(WENN)

Luciano Pavarotti has passed away after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 71. I don’t know jack about opera, but I know Pavarotti. Big Italian dude, voice like a hurricane, one of the three tenors. I’m sure this is a huge blow for the opera community. Was he as diva-ish as that one that called the opera house from the back of the limo to have the opera house call the chauffeur to have him turn down the AC or some mess? Remember that story? Is she dead? If not, why?

Although his health had been failing for a year, the death of the bearded tenor, known as “Big Luciano” because of his 127 kg (280 lb) bulk, saddened everyone from impresarios and critics to fans who could barely afford tickets.

“There were tenors, and then there was Pavarotti,” said Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli.

While past opera greats often locked themselves in a gilded, elitist world, television viewers around the world heard Pavarotti sing with pop stars such as Sting and Bono in his “Pavarotti and Friends” benefits for the needy.

Bono said on his website that “Some can sing opera; Luciano Pavarotti WAS an opera. I spoke to him last week … the voice that was louder than any rock band was a whisper.” That’s sad when a great dies. Yeah, no snark here. What am I? A Death Eater?

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