Aww rats. He was a powerfull singer, and a typically whacky, zany pasta loving personality. Without him, the three tenors would have been a sideshow, he was bloody great, start to finish-bringing actual singing to people who wouldnt have ever seen it before, im all broken up about this. A sad loss.
His rendition of "nessun dorma" was the single thing, to introduce opera-not that i like opera, you read the lyrics, how could you, but-well, powerfull, while opera critics bagged him for "coarseness", they managed to ignore the sheer power of his voice, that is what speaks to the masses. I will look forward, to listening to his work again. Rip.