Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone Carlos Marín before his death from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

in late 2021. Il Divo was created and promoted by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

for the label Syco Music (a subsidiary of Sony Music). As of 2021, the group released ten studio albums: '' Il Divo'' (2004), '' The Christmas Collection'' (2005), '' Ancora'' (2005), '' Siempre'' (2006), '' The Promise'' (2008), '' Wicked Game'' (2011), '' A Musical Affair'' (2013), '' Amor & Pasión'' (2015), '' Timeless'' (2018), and ''For Once in My Life: A Celebration of Motown'' (2021); as well as a compilation album, '' The Greatest Hits'' (2012). Two other albums – '' An Evening with Il Divo: Live in Barcelona'' (2009) and '' Live in Japan'' (2014) – presented recordings of live concerts. The group has also collaborated with other artists. Since its inception, Il Divo has enjoyed success worldwide, selling over 30 million copies of their albums worldwide. With 160 certified gold and platinum hits in 35 countries, the group has pioneered the genre of operatic pop, or "popera", in classical crossover music. Il Divo's live concerts sold over two million concert tickets worldwide just from the group's first four albums. In its first world tour, concerts in 69 cities in 18 countries were sold out.

Members

Il Divo was composed of four singers, three of whom are classically trained, from four countries: baritone Carlos Marín; two classically trained

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing 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 low extreme for tenors is wide ...

s, Urs Bühler and David Miller; and pop singer-songwriter Sébastien Izambard.

Conception and name

The idea behind Il Divo came when

, inspired after listening to the Three Tenors, decided to form a multinational quartet of talented young singers to recreate the quality of Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, and Placido Domingo. Cowell searched worldwide for young singers who were willing to embark on the project from January 21, 2001, to December 16, 2003, when

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

was signed. Prior to Il Divo, each member enjoyed moderate success individually.

Career

2004–2006

The first album, '' Il Divo'', was recorded in February 2004 in Sweden. The album was released on 1 November 2004 in three countries: the UK, Norway and Ireland. In the first few weeks the group achieved double platinum in Norway and Ireland. On 19 April 2005 the album was released in the United States and Spain. Il Divo was launched in fall 2004 with the single " Regresa a mí", debuting with the first album of the same name. The group filmed the music video for the song in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. In December 2004, Il Divo held its first concert at Gotham Hall in New York. The group performed five songs from the album live. The concert was made into a film that became the group's first DVD release, '' Live at Gotham Hall''. On 23 May 2005, the group released ''Mama'', which features the second official video of the song "Mama" recorded in

Tropea Tropea (; scn, label= Calabrian, Trupìa; la, Tropaea; grc, Τράπεια, Trápeia) is a municipality in the province of Vibo Valentia, in Calabria, Italy. Tropea is a seaside resort with sandy beaches, located on the Gulf of Saint Euphe ...

, Italy. On 24 January 2006, Sony BMG released ''Encore'', a concert at the Roman Theatre in Mérida, Spain, recorded on 7 October 2005. On 25 October 2005, the group released their second studio album '' The Christmas Collection'' in seven countries: the United States, Canada, Austria, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland. Il Divo's third studio album, '' Ancora'', was released in Europe on 7 November 2005. In the United States and Latin America it was released on 24 January 2006. It debuted at number one on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...

in its first week of release in the United States. On 9 June 2006, Il Divo gave a live performance of the official

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

song, " The Time of Our Lives", with

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

, at half-time during the opening match between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Costa Rica, and again at the closing ceremony on 9 July. Il Divo have been on several world tours and have received 50 gold and platinum discs. Their last tour in 2014 covered five continents and over 33 countries. Having completed a six-month tour of the United States, Australia, and Europe, Il Divo participated in Streisand as

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

's special guests. The tour was ranked second for all tours during 2006, generating $92.5 million in gross sales. JaySingapore1

After the release of ''Ancora'', the group spent almost half their time as the bestselling act in Europe, building on the success they achieved with their debut self-titled album. Throughout the Christmas period in 2006, Il Divo held the top spot in the list of best-selling albums. Il Divo was named the Most Multinational UK No.1 Album Group in the 2006 edition of the '' Guinness Book of World Records''.

