ‘Miserere’, and participated in the main Sanremo Festival competition with ‘Il mare calmo della sera’ and won the newcomers section. He released his debut album ‘Il mare calmo della sera’ in 1994 following this win.

His album ‘Songo’ was released in 1999. It reached the top spots in pop Album charts all over the world and registered worldwide sales of over 10 million copies. He was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys—the first time a classical musician had been nominated for that category since 1961.

The album ‘Sacred Arias’, released in 1999 featured music composed in traditional Christian style. It had the tracks ‘Ave Maria (Funeral for a Friend)’, and ‘Panis Angelicus’. It peaked at No.1 on the Canadian, Italian, and Netherlands Album charts.

In 2002, his album ‘Sentimento’ was out. Lorin Maazel along with the London Symphony Orchestra was the conductor of the album. The album was critically praised and won several awards and accolades.

His album ‘Amore’ was released in January 2006 for the Valentine’s Day season. A remake of Elvis Presley’s song ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ was featured in this album. It also had the duet, ‘Somos Novios (It's Impossible)’ which he had sung with Christina Aguilera.

In 2009, he released his first-ever Christmas album, ‘My Christmas’ which was a compilation of holiday favorites in English, Italian, French, and German. The only original song in the album was ‘God Bless Us Everyone’. It was one of the best-selling albums of the year.

His 2013 album ‘Passione’ is a collection of Mediterranean love songs. The album contains duets with Jennifer Lopez and Nelly Furtado. The multi-lingual album has songs in English, Italian, French, and Spanish.

In 2015, he released his fifteenth studio album titled ‘Cinema.’ The album secured the third spot in the Official UK Albums Chart and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200. He put out his sixteenth studio album ‘Sì’ in October 2018. The album debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200, becoming Andrea Bocelli’s first album to do so.

He came out with his seventeenth album named ‘Believe’ in November 2020. The album consisted of tracks like "You'll Never Walk Alone," "Cantique de Jean Racine," "Angele Dei," and "Inno Sussurato." ‘Believe’ peaked at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 and secured the top place at the US Top Classical Albums. It also reached number 3 on the Official Albums Chart. In 2022, he came together with his son, Matteo, and daughter, Virginia, and released the collaborative album titled ‘A Family Christmas.’

The album ‘Songo’, literally translated as “Dreams” in English was a super hit. It spawned the hit singles ‘Canto della Terra’ and ‘The Prayer’ which was a duet with Celine Dion. It peaked at No.1 on the pop albums charts in Austria, Sweden, and Switzerland.

His first ever Christmas album, ‘My Christmas’ was a huge commercial as well as a critical hit. It peaked at the No. 1 position on the US Classical Albums chart and has to date sold over three million copies—becoming one of the best-selling holiday albums in the U.S.

His classical album ‘Sacred Arias’ is his most commercially successful classical album. The album reached the No.1 position in the charts of several countries all over the world and has sold over five million copies. It is the biggest-selling classical album by any solo artist in history.

He is the recipient of seven World Music Awards which include four awards for the Best Selling Classical Artist and three for the Best Selling Italian Singer.

To date, he has won six Classical BRITS Awards including the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002.

He married Enrica Cenzatti in 1992 and had two children. The couple separated in 2002. He forged a relationship with Veronica Berti whom he met in 2002. He has one daughter with her named Virginia. The couple married in March 2014.

He regularly performs in charity benefit concerts supporting various causes in different countries including the Memorial Concert at Ground Zero, in New York City and the Music of Asia festival in 2004, for the Indian tsunami appeal.