Andrea Bocelli on His New Album, Film and 30 Years of Making Music: 'I Like to Think to The Future'

Tenor Andrea Bocelli. (Reuters)
Tenor Andrea Bocelli. (Reuters)
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Andrea Bocelli on His New Album, Film and 30 Years of Making Music: 'I Like to Think to The Future'

Tenor Andrea Bocelli. (Reuters)
Tenor Andrea Bocelli. (Reuters)

It's one of the most immediately recognizable voices on the planet: Andrea Bocelli's tenor is beloved across generations, cultures and borders, known to induce tears in as few as three simple words: “Con Te Partirò,” or in its English performance, “Time to Say Goodbye.”
This year, he's celebrating the 30th anniversary of his career with a new compilation album, “Duets,” featuring both previously released and brand-new collaborations of his best-known work — as well as a few surprising contemporary covers — and the release of a new concert film, “Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration,” which will arrive in theaters on Friday, The Associated Press said.
So, why duets?
“I've loved voices since when I was a child, and I like very much to share the stage with the best artists and voices. So, this album, there are the best duets that I did in my life,” he told The Associated Press. “From the first, ‘The Prayer’ with Celine Dion, until the last, like ‘Perfect’ with Ed Sheeran and many, many others. And the album has been remastered and remixed. So, I hope the sound can be better."
He says: “The most important thing in voices... is to be recognizable, to give emotion."
Sheeran was an interesting collaboration because when Bocelli first attempted to sing “Perfect," the English singer-songwriter wasn't a fan. “He didn’t like what I did because I sang in a pop style,” he recalls. “He wanted to listen to my voice, like in an operatic style.” So, Sheeran traveled to Bocelli's home in Tuscany, and the song was transformed. “He was right because this song had a huge success.”
When asked if there is anyone he would've loved to add to the “Duets” collection, Bocelli says of course — but “they passed away before I began to sing. For example, I would like very much to sing with Maria Callas or (Renata) Tebaldi or Magda Olivero. Many great, incredible singers. They are not anymore with us, unfortunately.”
Three decades into his career, Bocelli has performed for presidents, popes, and sold-out stadiums across the globe — in addition to having sold nearly 90 million records worldwide, according to a press release. “Reality exceeded my wildest dreams,” he says.
How he reflects on that time should come as no surprise. “I like to sing to the future. Honestly, I don’t like to think with nostalgia to the past," he says. “My first time on stage, for me it is like yesterday. The time is gone so quickly, so fast. And, yeah, now I like to think to the future.”
So, what, then, does he hope becomes his legacy in the next 30 years, 300 years? “In Italy, we have a very famous expression: The people that come after us will judge us,” he says with a translator. “So I can’t force the judge(ment) of the people. But I feel that my audience has a big affection for me, and this is my goal. When somebody in the street comes to me and says (to) me, ‘Thank you for your voice, for your music,’ I think mission is accomplished."
Across “Duets,” Bocelli sings in Italian, English, French and Spanish. “There are many languages, but it’s so difficult. I remember the day I tried to sing in Chinese, only few lines, but it has been so hard for me,” he laughs.
He also performs across genres, working with everyone from Latin superstars like Karol G and Jennifer Lopez to country musicians like Chris Stapleton and Shania Twain. “I would like to try to sing jazz," he says. “But it’s too difficult for me because you must live in an atmosphere, to learn step by step, day by day. I like jazz but it’s too far from the experience of my life.”
There is little he hasn't done across these last three decades, but the ultimate goal now, he says, is steeped in faith. “I have been very lucky and I reached the affection of the people. Now I must try to deserve the affection of the God. It’s more difficult."
But he will continue to perform for those who love him. On Dec. 4, Bocelli's US tour kicks off in San Diego and runs through the month, before commencing again in February and June 2025. The final dates will be held in Napa Valley, California, on June 21 and 22.



Quincy Jones, Music Titan Who Worked with Everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, Dies at 91

US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)
US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)
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Quincy Jones, Music Titan Who Worked with Everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, Dies at 91

US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)
US musician and producer Quincy Jones poses after being awarded Grand Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arabic World Institute) in Paris, on October 6, 2014. (AFP)

Quincy Jones, the multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and leaving behind a vast musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American song and rhythm. Over the past half century, it was hard to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with Jones’ name on it or someone in the music, television or movie industries who did not have some connection to him.

Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World.”

In a career that began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, singling out any work seems unfair. But honors likely go to his productions with Jackson on “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad,” albums universal in their style and appeal. Jones’ versatility and imagination fit perfectly with the bursting talents of Jackson as he sensationally transformed from child star to the “King of Pop.” On such classic tracks as “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” Jones and Jackson drew upon disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For “Thriller,” some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-defying “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.

“Thriller” sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone, helped Jackson become the first major Black artist to have a video played on MTV and influenced countless performers.

“Michael had the look and the voice, and I had every sound you can think of,” Jones would explain.

The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”: 28 Grammys (out of 80 nominations), an honorary Academy Award and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received France’s Legion d’Honneur and the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy. In 2001, Jones was named a Kennedy Center Honoree for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,” and his memoir made him a best-selling author.

“Despite all the Grammys and the special awards and testimonials that maturity bestows, it will always be the values you carry within yourself — of work, love, and integrity — that carry the greatest worth, because these are what get you through with your dreams intact, your heart held firm and your spirit ready for another day,” he wrote in his book.

Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he could remember. But he looked back sadly on his childhood, telling Oprah Winfrey: “There are two kinds of people: those who have nurturing parents or caretakers, and those who don’t. Nothing’s in between.” Jones’ mother suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world seem “senseless” for Quincy. He spent much of his time in Chicago on the streets, with gangs, stealing and fighting.

Music was his passion, and, almost literally, his salvation. As a boy, he learned that a Chicago neighbor owned a piano and he soon played it constantly himself. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10 and his world changed at a neighborhood recreation center. Jones and some friends had broken into the kitchen and helped themselves to lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room nearby with a stage. On the stage was a piano.

“I went up there, paused, stared, and then tinkled on it for a moment,” he wrote in his autobiography. “That’s where I began to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was it for me. Forever.”

Within a few years he was playing trumpet and befriending a young blind musician named Ray Charles, who became a lifelong friend. He was gifted enough to win a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones went on to work as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teen, he backed Billie Holiday. By his mid-20s, he was touring with his own band.

“We had the best jazz band on the planet, and yet we were literally starving,” Jones later told Musician magazine. “That’s when I discovered that there was music, and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two.”

His survivors include actor Rashida Jones and five other daughters: Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Martina Jones, Kidada Jones and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and Margie Jay.