Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti sold over 100 million records, making him arguably the best-selling classical artist ever. His 1990 World Cup concert alongside Plácido Domingo and José Carreras as "The Three Tenors" produced the best-selling classical album in history, moving roughly 10 million copies and introducing opera to an audience that had never bought a classical record in their life. His tenor brought opera into mainstream arenas at a scale no other singer on this list has matched, trading the intimacy of vocal purists for genuine global stardom.