Across the world, critics and music aficionados consider Luciano Pavarotti (71 today) to be one heckuva singer, perhaps the most-heckuva opera star of the last half of the century. With his robust, resonant, and recognizable style, he has become an icon of a level usually reserved for pop idols and Hollywood stars. A few standards include "Rock Me Like A Hurricane," "Funky Cold Medina," and "Ain't Nuttin But A P Thang." Ha ha ha, no, not really. Who was not another of the Three Tenors?

Jose Carreras

Placido Domingo

Bryn Terfel