Il Divo is a vocal group that performs classical crossover music. The male quartet, which debuted in the United Kingdom in December 2003, is made up of tenors Urs Bühler, Sébastien Izambard, and David Miller; Carlos Marn was a member of the group before succumbing to COVID-19. Simon Cowell created and promoted Il Divo for the label Syco Music, a subsidiary of Sony Music. Il Divo has succeeded since its inception, selling over 30 million albums worldwide. The group pioneered the genre of operatic pop, or “popera,” in classical crossover music, with over a hundred certified gold and platinum hits in 35 countries. From the group’s first four albums, Il Divo’s live concerts sold over two million concert tickets worldwide. Shows in 69 cities across 18 countries were sold during the band’s first world tour.
Il Divo was made up of four singers from four different countries: baritone Carlos Marn, two trained tenors, David Miller and Urs Bühler, and pop singer-songwriter Sébastien Izambard. After hearing the Three Tenors, Simon Cowell was inspired to form a multinational quartet of talented young vocalists to try and replicate the quality of Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, and Placido Domingo. From 2001 to 2003, when Miller was signed, Cowell searched the world for young singers willing to take on the project. Prior to Il Divo, each member had moderate success on their own.
Il Divo, the first album, was recorded in Sweden in February 2004. On November 1, 2004, the album was released in the United Kingdom, Norway, and Ireland. The group achieved double platinum in Norway and Ireland within the first few weeks. The album was launched in the United States and Spain on April 19, 2005. Il Divo debuted in the fall of 2004 with the single “Regresa a m,” followed by the first album of the same name. The music video for the song was taken in Slovenia by the band. Il Divo performed its first concert at Gotham Hall in New York in December 2004. The show was filmed and released as the group’s first DVD, Live at Gotham Hall.
Il Divo was invited to the Classic Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 11, 2011, to accept the award for “Artist of the Decade.” The award recognized the operatic group’s impact on the classical genre, with over 25 million albums sold worldwide between 2004 and 2011. The quartet performed for 33,900 people at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Paraguay on December 20, 2011, capping off the Bicentennial of Paraguay’s Independence. Il Divo performed “Caruso” for the royal family at the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II at Windsor on May 13, 2012. Il Divo performed at the Olympic torch relay party in 2008, leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Il Divo’s Albums
Il Divo, the first album, was recorded in Sweden in February 2004. On November 1, 2004, the album was released in the United Kingdom, Norway, and Ireland. The group achieved double platinum in Norway and Ireland within the first few weeks. The album was released in the United States and Spain on April 19, 2005. Il Divo debuted in the fall of 2004 with the single “Regresa a m,” followed by the first album of the same name.
Il Divo performed its first live show at Gotham Hall in New York in December 2004. Five songs from the album were performed live by the band. The concert was filmed and released as the group’s first DVD, Live at Gotham Hall. On May 23, 2005, the group released Mama, which includes the group’s second official video for the song “Mama,” which was shot in Tropea, Italy. Encore, a concert recorded on October 7, 2005, at the Roman Theatre in Mérida, Spain, was released by Sony BMG on January 24, 2006.
Ancora, Il Divo’s third studio album, was released in Europe on November 7, 2005. It was released on January 24, 2006, in the United States and Latin America. In its first week of release in the United States, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Il Divo performed “The Time of Our Lives,” the official 2006 FIFA World Cup song, live with Toni Braxton at half-time during the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica on June 9, 2006, and again at the closing ceremony on July 9, 2006.
Il Divo has performed on numerous world tours and received 50 gold and platinum discs. Their most recent time, in 2014, took them to five continents and over 33 countries. Following a six-month tour of the United States, Australia, and Europe, Il Divo performed as Barbra Streisand’s special guest at Streisand. The time finished second among all terms in 2006, earning $92.5 million in gross sales. They also accompanied her during her European tours. Il Divo in Kallang, Singapore Indoor Stadium concert on January 18, 2007.
“What we have are a lot of songs that people aren’t going to expect. For example, we have “Wicked Game,” written by Chris Isaak. We have others like “Time to Say Goodbye,” which so many singers have sung before. What we bring to the new album is more drama – this is the difference between the new album and the albums that we’ve done in the past.” Marin said.
After taking a break from touring, they’ve returned to track after years of taking a break. It’s funny because they still work on that 3 years break. “The whole of 2009, we were touring, literally from January until Christmas, so we had no time for anything else. And January 2010, we started working on this album, and it’s taken us a few months because we’ve been very successful in the past with our albums – and we’re very proud of them – but every time we want to crank up the volume a bit higher and surpass what we’ve done previously. So we’ve been working very hard for this one, started meeting in January and, had our first recording session in April, threw it all in the bin. It wasn’t good enough. We knew we could do better. So re-recording, re-recording, and re-recording with different producers and it’s been well worth the wait. It’s the best album we’ve recorded so far, and it’s coming out now, so we can’t wait to hear the feedback.” Buhler explained.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve been spending every minute of every day for the last 18 months together in the studio. Maybe you Bühler have because you have a studio at home. For myself, this year was funnier – it was the first time that I’ve been able to go back and sing opera since we started. Obviously, it’s been a huge commitment to be part of Il Divo. It required at the very beginning to give everything up. So, in April, I had a chance to go to Detroit and do The Magic Flute. It’s a lot of fun, I really miss it, but obviously, this is my life; Il Divo is my life now.” Miller added.
Singers have their own genre of music. They’ve focused on their own strength, that’s why. Il Divo creates music with contemporary and opera kinds of music. Izambard said, “I don’t know, everyone needs to put a definition to something, and we’re a bunch of four very passionate singers from different backgrounds. There are the pop and opera sides, and we mainly sing pop songs.” “Mainly in a manly way. We’re not pop or opera. We’re something in between.” Izambard added.
Il Divo as a Group
“Yes, we all get along. It was difficult in the beginning. We spent all of our time together. The only time that we weren’t together was when we were taking a shower or sleeping, but for the rest, yes, we spent all of our time together for about two-and-a-half years. Being from different countries and having cultural differences and language barriers, that wasn’t always easy. We’ve gotten to know each other very, very well. We’re like family, like brothers, and we also get a bit of time to breathe between the periods that we work on Il Divo, the chance to establish ourselves individually outside of Il Divo.” Buhler shared. This only shows how successful these bands were. They are not just fans. They are family.
Bands Also Have Their Spirit Music or Enjoy Music for the Mood
“I don’t really listen to too much music, actually. But when I do, I like to listen to a bit of Tom Jones or Frank Sinatra, that kind of stuff.” Marin said.
“I listen to a lot of techno, dance music. Now I’m trying to track down everything I listened to when I was in high school cause I’m terrible with names of groups or songs, I only know the lyrics, so I try to track down what I listened to – a lot of punk and new wave.” Miller added.
Il Divo was awarded Artist of the Decade at the Classic Brit Awards
Il Divo was decided to invite to the Classic Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 11, 2011, to accept the award for “Artist of the Decade.” The award recognized the operatic group’s impact on the classical genre, with over 25 million albums sold worldwide between 2004 and 2011.
“It was fantastic, especially being awarded that in the UK. None of us are actually British. We’re first of all an international band. After that, I’d say we’re a British act, and for British audiences to make the statement that we’ve probably been the most influential group over the last decade, that’s a big, big honor, and we’re very proud of it.” Buhler said.