There's Room In "Soul Heaven" For Opera: RIP Luciano Pavarotti

Back in around 1998 or so I remember sitting in a bar in Chicago with a fellow, and we were feeding the jukebox and playing lots of different music. Eventually some Sinatra came on and we began talking about how although Sinatra was not a "soul singer," the man certainly had "soul." The conversation then stretched into one about how in just about any genre of music you can think of, there are folks who have "soul," that "something" that you can't describe, but you know it when you hear it. Well, in the world of opera, Luciano Pavarotti, who has passed away at age 71, was one seriously soulful man. And if the passion and soulfulness of his singing within his field were not enough for me to make that claim, I was pleased to find these two videos on YouTube of the opera master collaborating with Barry White and with James Brown on "You're The First, The Last, My Everything" and "It's a Man's Man's World," respectively. I suppose Pavarotti can now join those two in "Soul Heaven," and what flavor he will bring to the proceedings!