On February 25, 1998, world-famous opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti was all set to perform the aria Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot at the 1998 Grammy Awards. That evening, after the show had already begun, he became too ill to perform as planned (which was frustratingly common with Pavarotti — he was called the “king of cancellations”). The producers of the show were desperate to find a way to fill Pavarotti’s time slot and approached X, who was also scheduled to perform one of their own wildly iconic hits that night.
X asked to listen to Pavarotti’s rehearsal once and agreed on the spot to perform in Pavarotti’s stead, with almost none of the meticulous prep that a performance this complex would’ve required – and they absolutely nailed it. Over a billion people worldwide watched the performance, and X was met with an instant standing ovation. X went on to record the aria and perform it live several more times in later years, most notably for Pope Francis in 2015.
Who is X?