Italian opera legend LUCIANO PAVAROTTI has died following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was seventy-one years old.

“The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life,” the tenor’s manager, TERRI ROBSON, told the AP in an e-mail statement. “In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness.”