27 February 2024 , 08:26
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Il Divo say they'll never fully move on from the death of one of their original bandmates as they introduce a new member to fans.
It's been 20 years since Simon Cowell set out to put together his own popular version of The Three Tenors and "operatic boy band", with Il Divo being the result of the music mogul's plan. His team at what was then Syco Music scoured music halls around the world before bringing together California native David Miller, Frenchman Sebastien Izambard, Urs Buhler from Sweden, and the late Carlos Marin, from Spain.
As the original Il Divo, the foursome pioneered a new classical-meets-pop sound, earning a No1 in the UK charts with their first release, followed by a further 30 million album sales worldwide. But at the very beginning, even they didn't really know what was being asked of them.
"The four of us were put in a room by Simon and he said, 'These are the songs I want, what can you do with them?'" David, 50, says. "It took us four months to figure out what our sound was, what our dynamic was, and what the point of Il Divo was in this emerging genre called "classical crossover". What did that even mean?"
Il Divo were created by Simon Cowell as part of the emerging classical-pop crossover genre (FilmMagic)"We needed to figure out how our voices would blend, and how they translated to pop music. So we just took one song at a time and made it interesting. And when learnt that we find it interesting, we do a good job singing it, and when we do a good job, our audience, they enjoy it."
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Dallas-born Steven LaBrie, who celebrates his 36th birthday this week, is the newest member of the well-known group, following the heartbreaking death of original bandmate Carlos in 2021. The four members are currently preparing for a chat from their New York City hotel room, on the day they unveil their new album, XX: 20th Anniversary Album.
For these pop idols, their UK Christmas tour in December 2021 was a significant and heartbreaking experience. Only a few shows into the tour, Carlos, at age 53, became ill and had to be hospitalised, where he was diagnosed with the Delta variant of Covid. Just days later, he sadly passed away.
The loss of Carlos was a deep blow to his "brothers", as Sebastien often refers to them as. "Carlos is someone we spent 20 years with," Sebastien tells OK! magazine. "We have wonderful memories and those moments will never leave me. Carlos is always here and he'll always be part of the band. Doing this every day, it's still paying tribute and keeping the legacy alive. I don't think we'll move on, we're just continuing in a different way, but Carlos is still Il Divo."
Steven LaBrie joined David, Urs and Sebastian in the new Il Divo line-up (Natalie Schiller)Over the last two decades, the band has gathered millions of fans worldwide, and even performed for such influential figures as former US presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W Bush. Sebastien speaks of other career high points, one being a performance at Madison Square Gardens, and admits singing with Lady Gaga is still on his bucket list, while David chips in that their whole career has been one big "pinch me" moment. In 2011, the group received the Artist of the Decade accolade at the Classic BRIT Awards in recognition of their role in bringing classical music to the masses.
As the years have passed and since they parted ways (amicably, they tell us) with Simon in 2014 they've arguably swung a little more towards the pop end of the genre, with the new album containing covers of Bruno Mars' Talking to The Moon , Crazy by Gnarls Barkley and Never Enough from the hit film The Greatest Showman .
While Simon's own reality shows such as American Idol and The X Factor have launched some flash-in-the-pan successes, Il Divo's long-lasting appeal has been driven by their timeless talents with their pin-up good looks an added bonus. Il Divo have had over 50 songs hit number one and got loads of Gold and Platinum records in lots of countries. In 2006, they sang "The Time Of Our Lives" with Toni Braxton on TV for a billion people as the official song for the World Cup in Germany. They even sang for Queen Elizabeth II at her big Diamond Jubilee party at Windsor Castle.