2006–2010

On 7 November 2006 the group released their first compilation, ''Il Divo Collezione''. On 27 November 2006 they released their fourth studio album, '' Siempre'', recorded during their previous world tour. On 16 January 2007, Il Divo began a tour to promote ''Siempre'' in Asia, Australia, Latin America Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Venezuela. On 21 November 2006 Il Divo released the ''Live at the Greek Theater'' DVD featuring the live concert held on 22 June 2006 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles as part of the 2006 world tour. This recording includes all the songs that had established the group's popularity and an unedited version of the famous song " Somewhere". On 11 November 2008 the group released their fifth album, '' The Promise''. The album's presentation was held at the

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina M ...

on 30 October, where Il Divo performed five songs from the new album. ''At the Coliseum'' was released on 8 November 2008. It includes Il Divo's concert at the Roman Colosseum in Pula,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. On 12 December 2008, Il Divo performed at the finals of Idol 2008 in the

Stockholm Globe Arena Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockhol ...

. On 20 January 2009 they performed at the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

Inauguration Ball in Washington DC for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. Il Divo's 2009 tour, An Evening with Il Divo, was their most geographically extensive, with more than 130 dates across six continents, visiting 31 countries and 81 cities, earning them the ''Billboard'' Breakthrough Award for the highest-grossing tour of the year. On 1 December 2009, the first live album '' An Evening with Il Divo: Live in Barcelona'' went public. The DVD + CD set includes "Bridge Over Trouble Water" and " The Impossible Dream" from '' Man of La Mancha''. They ended 2009 with their first Christmas special intimate show, ''Celebrate Christmas with Il Divo'', which included a traditional repertoire of favourite festive songs with an orchestra and special guests in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. They started with two concerts at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 7 and 8 December with violinist

Vanessa-Mae Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the Uni ...

and singer Camilla Kerslake, ending in the United States with six more concerts. On 19 October 2010, Sony Music released ''The Yule Log: The Christmas Collection''.

Artist of the Decade

On 11 May 2011, Il Divo were invited to the Classic Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London to receive the award for "Artist of the Decade". The award recognised the impact the operatic group had had in the classical genre, having sold over 25 million albums worldwide between 2004 and 2011. On 8 November 2011, '' Wicked Game'' was released. On 20 December 2011 in

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, the quartet gave a concert in the Defensores del Chaco stadium for 33,900 people, closing the Bicentenary of the Independence of Paraguay. On 13 May 2012, Il Divo performed "Caruso" during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II at Windsor for the entire royal family. In 2008, Il Divo performed at the Olympic torch handover party leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. '' Live in London'', a 90-minute Il Divo concert at the

London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...

, was published in mid-2011. Il Divo, 2012

Il Divo & Orchestra in Concert World Tour was a worldwide tour of the six continents between May and September 2012. It was designed by creative director Brian Burke, who stated that "Il Divo is the perfect modern fusion of opera, theater, and concert. It is a privilege as a director to create a visual landscape inviting the audience on a theatrical journey of their music." In November 2012, Il Divo released '' The Greatest Hits''.

