Pavarotti & Friends was a series of

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

s hosted by Italian operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

between 1992 and 2003 in his home town of

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

, Italy. Proceeds from the events were donated to humanitarian causes including the international aid agency War Child and the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

. The concerts featured Pavarotti performing with special musical guests and each concert was released as a compilation album and DVD under

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

Concerts

Lucio Dalla, Pavarotti e Zucchero al Pavarotti e friends 1992

Ten benefit concerts were held between 1992 and 2003. The concerts have been broadcast in various countries and each concert was released as a compilation album and DVD under

. ''The Pavarotti & Friends Collection: The Complete Concerts, 1992–2000'', a DVD featuring the first eight concerts, was released in November 2002 under Decca.

Pavarotti & Friends (1992)

The first Pavarotti & Friends concert was held on 27 September 1992, featuring guest stars

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

and

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

. A compilation album and DVD was released under Decca Records. The compilation album sold 120,000 units in the US and around 1.5 million units worldwide.

Pavarotti & Friends 2 (1994)

Pavarotti & Friends 2 took place on 13 September 1994, and featured guest performances by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

Andreas Vollenweider Andreas Vollenweider (born 4 October 1953) is a Swiss harpist. He is generally categorised as a new-age musician and uses a modified electroacoustic harp of his own design. He has worked with Bobby McFerrin, Carly Simon, Luciano Pavarotti and ...

Nancy Gustafson Nancy Gustafson (born June 27, 1956, in Evanston, Illinois) is an American opera singer. She received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1978 and her M.Mus. from Northwestern University. She has appeared in numerous productions at venues bo ...

Giorgia Giorgia is the Italian cognate of the female name Georgia. Notable people with the name include: Arts and entertainment *Giorgia (singer), Italian singer, born ''Giorgia Todrani'' *Giorgia Fumanti, Italian-Canadian soprano and singer of operatic po ...

and

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

. A compilation album and DVD was released under

(now Decca Records) and sold around 1 million copies worldwide.

Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Bosnia (1995)

Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Bosnia took place on 12 September 1995 in support of the War Child charity, specifically to benefit war-torn

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

. The concert featured guest performances by

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

and

Dolores O'Riordan Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan ( ; 6 September 1971 – 15 January 2018) was an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. She was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist for the alternative rock band the Cranberries. One of the most recogniza ...

. The concert was broadcast on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

and a compilation album and DVD was released under

(now Decca Records).

Pavarotti & Friends for War Child (1996)

Elton John with Luciano Pavarotti in Modena 1996

The Pavarotti & Friends for War Child concert was held on 20 June 1996. Proceeds from the concert were donated to the international aid agency, War Child, specifically in aid of children in

. The concert featured guest performances by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Liza Minnelli and Joan Osborne. The compilation arrived at position 19 in Danish Chart.

Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia (1998)

The Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia was held on 9 June 1998, in support of the War Child charity, specifically to benefit the orphans of war-torn Liberia. The concert was directed by Spike Lee and featured guest performances by Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, Jon Bon Jovi, Spice Girls, Trisha Yearwood, Natalie Cole and The Corrs. The concert was broadcast on BBC and

, and on Broadcast syndication, syndication in the US, and also released as a compilation album and DVD.

Pavarotti & Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo (1999)

The Pavarotti & Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo concert was held on 1 June 1999, and raised $1 million for War Child programs to aid young refugees from Kosovo and Guatemala. The concert featured guest performances by Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, B.B. King, Joe Cocker, Boyzone, Lionel Richie, Gianni Morandi, Renato Zero and Gloria Estefan. The concert was released as a compilation DVD and album.

Pavarotti & Friends for Cambodia and Tibet (2000)

The Pavarotti & Friends for Cambodia and Tibet concert took place on 6 June 2000, in support of a number of charities to benefit children in Cambodia and Tibet. The concert featured guest performers including George Michael, Eurythmics, Aqua (band), Aqua, Enrique Iglesias, Monica Naranjo, Darren Hayes, Caetano Veloso, Tracy Chapman, Irene Grandi and Skunk Anansie. Special guests included the Dalai Lama who opened the event.

Pavarotti & Friends for Afghanistan (2001)

The Pavarotti & Friends for Afghanistan concert took place on 29 May 2001 to raise money for Afghanistan refugees through the

(UNHCR) programme. The concert featured guest performances by Tom Jones (singer), Tom Jones, Barry White, George Benson, Anastacia, Deep Purple, Bond (band), Bond and Morcheeba, as well as guest appearances by actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and designer Donatella Versace. The concert raised $3.3 million for its cause.

Pavarotti & Friends for Angola (2002)

The Pavarotti & Friends for Angola benefit concert took place on 28 May 2002 to raise money for Angolan refugees through the UNHCR programme. Guest performers included

, James Brown, Elisa (Italian singer), Elisa, Grace Jones, Gino Paoli,

and Lou Reed.

Pavarotti & Friends for SOS Iraq (2003)

The Pavarotti & Friends for SOS Iraq concert was held on 27 May 2003 to raise money for Iraqi refugees in Iran through the UNHCR programme. The concert featured guest performances by

, Queen (band), Queen, Eric Clapton, Deep Purple, Ricky Martin,

, Lionel Richie, Laura Pausini, Zucchero and Maná, and raised over €2 million for the UNHCR cause.

Criticism

There was some criticism with regards to Pavarotti, a classically-trained opera singer, performing pop songs with pop stars at his charity concerts. Pavarotti responded to the critics saying: "Some say the word pop is a derogatory word to say 'not important'—I do not accept that. If the word classic is the word to say 'boring,' I do not accept. There is good and bad music."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavarotti and Friends Luciano Pavarotti Benefit concerts Modena Recurring events established in 1992 Recurring events disestablished in 2003