Lawyer turned singer wows audiences worldwide

For the award winning Italian opera singer music was a “healing thing”.

Bocelli developed his love for music at a young age as he learned to play piano, flute, and saxophone. However, he was struggling with the pain of his diagnosed congenital glaucoma, a birth defect known for affecting the development of the eye (Andrea Bocelli). At the age of 12 he had completely lost his sight after a brain hemorrhage resulting from a soccer accident, but he did not let this affect his passion for music, singing in bars and nightclubs while he studied law at the University of Pisa.

After a year working as a state attorney with his law degree, he decided to leave it all to pursue a career in singing and to study under tenor singer, Franco Corelli.

In 1992 he was confronted by an Italian pop star, Zucchero Fornaciari, to sing a demo of the song Miserere. Fornaciari was impressed by Bocelli’s voice and signed a contract to create his debut album Il Mare Calmo Della Sera in 1994.

From there Bocelli became known both in Europe and the United States releasing more singles and albums including Con Te Partirò or Time to Say Goodbye which was a musical duet with English singer Sarah Brightman.

By 1997 his popularity had significantly increased, having a PBS special of one of his live shows and his album Romanza, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide. Later he experimented with his own creation of mixing arias with popular music on his recording creating something the media called “popera”. At first he was criticized for mixing the two but quickly found success in his own creation and collaborated with artists like Céline Dion.

Andrea Bocelli learned not to abandon his dreams despite his disability. He took it as an opportunity to amaze people and use his other senses like his voice to wow people. He made his own fashion of music and inspired people across the world with his beautiful voice and story.