Il Divo on Broadway

The group's seventh album, '' A Musical Affair'', was released on 5 November 2013. The songs featured arrangements tailored to the singers' voices. To promote the album, they held a concert at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway from 7 to 13 November 2013, called ''Il Divo – A Musical Affair: The Greatest Songs of Broadway''. Il Divo en concierto en 2014-2

The world tour began in Japan in February 2014 and travelled around the world, ending on 1 November 2014 at the O2 Arena in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London. On 19 July 2014, Il Divo sold out Edinburgh Castle, giving a concert featuring "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

". On 24 November 2014, a special edition of ''A Musical Affair'' was released, which includes new songs with French singers, partially or fully sung in French. On 1 December 2014, '' Live in Japan'' was released, which contains the A Musical Affair tour filmed at the Nippon Budokan Theater in Tokyo on 11 March 2014. The Japanese version includes the songs "Flowers Will Bloom" and "Furusato". In 2014, on the 10th anniversary of the publication of their first album, the group sold over 28 million albums worldwide, achieving more than 50 number one sales and receiving 160 gold records and platinum in over 33 countries. On 23 March 2015, it was announced that Il Divo was the winner of the 2015 Silver Clef Award, giving them the Classic PPL Nordoff Robbins Classical Award. The gala award ceremony took place on 3 July at the

Grosvenor House Hotel ] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, originally named the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. The hotel is managed by JW Marriott Hotels, which is a brand of Marriott Internat ...

''Amor & Pasión''

Through Syco Music, on 6 November 2015 in Europa, 27 November in America and 25 October in Japan, Il Divo released '' Amor & Pasión''. On 21 October, Il Divo performed the first public appearance to promote the sixth album on the program ''

Despierta America "Despierta" (English: ''Wake Up'') was the first single from Edurne's debut album, ''Edurne Edurne García Almagro (; born 22 December 1985) is a Spanish singer, actress, and television presenter. She rose to fame in late 2005 when she too ...

'', the US network Univision, from Miami, playing his first single " Si voy a perderte (Don't Wanna Lose You)". They then performed the song "

Bésame mucho "Bésame Mucho" (; "Kiss Me A Lot") is a bolero song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most popular songs of the 20th century and one of the most important songs in the history of Latin music. It was re ...

" in Japan. They started the month of November in London, where they attended the second Music Industry Trust Awards. ''Amor & Pasión'' debuted atop the US Latin Albums chart, with 5,000 copies sold in America in the first week, according to '' Billboard''. In Spain, the album debuted at number 10 on the Top 100 Álbumes list.

Death of Carlos Marin

Carlos Marin died of

on 19 December 2021. As a tribute, Il Divo performed a Greatest Hits Tour in 2022, with Mexican-American baritone Steven Labrie joining the group.

Notable performances

*In 2008, Il Divo performed on the occasion of the Olympic torch hand-over four years prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics. *On 12 December 2008, Il Divo performed at the Swedish ''

Idol 2008 The fifth season of ''Swedish Idol'' premiered on 3 September 2008 and continued until its grand finale on 12 December, when 22-year-old Kevin Borg was crowned winner. It was the first season to feature new judges Laila Bagge, Anders Bagge and And ...

'' finale in the Globen Arena in Stockholm. *20 January 2009 they performed at the Commander-in-Chief's Ball in Washington, D.C., for US President

. *The

show was Il Divo's largest-capacity performance to date and took place on 20 December 2011, at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium in Asuncion, for 33,900 people. *On 13 May 2012, the group performed during the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

for the entire royal family of the United Kingdom. *On 19 July 2014, Il Divo performed before a capacity crowd at Edinburgh Castle

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

where a pop festival took place ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The group performed "

". *On 5 July 2015, while recording their eighth album, Il Divo performed at the Astana Concert Hall in

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, in honour of the 17th anniversary of the Day of Capital.

Collaborations

*In 2009, they performed "Sortilegio de amor" for the soundtrack of the telenovela ''Sortilegio'', which earned them nominations and awards at the Mexico TvyNovelas Awards for Best Musical Theme for "Sortilegio". * In 2013 they recorded a duet with Engelbert Humperdinck entitled " Spanish Eyes". *In 2015 Il Divo recorded a duet with

Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; January 7, 1950 – August 28, 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. Colloquially nicknamed as Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, Juan Gabriel was known for his f ...

entitled "Amor Eterno" (Eternal Love). *In December 2015, the version of "

Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...

