After Singer's COVID Death, Il Divo Says San Jose Show Still On

SAN JOSE, CA — The multinational vocal quartet Il Divo has announced that its U.S. tour will go on as scheduled beginning Feb. 2 in San Jose, despite the Dec. 19 death of member Carlos Marin, 53, due to COVID-19.

Mexican-American baritone Steven LaBrie will join the surviving Il Divo members — America’s David Miller, France’s Sebastien Izambard and Switzerland’s Urs Buhlerfor — for the tour.

Before Marin's death, the upcoming Il Divo tour was billed the “For Once in My Life" tour. It's been renamed the "Greatest Hits" tour and will be a career retrospective and tribute to the fallen Spanish baritone, according to the group.

“Carlos was a larger than life personality, with a rare combination of an incredibly beautiful, God-given voice and absolutely, immense talent. His passion, playfulness and sense of humor made for such a magical persona, and his laugh would always lift anyone up. He was loved by millions of fans all over the world and we were lucky and honored to be able to perform with him in our midst for so many years. We’ll deeply miss his playfulness, friendship and brilliant voice. In his honor, we’ll be setting up a Carlos Marin Foundation and will be playing tribute to his singing in our future shows. May everyone remember him for his beautiful soul, his amazing talent and may he forever rest in peace,” said Miller, Izambard and Buhle in a statement.

After falling ill last month while on tour in the U.K., Marin was hospitalized Dec. 8 in the Intensive Care Unit of the Manchester Royal Hospital. He died from COVID-19 complications 11 days later.

The upcoming tour supports Il Divo's 10th studio album, "For Once In My Life: A Celebration Of Motown" (Decca Gold). The tour will travel through the United States before moving to South America in the spring, and to Europe in the summer.

The Indio show will mark the second stop in Il Divo's 2022 tour of more than 50 worldwide billings.

Il Divo is arguably the most commercially successful crossover group in international music history with its blend of opera and pop. The group was formed in 2003 by Simon Cowell for his Sony Music Synco Label.

Il Divo has sold over 30 million albums, including 160 gold and platinum albums in 33 countries, and was the first group of classical crossover artists to have an album debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.

Tickets for the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino concert start at $59 and are on sale now at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, via phone at 800-827-2986 or online at www.FantasySpringsResort.com.

All tickets from the originally scheduled dates will be honored at the 2022 shows, according to Il Divo.

This article originally appeared on the Campbell Patch