While it has been performed and covered by many artists over the years, Pavarotti won the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for his rendition. Pavarotti implores his love to 'Come, come away with me' at the end of this gorgeous song, and by the end of it you'll definitely want to go too.

Also in 2001, Pavarotti was chosen one of that year's five recipients by the President and First Lady as an honoree for their lifetime achievements in the arts at the White House, followed by the Kennedy Center; the Kennedy Center Honors, He was surprised by the appearance of Secretary-General of the United Nations and that year's winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Kofi Annan, who lauded him for his contribution to humankind.He is every inch the tragic clown here, smiling on the outside but subtly letting on his inner turmoil.

So here we hear him duet with Sting, in every way a similarly individual voice in the music world (and a pretty mean lute player). Pavarotti’s version of the famous aria ‘ Nessun dorma’ was used as the theme for World Cup coverage, and he used to perform at matches with The Three Tenors. In its 90thanniversary year, Decca celebrates the enduring relationship between the legendary tenor and the historic label with the release of these two albums – these duets in particular providing a poignant reminder of Pavarotti’s compassion, humanity and spirit. But the sweet story is that my father passed away recently and on his deathbed, I played him some Luciano.The lighter side of Pavarotti's character was always ready and willing to come out, and he puts it to great use here with this tongue-twisting aria. He sold over 100 million records, and the first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time.

Following his death in 2007, Luciano Pavarotti’s phenomenal legacy is defined by his capacity to open up the world of opera to a wider audience, and these musical collaborations with icons from pop, rock and soul revealed his magnificent voice to a new generation of fans.

In the end Pavarotti did record the track, which became a huge hit, but it marked the beginning of Pavarotti and Bocelli’s friendship, and they went on to perform this duet together on stage. They even performed the song together at one of Pavarotti's Modena concerts: here's Pavarotti with Bono. If you're not affected by it at least a tiny bit, by these two giants slugging it out in the vocal stakes, then you need to have your ears tested.