Il Divo, the multinational operatic pop vocal group, has become the first ever recipients of the Artist of the Decade at the Classic BRIT Awards 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall. 
The group, which was created by music manager, executive and reality TV star Simon Cowell in 2004, were given the award in recognition of the impact the operatic group has had in the classical genre.
In the seven years since the group was created, Il Divo – which is comprised of Spanish baritone Carlos Marin, Swiss tenor Urs Buhler, US tenor David Miller and French pop singer Sebastien Izambard – have sold an astonishing 25 million albums worldwide.
Speaking at the glitzy ceremony in London, Buhler remarked: “It’s really strange to me, our success – the four of us are singers, we’ve all been singers for a long time prior to Il Divo, we go into the studio, we take songs, we record them the way that we all feel them and out comes Il Divo, and that’s it!”
In addition to collecting the prestigious award, the group also performed in front of a packed audience at the world famous venue. Other performances on the night included opera singer Katherine Jenkins and tenor Alfie Boe with the cast of ‘Les Miserables’.
Elsewhere, composer John Barry was honoured posthumously with the Outstanding Contribution to Music award. He was recognised for his portfolio of work, which includes numerous film scores such as the themes to ‘Born Free’, ‘Out of Africa’ and some of the James Bond films.
His award was presented by ‘Born Free’ star Virginia McKenna to lyricist and Barry’s long-term collaborator Don Black.
The evening was rounded-off in stunning fashion by Dame Shirley Bassey, who delighted the audience with a stellar performance of one of Barry’s most recognisable hits, ‘Goldfinger’.
The group, which was created by music manager, executive and reality TV star Simon Cowell in 2004, were given the award in recognition of the impact the operatic group has had in the classical genre.
In the seven years since the group was created, Il Divo – which is comprised of Spanish baritone Carlos Marin, Swiss tenor Urs Buhler, US tenor David Miller and French pop singer Sebastien Izambard – have sold an astonishing 25 million albums worldwide.
Speaking at the glitzy ceremony in London, Buhler remarked: “It’s really strange to me, our success – the four of us are singers, we’ve all been singers for a long time prior to Il Divo, we go into the studio, we take songs, we record them the way that we all feel them and out comes Il Divo, and that’s it!”
In addition to collecting the prestigious award, the group also performed in front of a packed audience at the world famous venue. Other performances on the night included opera singer Katherine Jenkins and tenor Alfie Boe with the cast of ‘Les Miserables’.
Elsewhere, composer John Barry was honoured posthumously with the Outstanding Contribution to Music award. He was recognised for his portfolio of work, which includes numerous film scores such as the themes to ‘Born Free’, ‘Out of Africa’ and some of the James Bond films.
His award was presented by ‘Born Free’ star Virginia McKenna to lyricist and Barry’s long-term collaborator Don Black.
The evening was rounded-off in stunning fashion by Dame Shirley Bassey, who delighted the audience with a stellar performance of one of Barry’s most recognisable hits, ‘Goldfinger’.