When met during a visit to a hospital in Pisa, the blind Italian tenor reveals that he, wife Veronica Berti and their children were all tested positive for the Coronavirus in early March.
- May 27, 2020
AceShowbiz - Opera superstar Andrea Bocelli is donating his plasma to coronavirus cure researchers after winning a secret battle with COVID-19.
The blind Italian tenor reveals he and his wife, actress Veronica Berti, and their children all tested positive for the virus in early March, although their symptoms were relatively mild.
Bocelli opened up about the health battle on Tuesday, May 26, while visiting a hospital in Pisa, where he and Berti donated their blood to medical experts.
According to translated quotes from local paper La Stampa, the 61 year old told reporters, "I had coronavirus."
"It was a tragedy, my whole family was contaminated. We all had a fever - though thankfully not high ones - with sneezing and coughing."
The singer, who had to scrap a series of concerts as a result of the global pandemic, went on to brand the experience a "nightmare".
He continued, "It was like living a nightmare because I felt like I was no longer in control of things. I was hoping to wake up at any moment."
Bocelli managed to overcome the coronavirus in time to stage a historic Easter Sunday, April 12, performance at the deserted Duomo di Milano, dubbed the Music for Hope concert.
The livestreamed event set a new record for the largest simultaneous audience for a classical livestream in YouTube's history, with over 2.8 million peak concurrent viewers.
The footage remains on Bocelli's YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huTUOek4LgU), and has since racked up more than 40 million hits.
The tenor joins a long list of stars to have fought and won battles with COVID-19, including Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Idris Elba, Sara Bareilles, and Pink.
