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Luciano Pavarotti Trivia

Facts and Trivia About the Famous Tenor

By Aaron Green, About.com

  • Did you know Luciano Pavarotti was nominated for a Razzie? In 1982, Pavarotti starred in the movie "Yes, Gorgio". His role as Georgio earned him two Razzi nominations for Worst Actor and Worst New Star in 1983.
  • In 1989, the Lyric Opera of Chicago banned Pavarotti from the stage, because of his well-known habit of canceling at the last minute for booked performances.
  • To pay for voice lessons, Pavarotti once sold insurance.
  • Pavarotti served as the musical guest on the popular late night NBC series, Saturday Night Live, in 1998.
  • Pavarotti made his operatic debut at the Reggio Emilia Theater as Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme." That same year, he won the prestigious Concorso Internazionale.
  • During his career, Luciano performed a total of 379 times at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His final performance at the Met was the 2004 production of Puccini's Tosca.
  • One of Pavarotti's early supporters (and key figure in his overall success) was the incredible soprano, Dame Joan Sutherland.
  • During the public viewing of Pavarotti's casket, over 100,000 people attended. During the actual funeral, seven hundred guests filled the cathedral in Modena, Italy, including Bono and former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, while several thousand people gathered outside of the cathedral in the square.
  • Did you know that Pavarotti was an equestrian expert? He organized the Pavarotti International, an international show jumping circuit competition.
  • Luciano won his first Grammy award in 1978 for Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance.

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