Andrea Bocelli has a career that most can only dream of. This evening sees him add performing at the opening ceremony of the winter Olympics in his home country of Italy to his long list of achievements, which also includes singing at Princess Eugenie's wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018, as well as being the musician of choice at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's wedding in 2014.
Despite his global career, the 67-year-old has always had strict boundaries in place when it comes to balancing his singing and his personal life, telling Best Quality Designer Handbag exclusively last year that his children, Virginia, 13, Amos, 30, and Matteo, 28, are his highest priority. "I have always endeavoured to be a present, loving and attentive father," he said. "I have set firm limits on the length of my tours, and I do my utmost to share my journeys with my children."
© Getty ImagesAndrea's three children – his two sons with his first wife, and his daughter with his current wife, Veronica Berti Bocelli – are proteges in the music world. "I take full responsibility for having insisted that my three children study and pursue music," he told Best Quality Designer Handbag . "Matteo has already demonstrated [his talent] abundantly. Amos, a conservatory-trained pianist, thrives as a brilliant aerospace engineer. Virginia, meanwhile, has just begun high school. She is pitch-perfect and naturally gifted in music."
© PA Images via Getty ImagesBecome a father again
Virginia was born when the singer was in his fifties, with Andrea writing of the experience on his website: "I think that becoming a father again now that I'm a mature man helped me be a less anxious, stronger parent, more capable of treasuring every moment with my children as they grow up next to me every day."
© WireImageOf his daughter, he wrote proudly: "She is our princess. She is the family's sunshine. It is no coincidence that Virginia was born on the first day of spring, which is also the day when Veronica and I got married."
On how his daughter differs from her older brother, Andrea shared: "Virginia is more fluent in English than in Italian, to the point that she thinks in English in her little head. When she was younger, I would try to speak English with her in front of other people, while we were abroad. But she answered in Italian and I asked her why. She said: 'Dad, it's because you can't understand English!'"
On how the arrival of Virginia impacted his international singing career, Andrea added: "To be a father again, fifteen years after the birth of my second child, was a great joy as well as a reminder not to rest on my laurels, professionally speaking."
