The record-breaking classical crossover quartet - the Swiss tenor Urs Buhler, baritone Carlos Marin from Spain, the French pop artist Sebastien Izambard and tenor David Miller from the USA first came together in 2003, the culmination of an exhaustive search by the music producer Simon Cowell to find four singers of distinctive individual gifts who could, as a group, create musical magic.
In the six years that have followed their astonishing breakthrough, Il Divo have continued to grow as recording artists and performers, and their millions of fans the world over have joined them on that journey.
When they first emerged, Il Divo posed a problem for those who cannot feel content until they have found a pigeonhole in which to put something. How, they wondered, could Il Divo’s music be described? Was it opera? Pop-opera? Musical theatre? But attempting to pigeonhole Il Divo has always been a fool’s game and trying to do so misses the point of what they do, and the different gifts they each bring to the table, fundamentally.
Urs’s background in both classical voice training and his time, as a teenager, in a heavy metal band (he is still a passionate guitarist to this day).
Sebastien’s grounding in pop prior to Il Divo, he had topped the French singles charts and his continued dedication to and immersion in that genre, and, latterly, acting.
Carlos’s very nearly lifelong passion for musical theatre and bel canto (he had made two albums before he was 10).
David’s intensive training in opera, and his later work in both opera and musical theatre, including a starring role in Baz Luhrmann’s La Boheme on Broadway.
Even a superficial knowledge of their backgrounds tells you that Il Divo offer a rare degree of variety, experience, dedication and expertise.
