Born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1946, Jose Carreras first dreamed, like many other boys his age, of playing football and scoring more goals than anyone else. To pass the long, hot days, he spent a great deal of time in the cinema. It was there that he saw for the first time the film The Great Caruso, with Mario Lanza in the title role, that Carreras was inspired to take up singing. The next day he began imitating Lanza and noticed that he was able to reproduce almost all of the arias in the film with amazing accuracy. At the age of 8, he entered the Barcelona Conservatory. At the age of 11, Carreras made his debut on stage playing a child in Manuel de Falla's El Retablo de Maese Pedro, a part written for a soprano. By his twenty-first birthday, Carreras decided to pursue his true vocation as a tenor.
Carreras is noted for his roles as Alfredo, Pinkerton, Leicester in Maria Stuarda, and Edgardo. He has overcome lymphatic leukemia and established a leukemia foundation.
In 1991, Carreras joined Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti in recording In Concert, which has sold over 5 million CDs and cassettes worldwide. In Concert rose to number one on the U.S. classical music charts for that year. It was also ranked number 43 on Billboard's pop charts, the highest any classical recording has climbed since rock-and-roll dominated album charts in the mid-1960s.
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