Andrea Bocelli sang at the Oscars for the first time in 25 years

Andrea Bocelli made a surprise appearance at the Oscars Sunday night, performing at the ceremony for just the second time in his career — and for the first time in the 21st century.

Andrea Bocelli performs ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ at the 2024 Oscars

The renowned tenor last performed at the Oscars in 1999, singing a duet of “The Prayer” with Celine Dion. And it’s a moment he still remembers clearly.

“It was a quarter of a century ago, it’s true, but the memory of that night at the Oscars, together with my dear friend and splendid artist, is still very fresh and vivid in my mind,” Bocelli told A.frame, the digital magazine of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “And I still feel the same emotions when I think about it.”

This time around, Bocelli had his son Matteo by his side. The two performed a new version of “Time to Say Goodbye,” one of Bocelli’s greatest hits, as the names and images of people the film industry lost last year flashed on large screens during the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment.

The reimagined version, with a new orchestral arrangement from Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (”Pirates of the Caribbean”), comes as Bocelli celebrates his 30th anniversary in the music industry, USA Today reported. The new version is now available on YouTube and streaming platforms.

The Italian tenor initially released the song in 1995 as “Con te Partiro” (”I will leave with you” in Italian) before rerecording it as “Time to Say Goodbye” with soprano Sarah Brightman the following year, per USA Today. It’s been a signature song throughout his career — he performed it near the end of each of his last three concerts in Salt Lake City.

Performing a new version of the song that has meant so much for his career, alongside his son, means the world to Bocelli — “My voice will convey all the affection and gratitude I feel — both for the song (and for those who love or loved it), and for life (and for he who created it),” the tenor told A.frame.

More about Matteo Bocelli

Bocelli has frequently collaborated with his children. The tenor previously told the Deseret News that all three of his children “were raised on bread and music,” although his oldest son, who studied piano performance, is now an aerospace engineer.

He released his first duet with his son Matteo in 2018, and the video has 115 million views on YouTube. At a Salt Lake City concert in 2021, his daughter Virginia, then 9, performed a duet of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” with her father that proved to be one of the highlights of the night, per Deseret News.

The tenor collaborated with both Matteo and Virginia for his 2022 album “A Family Christmas.” And last year, Matteo Bocelli released his debut album, officially following in his father’s footsteps. In an interview with the Deseret News last year, Andrea Bocelli said he and his wife, Veronica, were Matteo’s “No. 1 fans.”