I got home yesterday and learned that Luciano Pavarotti died at age 71 last night of pancreatic cancer at his home in Modena, Italy.  He combined a lustrous lyric tenor voice with a radiant and expansive personal charm to win the largest and most diversified audience.

Pavarotti made his opera début in the role of Rodolfo in La bohème on April 29, 1961 in the town of Reggio Emilia. One of his last performances was during the Torino Winter Olympic Games of 2006. He received the longest and loudest ovation of the night from the international crowd.

He worked hard improving upon his talent for 45 years. And that alone desrvers a lot of respect. I am not a big music fan, but he was a special performer that I always love to listen to. He has my respect and admiration because every day he worked on improving his skill, something that everyone in our industry has to work on.

Pavarotti also was a well-known humanitarian. He annually hosted the "Pavarotti and Friends" charity concerts in his home town of Modena in Italy, joining with singers from all parts of the music industry to raise money for several UN causes including Bosnia, Guatemala, Kosovo and Iraq.

He was a man of enourmous talent, and even bigger heart and generocity. He will be missed tramedosly by his family, friends, and fans.

Farewell, Mestro. See you Up there.