Luciano Pavarotti was the most legendary opera singer of his time and one of the most popular opera singers with the masses of all time. Born in Modena, Italy, Pavarotti studied voice for several years before embarking well-trained on a professional opera career. He made his opera debut as Rodolfo in La Boheme, one of his finest roles, in 1961. He was soon singing in the great opera houses of the world, such as La Scala, Covent Garden, and above-all for him the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. After becoming well-established in legitimate opera, Pavarotti expanded his career to include mass concerts, which culminated in the immensely popular Three Tenors concerts that Pavarotti gave with his colleagues Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Luciano Pavarotti was the best selling classical recording artist of all time. He passed away in the early morning hours of September 6, 2007 from pancreatic cancer. He was survived by his wife and four daughters.