Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey to perform at Olympics opening ceremony

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games will be opened by none other than Andrea Bocelli.

The maestro is, according to Olympic organizers, “a symbol of Italian excellence around the world.”

“Over the course of his extraordinary career, Maestro Bocelli has masterfully blended the technical excellence of the great Italian opera tradition with a rare ability to convey emotion in an authentic and universal language. His presence at the Ceremony will create a powerful bridge between music and sport,” a news release said.

He last performed for the Olympics at the Closing Ceremony at the Torino games in 2006.

The opera singer will be taking a break from his world tour for the ceremony, Billboard reported. He was scheduled to perform at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 7, followed by six other concerts in the U.S.

Bocelli is the latest entertainer to be announced for the ceremony. Others include Laura Pausini, Sabrina Impacciatore and Mariah Carey.

The Olympic Games opening ceremony will be held on Feb. 6 and will be centered at the San Siro Olympic Stadium, but will also include three other locations — Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo — to illustrate how spread out this year’s games are.

Along with music, the ceremony will feature a Parade of Athletes and a tribute to Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in 2025 at the age of 91, during the three-hour spectacular, Billboard reported.