When I was younger, many people my age were listening to the latest pop culture music. I however carried a turquoise green box of cassettes everywhere I went to please my ears with classical music. My favorite cassette in that box was that of the late Luciano Pavarotti. I would put the cassette in, stand up and move my mouth to match the great tenor’s voice as he sang, “O Sole Mio.” Of course I couldn’t actually sing along because I would have broken everything in the room and the same goes for my singing ability today.

So, as I walked down the hallway to go to school last Friday (Sept. 7) morning my mother said, “Did you know that Pavarotti died?”

At first it didn’t hit me and then it did. “No way, you have got to be kidding me!!” I said.

“No, he died of cancer,” my mother said.

It was a very somber drive to campus as I recalled my opera days with him.

Luciano Pavarotti was born on October 12, 1935 in Modena, Italy where he lived for his entire life. Pavarotti died there at the age of 71 last Thursday around 5 p.m.

Pavarotti had been fighting pancreatic cancer for several years but it didn’t deter him from doing what he loved most.

He was finishing up his international farewell tour for fans around the world before he had to go into the hospital for his onsetting ailment

He was awarded Grammy’s and declared by the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annon as United Nations Messenger of Peace.

He was loved all over the world, often performing in concerts benefiting organizations fighting diseases, poverty and disgraces against humanity.

He also performed for the World Cup in 2006 and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

He was one of the Three Tenors, along with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. The three traveled all over the world together performing.

According to the Associated Press, Jose Carreras called Pavarotti, “one of the most important singers in the history of opera.”

In the last couple of years Pavarotti has come under scrutiny, whether it was his divorce in 2000 from Adua Veroni after a long marriage to marry the young Nicolleti Mantovani or the performances where he did not perform the greatest.

Whether you listen to him in the car, watch him on TV, saw him in Central Park, or the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Luciano Pavarotti is the greatest tenor, singer, and musician of world peace. If you have never listened to any of his songs go now and appreciate the man the world will miss dearly.

On his official website reads a quote, “Pens che una vita per las musica sia una vita spese bene ed