Luciano Pavarotti - Arguably no other opera singer in music history has achieved the same level of international celebrity as tenor Luciano Pavarotti; his voice - robust, resonant, and immediately recognizable - launched him into the stratosphere of household recognition usually reserved for pop stars and Hollywood icons, and in the process spurred opera itself on to new peaks of mainstream popularity.  The Pavarotti phenomenon began in earnest on February 17, 1972 during a performance of La Fille du Régiment at New York's Metropolitan Opera; after his effortless completion of an aria containing nine high Cs, the audience erupted in prolonged applause, and his stardom was assured.  This photograph, taken at the high point in his career, features his trademark, ubiquitous white handkerchief  (used to dab away perspiration during solo performances, and which he would fling dramatically to the side at the climactic conclusion of a favorite aria).