Andrea Bocelli: The Autobiography - Hardcover

Bocelli, Andrea

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852279060 ISBN 13: 9781852279066

Publisher: Virgin Books, 2000

Synopsis

Andrea Bocelli is one of the world's most successful male singers, selling 20 million recordings world-wide. He has become the popular face of classical music, best known for his smash hit duet "Time to Say Goodbye" with Sarah Brightman, and "Canto Della Terra", the official song of Euro 2000. Yet behind his extraordinary success lies a story of personal triumph. Andrea Bocelli was blinded at the age of twelve. Undeterred, he continued to pursue his childhood dream to sing, using Braille musical scores and lyric sheets. Bocelli's first CD, "Romanza", rocketed him to international stardom. This is Bocelli's true story, told in his own words for the first time. He talks frankly about his blindness, the importance of his family, his stage fright, and the pressures of international stardom. Bocelli wrote these memoirs himself on a special Braille computer, without using a ghostwriter or aid.

About this title

From the Publisher:

from : stuart slater, commissioning music editor, virgin publishing.

When I was offered the chance to publish the memoirs of Andrea Bocelli I could not have been more excited. Many were the hours that I have spent listening to "Sogno" and other Bocelli records. I love those sweeping Italian melodies and the particularly moving timbre of the magnificent Bocelli voice which makes the songs live and breathe.

It might be 'crossover' and a little infra dig for true opera buffs but it will do do me.

And apparently for millions of other Bocelli fans worldwide. I noted recently that one of his albums has been No1 in Billboard magazine's Top Classical Albums of the USA chart for an incredible 54 weeks and is still at the top.

Here in the UK too, he is big and growing bigger all the time. This Autumn ( 2001) sees the release of a new 'pop' album from Andrea, which comes hot on the heels of his hugely successful gig recently in Hyde Park, London.

This is the one his record company have been waiting for: you can take it as guaranteed that the promotion will be immense and the chart position very high. One of the biggest selling albums for this Christmas season, no doubt at all. " The Music Of Silence" ( which featured in the Guardian newspaper's top ten classical music books when in hardback) was totally written in its entirety, every single word, by Bocelli himself on a Braille computer and shows what an interesting character he is as well as what it is like to receive the acclaim of the multitudes in places like Madison Square Gardens.It is a very different book to the usual pop star autobiography, which maybe is a result of his having a long struggle to become famous. He was actually 34 years of age when he made his breakthrough. Before that he trained as a lawyer and the book certainly has a reflective and tranquil quality about it, as well as showing that he possesses that most valuable of all qualities, modesty. Here is a man who truly respects, and is thankful for, his God given talents.

This book is surely a must have for every fan of his beautiful music.

From the Back Cover:

Andrea Bocelli is the world's most successful male solo recording artist. He has sold an astonishing twenty million recordings worldwide, and he has sung for the Pope and for Bill Clinton. He has become the popular face of classical music, best known for his recent 'pop' album Sogno, which topped the Billboard Album Chart, and the classical Sacred Arias, which became the biggest-selling album of all time by a classical vocalist. Every album he released has either gone gold or platinum.

Yet behind this man's extraordinary success lies a story of personal triumph more dramatic than any opera. Andrea Bocelli lost his sight at the age of twelve. Undeterred, he continued to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a famous tenor, using Braille musical scores and lyric sheets.

No fan of classical music can afford to be without the charming momoirs of this fascinating star.

About this edition

• Publisher: Virgin Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1852279060
• ISBN 13: 9781852279066
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 292