Andrea Bocelli has performed live for the last three popes, including Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Italian tenor singing for the Head of the Roman Catholic Church on May 1, 2000.

The event was a huge outdoor show in Rome called the Great Jubilee Concert for a Debt-Free World, used to benefit the world’s poorest countries and draw in half a million fans.

Lou Reed and Eurythmics performed at the show alongside Bocelli, who sang Ave Maria and other religious anthems just hours after the sudden death of his father, Alessandro Bocelli.

Having been flown in specially from Pisa hospital, the Italian tenor also approached the pontiff to kiss his ring.