Il Divo

Il Divo was formed in 2001 in the UK. The British producer and one of the co-founders of the famous American talent show American Idol, Simon Cowell, saw how well the Three Tenors (Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti) performed and decided that he could create a similarly successful project. In order to find the right artists, Cowell’s assistant arranged broad-scale auditions and eventually came up with four perfect candidates. In 2004, the band recorded their first LP Il Divo in Sweden with the assistance of producers Quiz & Larossi, Per Magnusson, and David Kreuger. Part of the LP was recorded in the UK under the labels Syco and Sony Music. Initially, the album was released in the UK, Norway, and Ireland. In just 2 weeks, it earned two platinum certificates in Norway and Ireland. The song “Regresa a mí” became the first Spanish song to reach a high spot on the British charts. A few months later, the album was released in the USA and Spain. It featured 4 English and 5 Spanish songs. In the end of the year, the band gave their first concert in New York’s Gotham Hall. Part of the concert later came out as a live album called Live At Gotham Hall. In 2005, the band released their second album Ancora. It topped Billboard Top 200 just a few days after its release in the USA. Il Divo became the first classical- crossover group in music history that managed to top Billboard 200.

In 2006, FIFA chose Il Divo to perform the World Cup 2006 anthem. The group sang “The Time Of Our Lives” with Toni Braxton. After the World Cup, the band went on a 6-month tour of America, Australia, and Europe. In the end of the year, they joined Barbara Streisand’s tour. That tour was overwhelmingly successful and earned over $90 million. In addition, in 2006, the group was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful classical crossover band in the music history. In 2011, the band was invited to Classic Brit Awards and received the Artist of The Decade award. Between 2004 and 2011, the group sold over 25 million copies of its albums. In 2014, the band celebrated a 10-year anniversary of their first LP’s release. By that time, the album sold 28 million copies and earned 160 gold and platinum certificates in 33 countries. Today, the band is actively touring the world, giving many concerts, and attending hundreds of events. The quartet releases new albums on a regular basis. At the time the article is being written, the band is working on their eighth studio album Timeless, which is due out in 2018.[/spoiler]