Andrea Bocelli (born September 22, 1958 in Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy) is a singer, writer and music producer. He is a classical crossover and operatic tenor, and has recorded four complete operas (La Boheme, Il Trovatore, Werther and Tosca) and over eleven other albums, both classical and popular in style. He has two sons Amos (born 1995) and Matteo (born 1997). He was married but has since separated from his only wife, Enrica. Bocelli was born with congenital glaucoma, and was blinded at the age of 12 by a brain hemorrhage, which he suffered when hit on the head playing football (soccer).
As a child Andrea was already playing the church organ, and at the age of 12 won the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio with O sole mio, his first competition win. After working for a year as a lawyer (he graduated as a Doctor of Law from the University of Pisa) he undertook singing lessons from Maestro Luciano Bettarini, taking up music full time. He has never stopped his vocal training, attending a master class with renowned tenor Franco Corelli in Turin, for example.
He is widely known as the performer of the song, Con Te Partirò. The Italian rock star Zucchero Fornaciari first auditioned Andrea while scouting for tenors in 1992; upon hearing the tape, tenor Luciano Pavarotti urged Zucchero to use Andrea instead of himself. In 1994 Andrea performed the winning entry Il mare calmo della sera in the San Remo Festival, which led to his first Golden Disc. That year he debuted as Macduff in Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth, sang at Pavarotti's benefit concert at Modena, and before the Pope at Christmas.
In the 1995 San Remo festival Andrea won fourth place singing Con Te Partirò.
