(Originally published by the Daily News on Sept. 7, 2007.)
Luciano Pavarotti, whose powerful tenor brought opera to the masses and almost unprecedented pop stardom to an opera singer, died early this morning at his villa in Modena, Italy. He was 71.
“The King of the High C’s” was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006, while he was in New York preparing for a farewell concert tour.
He attempted to return to the stage last fall, but had to cancel his plans. Over the past few days, he had taken a sharp turn for the worse, with reports that his kidneys had shut down. The star’s death was announced by his manager, Terri Robson.
“The maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life,” Robson said in a statement. “In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness.”
Pavarotti’s passing saddened the world cultural community, because no opera singer since Caruso had so captured the imagination of popular-music lovers who otherwise would have known nothing of “Il Trovatore.”
Pavarotti reached popular-music heights through vocal skill, an effervescent personality and a shrewd sense of marketing.
Among his extensive television appearances were a dozen star turns on “Live From the Met,” beginning with an acclaimed performance as Rodolfo from “La Boheme” in March 1977.
He made his opera reputation, at the Met and elsewhere, with roles that included Arturo, Des Grieux, Alfredo, the Duke, Neorino, Manrico, Ernani, Radames, Calaf and Otello.
Offstage he was a frequent and charming guest on television talk shows, and he often performed solo in large arenas.
In later years he teamed with colleagues Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras to record and perform as “The Three Tenors.”
Their repertoire included popular as well as classical music, with one holiday CD featuring a version of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).”
Pavarotti said he was a fan of many styles of music, and his solo recordings included Neapolitan and Italian folk songs.
Born in Modena on Oct.12, 1935, Pavarotti first heard opera from his father, a gifted amateur tenor. Young Luciano made his debut in “La Boheme” in 1961 and his U.S. debut in Miami in February 1965.
He was paired in “Lucia di Lammermoor” with Joan Sutherland, launching what would become a long-running and much-admired musical partnership.
But most opera historians trace the beginning of the Pavarotti legend to his Feb. 17, 1972, performance in “La Fille du Régiment” at the Met.
Singing a difficult role that required nine high C’s, Pavarotti hit them all effortlessly and won a frenzied ovation that echoed around the opera world.
By 1979, his reputation had soared from the stages to the streets, and his “O Sole Mio” album was certified gold. Subsequent records included popular songs like “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” and a 1983 solo Christmas album went platinum.
In 1991, he sang for Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana in a concert at London’s Hyde Park, with an audience of more than 150,000 people standing in the rain.
On a nicer day in June 1993, he sang for more than 500,000 fans on the lawn of Central Park. That performance was televised around the world.
In September 1994, he sang for 300,000 people at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras recorded a theme song for the 1990 World Cup soccer tournament, held in Italy, that became their biggest seller.
That was fitting, because Pavarotti was a soccer fanatic who often said he would have been happy to play that sport instead of sing for a living.
Throughout his career, Pavarotti struggled with a much-publicized weight problem. His love of food caused him to balloon to a reported high of 396 pounds in 1978.
Because of his fame, he also inevitably made some tabloid headlines. If he canceled a performance because of a cold, it was major news. He drew considerable attention in 2003 when, just after he turned 67, his former personal assistant, Nicoletta Mantovani, then 33, gave birth to their twins, a girl who survived and a boy who died. The couple married later that year.
He had three children from an earlier marriage to Adua Veroni.
But he remained best known for his music, which spurred a wave of popularity for opera and helped several fellow singers, like Domingo, also become stars outside opera circles.
Still, none reached the heights of Pavarotti, who, like Caruso many years earlier, was known by a single name for the power of his singular voice.