He was born Jose Placido Domingo in Madrid,
Spain and moved to Mexico
with his family who had a zarzuela company when he was 8 years old.He studied piano and conducting at
the National Conservatory in Mexico City
and in 1958 sung back-up for the rock and roll band Los Black Jeans. He made his stage debut in Guadalajara
in 1959 as Pascual in Marina,
followed by Borsa in Rigoletto and then in 1958 became part of the Israeli National
Opera in Tel Aviv, giving 280 performances with them.In 1985 he performed many benefit
concerts for the victims of the biggest earthquake in Mexico's
history which killed 4 members of his own family and he was one of the
people who helped to search and rescue survivors.He has sung the title role in many
operas for companies that include the New York Metropolitan Opera, the
Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, La Scala and Covent
Garden.He has
opened the season at the Met 21 times which has surpassed the record of
Enrico Caruso.He is looked
upon as one of the most versatile tenors who has
sung 92 roles on-stage to date and 123 when taking into account those he
has recorded.He has
also recorded as a member of the Three Tenors with Luciano
Pavarotti
and Jose
Carreras, and sung duets with artists in all genres of music.He has made in excess of 100
recordings, appeared on many televisions shows and has appeared in six
opera films, receiving a Grammy Award for La Traviata. He was
the voice of the operatic moon in Moulin
Rouge and an opera singing muppet on Sesame Street is named Placido Flamingo
in his honour. His other awards include the Kennedy Center Honors, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom and Knight Commander Order of the British
Empire, and he also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
