Il Divo is the debut studio album to be released by
classical crossover vocal group
Il Divo, formed by
Simon Cowell in 2004. The album was released on 1 November 2004 in the United Kingdom, via
Syco Music, and on 19 April 2005 in the United States, via
Columbia Records. The album contains three songs performed in English, six songs performed in Italian, and three songs performed in Spanish, excluding the bonus track. As of December 2013, the album had sold more than 1.5 million copies in the UK.[3] The album has sold more than 5,000,000 worldwide copies to date.[4]
In the
United Kingdom, the Il Divo album knocked
Robbie Williams off the number 1 spot in the UK charts, Williams allegedly said to them at the
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason film premiere, "So you are the four idiots who have forced me off my number one spot!"[6]
This multiplatinum-selling CD became number one in the charts in a total of 13 countries around the world, and achieved top 5 placing in 25 countries.
Singles
"
Regresa a mí" was released as the album's lead single on 22 October 2004. The song is a cover of the original English-language version performed by
R&B singer
Toni Braxton, originally released in June 1996. The single remain's the band most successful single release to date. The band's Spanish version of the track received positive appreciation from critics, who said that the cover "has the potential to be a hit and to open doors for many of operas most acclaimed stars."[7]
"
Mama" was released as the album's third single on 7 May 2005. "Mama" was the first original song ever released as a single by the band. It was released both as limited edition
CD single and
DVD single. It was also included on the band's live album, Live at the Greek Theatre. The songwriters behind "Mama",
Andreas "Quiz" Romdhane and Josef Larossi, have contributed the largest number of original songs for the band, including "Sei parte ormai di me", "Isabel", "Si tu me amas", "Esisti dentro me" and "Una Noche". The song has also been covered and translated into other languages, including to
Afrikaans by the artist Kurt Darren, and into Italian by
Paul Potts.