Spice Girls 2012

It is interesting that often when we read about the death of a famous person, we sometimes personalize it. We reflect on how that person has touched our life, what impact the person has had on us, and what memories we have that connect with the person's name and the person's fame.

I have to confess that I was never really a big fan of Opera, but that did not stop me from being a fan of the vocal talents of Luciano Pavarotti. One of my strongest memories of Pavarotti was his connection to my childhood barbershop. For more than two decades, I went to the same neighborhood barber. He was the only barber in a small shop he owned, was of Italian descent, and he absolutely loved the tenor's voice. It was in my neighborhood barbershop that I first became aware of the magnificent voice of Luciano Pavarotti. For years I would get my hair cut while listening to the voice of Pavarotti. Sometimes it would be on televised videotape behind the barber's chair. Often, it would just fill the air on audio tape. The shop has been closed for many years, but the memory of it felt vivid when I heard of Pavarotti's passing on September 6, 2007. .

I never got the chance to see Luciano Pavarotti in person. I never saw any of his performances live. I never met the man. However, I have enjoyed many of his performances over the years on television and on audiotape. Certainly many others did as well, as Pavarotti has been the best-selling classical artist, with more than 100 million records sold since the 1960s. Opera lovers surely treasure his recordings with soprano Joan Sutherland. He recorded the first classical album to reach No. 1 on the pop charts. In addition, Pavarotti was able to promote his tenor's voice in popular music. He can be found in the music collections of Elton John, The Spice Girls, Sheryl Crow, and Liza Minnelli and has shared the stage with rock and pop singers, including Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, and Bono of U2, to raise money for charities.

'Music' is one eternal language that needs no words in establishing a relationship in form of a single cord that binds the lovers of music, forever. This is the very reason, why music serves as a connecting factor between the masses from different regions.

Today, music icons like 'Madonna', 'Justin Timberlake' and 'Britney Spears' are well known personalities in the domain of music; their musical popularity is not restricted to a single continent, but is popular across the world. Not only the single names but the world has seen some musical masterpieces from the famous music bands too. 'BackStreet Boys', 'Blue' (of 'One love' fame), 'Spice Girls' (an all girls band which after a long hiatus, has regrouped again, recently, to create the same magical music again for the love of their fans) are some of the popular bands possessing a vast fan following across the world. Of course, when music is the topic being debated upon, then who can forget the legendary band, 'The Beatles'. Hailed as the best musical band ever to exist, the music score composed by 'The Beatles' continues to be the favourite of many people till date. If 'The Beatles' were creators of immortal music video channels, then who can forget the likes of 'Michael Jackson' and of course 'Elvis Presley', who brought a whole new flavour to the taste of music. Both of these names are taken with lots of respect and recognition in today's world.