He was a great showman and a talented singer. He was also one of the most accessible of the great opera stars of our time, taking the stage alongside pop and rock stars like James Brown, Queen, and Barry White. That openness made him a terrific ambassador for what was once a dying, aristocratic art form. To the extent that opera has a mass following in the United States today it is because of enormously entertaining personalities like Pavarotti.
Here he is performing with Bono [don't snicker, this kind of outreach is important].
