It is with sadness that I found out Luciano Pavarotti, one of the greatest tenors ever, had passed away today, at age 71 of pancreatic cancer. Pavarotti was one of the responsible few who revived opera in the mainstream, and millions would forever remember the electrifying performances the 3 Tenors gave at the soccer World Cups.

Known for his natural gifts, and without formal operatic training until his late teens, Pavarotti worked hard throughout his career and overcame various obstacles to achieve his fame and success. Coupled with some lucky breaks, he had to endure health and personal problems together with embarassing scandals such as that of tax fraud in 2000. Despite this, he recorded numerous best-selling albums and sold out countless concerts.

While listening to the BBC on my way home just now, the reporter made one comment which got me thinking again. “They say great singers are born, not made” in obvious reference to Pavarotti. While we all know natural talent goes a long way in helping one achieve greatness, does this mean that you would have a greater chance at success if you were born with a natural inclination for it?

My opinion is simply this - natural talent definitely helps. But in order to achieve success, you will need huge amounts of effort, constant planning, discipline, shrewdness and some slices of luck. Many success stories seldom reveal how much effort the person actually went through to arrive at that point. This is partly due to the media’s attempts to hype things up, or the marketing aspect in selling the idea of inspiration to the masses.

Therefore, always remember that success does not come to you, without you making any effort to achieve it. And do not allow failures or problems break you down on your journey towards success. Most, if not all, success stories are littered with failures during the process. James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, lived through poverty in his youth and even went to prison, but he was also known as “The Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness”, and despite his fame, gave back to society on many occasions. They and many others have shown that if you want something hard enough, and work even harder for it, you can get it.

What is your opinion of this - is success born or made? Feel free to add on your comments!

In closing, another sad day for music. Pavarotti and his big big voice will be missed. Below is a YouTube clip of both Pavarotti and James Brown, as they performed “It’s a Man’s World”.

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