Il Divo - Group's History

Group's History

The idea behind Il Divo's creation came to Cowell after hearing Andrea Bocelli singing Con te partirò while watching The Sopranos. In 2004, G4, a quartet of operatic male singers, also appeared in the UK on the Simon Cowell TV show X-factor. They finished runners-up, but were signed by Sony records. Simon was already aware of this new appreciation for lyrical voices and classical music, he had decided to form a multinational quartet (the members hail from Spain, Switzerland, France, and the United States, the name being in Italian) that recreated the style of The Three Tenors.

Simon Cowell conducted a worldwide search for young singers who were willing to embark on the Il Divo project, which lasted two years, from 2001 until December 2003, when the fourth member of Il Divo, American tenor David Miller, was signed. The well-established formation of Il Divo comprises a renowned Spanish baritone, Carlos Marín; two classically trained tenors, Swiss Urs Bühler and American David Miller; and a French pop singer, Sébastien Izambard.

Il Divo sings in Spanish, English, Italian, and French. Il Divo was named the Most Multinational UK No.1 Album Group in the 2006 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

On 25 April 2007, Il Divo performed on American Idol in one of the "Idol Gives Back" episodes, which raised money for children in the U.S. and Africa. For every vote cast during that show, Idol sponsors Coca-Cola, AT&T, and others donated money to Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF) and other groups such as Save the Children and America's Second Harvest.

On 12 December 2008, Il Divo performed their new song at the Swedish Idol 2008 finale in the Globen Arena in Stockholm.