Andrea Bocelli was honoured with the 2402nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
The blind tenor, 51, looking delighted, knelt to feel his star, which is situated outside the Roosevelt Hotel. He told Ansa that the honour was a sign of the American public’s affection for him.
Bocelli’s My Christmas album was the best-selling album of holiday songs in the USA in 2009 and was second only to Susan Boyle’s album in the USA Top 200 Chart for six weeks. His album Incanto has sold 1.5 million copies, with the most sales being in the USA.
At the ceremony, a choir from the Adderley School of Performing Arts sang for Bocelli and he sang with one of the girls as she performed what was planned to be a solo. Bocelli celebrated with his partner Veronica Berti.
Some other Italian artists with stars on the Walk of Fame are: Sophia Loren, Rudolph Valentino, Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Anna Magnani.
Bocelli also joins artists such as Henry Mancini, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tom Jones, Marilyn Monroe, Celine Dion and Mickey Mouse. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce chooses the artists to be to be honoured each year and others chosen in 2010 include Ringo Starr, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Emma Thompson and Avatar director James Cameron.
Which Italian artists would you like to see honoured on the Walk of Fame?