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Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in the northern city of Modena after losing his battle with cancer, his manager announced.

The singer, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, was 71.

Pavarotti had cancer surgery in July 2006 in New York, five months after his last performance. He underwent five bouts of chemotherapy in the past year, and was admitted to hospital with a fever on 8 August. He was released two weeks later following diagnostic tests.

Manager Terri Robson said in a statement that the tenor died at 0500 local time (0400 BST) on Thursday.

"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life," she said.

"In fitting with the approach that characterised his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness."

The world-renowned tenor started his spectacular career in 1961 in his native Modena, northern Italy, and enjoyed 40 years on the world stage, becoming one of the world's biggest-selling artists and a household name.

In 1990 he teamed up with the Spaniars Domingo and Carreras to perform at the football World Cup in Italy.

The Three Tenors, singing at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome before some 6,000 people, drew 20 minutes of applause.

The trio came together again four years later for the World Cup in Los Angeles, with a pay packet of a million dollars, performing before some 56,000 people with a television audience estimated at 1.3 billion.

Recordings of these two concerts sold some 23 million copies.

James Brown, Sting, Bono, Zucchero, Stevie Wonder and Elton John were among the stars sharing the stage with the opera legend during his annual charity concert "Pavarotti and Friends".

Photo: philly.com

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