" sung by Il Divo was chosen to be the main theme of the soundtrack of the 2016 Japanese film'' Everest''.

Tours

* 2004: Il Divo Tour * 2006: Streisand: The Tour * 2006: Il Divo 2006 World Tour, ''Ancora'' * 2007: Il Divo World Tour * 2008: Il Divo Global Tour * 2009: An Evening with Il Divo – World Tour * 2009: Celebrate Christmas with Il Divo * 2011: Il Divo Tour, ''Wicked Game'' * 2012: Il Divo & Orchestra in Concert – World Tour * 2013: A Musical Affair en el Teatro Marquis de Broadway * 2014: A Musical Affair Tour * 2014: The Best of Il Divo – World Tour * 2016: Amor & Pasión Tour * 2017: A Night with the Best of Il Divo * 2018: Timeless Tour * 2022: Greatest Hits Tour (ft. Steven Labrie) * 2022: For Once in My Life: A Celebration of Motown Tour (ft. Steven Labrie)

Artistry

Styling

Besides music, the members of Il Divo are also known for their refined and elegant appearance, wearing almost exclusively suits by Giorgio Armani (Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani Collezioni).

Musical style

Il Divo changed the genre of opera with their musical combination of opera singing and classical music, with themes of different

genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

, including

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, folk, ballads, church music, bolero and pop.

Multilingual

Il Divo records their songs in several languages: Spanish ("Regresa A Mí", "Hasta Mi Final", "La Vida Sin Amor"), English ("Mama", "Amazing Grace", "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"), Italian ("Senza Parole", "Passera", "Notte Di Luce"), French ("Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore", "Le Temps des Cathedrales"),

("Panis Angelicus"), Portuguese ("Volta Pra Mim"), and Japanese ("Furusato"). Some songs incorporate more than one language in the same song, such as "The Man You Love" (Spanish and English), "Ave Maria" (Italian and Latin), and "I Believe In You" (English & French), whereas others are recorded in a single language, but sung live in two languages: "She" (Italian & English) and "Bring Him Home" (English & Spanish). Most of the songs that they cover are reinterpreted from English and translated into the Spanish language, as the group have said that "Spanish is the language of Romanticism".

Other activities

Philanthropy

On 25 April 2007, Il Divo performed on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' in one of the " Idol Gives Back" episodes, which raised money for children in the US and Africa. For every vote cast during that show, Idol sponsors Coca-Cola, AT&T, and others donated money to the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund and other groups such as Save the Children and America's Second Harvest. In 2011, they recorded "

We Wish You a Merry Christmas "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is an English Christmas carol, listed as numbers 230 and 9681 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The famous version of the carol is from the English West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is ...

" to raise money for the organisation Save the Children. Il Divo is related indirectly in terms of sponsorship and help with the French NGO SMTA Assistance Médicale Toit du Monde since 2005, of which Izambard is the international official sponsor, and with Sanfilippo Children's Foundation, for which Izambard is the global ambassador. Between 20 and 30 September 2015, Miller and Bühler participated in a motorbike ride from Miami to Los Angeles to raise funds for the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Il Divo'' (2004) * '' The Christmas Collection'' (2005) * '' Ancora'' (2005) * '' Siempre'' (2006) * '' The Promise'' (2008) * '' Wicked Game'' (2011) * '' A Musical Affair'' (2013) * '' Amor & Pasión'' (2015) * '' Timeless'' (2018) * ''For Once in My Life: A Celebration of Motown'' (2021)

Videography

References

Bibliography

*Allegra Rossi, ''Romancing The World'', Hardback 128 pages, 10 November 2005, Orion publishers () *Il Divo, ''Our Music, Our Journey, Our Words'', Paperback 192 pages, 6 September 2007, Headline Book Publishing ()

External links

Official Website Il Divo * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Divo, Il Il Divo, Musical groups established in 2004 Opera crossover singers Sony BMG artists Vocal quartets Ballad music groups