General Chat 15

Originally posted by drewhiggins:Jim Steinman (one of my favourite songwriters next to Alice Cooper and Michael Jackson) composed the music and Don Black wrote the lyrics, I think - and yeah, Meat Loaf and Celine Dion covered the song in different times. Same as when they both did It's All Coming Back To Me Now; neither version is any good except for the original.

That's why I asked; it's on Encore. I'd like to hear more of Russell, might see if I can find this one, The Platinum Collection from last year. Any good you think?

Nella Fantasia
Time To Say Goodbye
Here I Am Again
You Raise Me Up
Turandot / Act 3
'O Sole Mio
Ave Mari
Rigolett
Il Gladiatore
Barcelona
Caruso
Swing Low '99
Bamboleo
Volare
The Prayer
Where My Heart Will Take Me
Me And Mrs. Jones
Heaven Help Us
Let It Snow

Originally posted by drewhiggins:Wondering what you think of Russell's version of Is Nothing Sacred?

Originally posted by Mr_Trek:[..]

Russell came out of school with no qualifications at all. In school he had been the class' clown with his ability to imitate voices. So he got a job in a factory, doing the same motion over and over again all day. Alas, the most boring kind of job. So he got kids and started making some extra cash my singing in working mens' clubs in Manchester's suburbs. That was how his life went for about 10 years from ages 20-30. The break came when someone told him that he thought he had the right voice for opera and asked him to learn Nessun Dorma. Russell, who had no training in neither opera or Italian, learned it phonetically and then the first time that he performed it, got standing ovations. He thought that he might be on to something.

The second break came when a (I think) bar's manager arranged for him to sing on Old Trafford before a Manchester United match. The performance was very successful and he had started to make a name for himself. He then sang at some big rugby game and was very successful. After that performance he went to Decca Records in London completely unannounced and got signed immediately. He released his first record, The Voice (not named in an egoistical manner, the story is another one), which was very successful.

His career went well until in 2005 when he was going to record a new record. He had had a pain in his forehead for a while, a doctor had told him it was stress-related. His producer suggested playing some tennis to relax. They did, but Russell couldn't see the ball. He went to another doctor who told him he had a pituitary tumor, he had cancer in his brain. The fight was hard but he beat cancer after a year. Then in 2007 he collapsed in the studio. The tumor had grown out again, to the size of two golf balls. He was rushed to hospital and was probably going to die. Before surgery he demanded to see his daughters for one last time. He says that he probably wouldn't have made it through had it not been for his daughters.

The time after surgery was very difficult. The medicine made him gain over 20 kilos and lose his hair. This was very hard for him, a man who loved working out. He also thought that he'd never be loved by anyone again with the way he looked.

Today he's recovered and is back, and probably better than ever. The operation, that went through his nose made new resonance areas open up and his voice is on fire. His latest album, La Voce, is amazing. And now, he's released a DVD of the perhaps most special performance of his life. The concert that he thought about during the dark days of his disease. Standing in the spotlight at the Royal Albert Hall As he says in his own foreword to the DVD: "I'm the guy who won the lottery, lost everything, and then won the lottery again".

[YouTube Video]

Originally posted by Mr_Trek:Hehe, I love this clip, I don't think singers in his genre usually interact with the crowd like this:

[YouTube Video]