CLASSICAL music megastars Il Divo insist their late band member will be with them in spirit when they play Edinburgh Castle for the first time since his death.
The multi-national group were formed by Simon Cowell in 2003 and have gone on to sell over 30million records, performing for presidents and royalty.
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Carlos passed away four years ago
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Simon could not have been nicer
But tragedy struck four years ago when Spanish pin-up Carlos Marin died from Covid, aged 53.
Now tenors David Miller, Sébastien Izambard and Urs Bühler will return to Castle Rock in the Scottish capital next month — 11 years after their sell-out gig at the venue.
They will be joined by Steven LaBrie, 37, who became Carlos’s permanent replacement in 2023.
Californian David, 52, says: “We think of Carlos every time we play a venue where we have all performed before. I mean literally every time.
“We can vividly remember all the cities like Edinburgh where we went for the first time as a group.
“The funny thing is, when we started, we weren’t a bunch of friends who formed a band, we were put together by the record label. It was a business arrangement at first.
“So we didn’t know each other and, to be honest, we couldn’t have given two s***s. They could have fired one guy and hired another, because coming from the opera world, that happens all the time.
“But over those 18 years with just the same four guys, we became bonded so strongly in a way we didn’t even realise until Covid happened.
“It was the first time we had to spend so much time apart and then Carlos got ill.”
The baritone contracted Covid while on tour and was hospitalised in Manchester in December 2021.
Il Divo star Carlos Marín dies from Covid aged 53 in Manchester hospital after being put into an induced coma
Initially the group brought in Steven as a temporary replacement, but Carlos’ health rapidly deteriorated. He was placed in an induced coma and died on December 19.
Baritone Steven, from Texas, recalls: “Originally I came in to replace Carlos while he was ill as we were told he was going to recover. It all happened so fast.
“I was thrown into the first show that we did, and hadn’t even had a chance to sing on stage with the full sound system.
“But it was a huge shock for everyone when he died.
“I was this outsider, a newcomer and I was surrounded by my colleagues and crew and the manager who were all distraught.
“All I could do was show a lot of empathy and listen to their stories about Carlos, where everyone would be laughing about something funny he did. And then everyone would get sad. That’s when we would all sing a song to lighten the moment.”
Amazingly Il Divo were not the product of one of Cowell’s many talent shows.
The music mogul instead decided to create his first classical group after watching the legendary Three Tenors — Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras — in concert.
After a two-year worldwide search — Urs, 53, is from Willisau, in Switzerland, and Sébastien, 52, from Paris — Simon unveiled Il Divo, who became an instant hit.
Their first self-titled album shot to No1 in the UK and made the top five in the States.
They earned their debut US chart-topper in 2005 with second album Encora, and performed at Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration ball, in Washington DC in 2009.
Three years later, they gave a memorable rendition of Caruso during Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and played at an Olympic torch handover party for the London Olympics. So it came as a shock when they were dropped by Cowell’s company Syco Records in 2015, even though they were still selling out shows across the globe.
They insist TV’s Mr Nasty was the perfect “gentleman” when it came to parting ways.
David explains: “At the time Simon had become so busy with all of his TV shows and all that success he just didn’t have the time to devote to us.
“So we sat down with him in his house in LA and Simon said, ‘Guys, I’m fresh out of ideas. You’ve recorded all of my favorite music. We don’t really know what to do with you’. I was like ‘Well, do you mind if we go elsewhere?’ And as a perfect gentleman he said, ‘Absolutely, I want you guys to carry on’.
“He then said, ‘Obviously, all legacy material belongs to me, but anything you create going forward, you know, you guys own that. You can even keep the name and we won’t take a cut of anything’.
“That was really nice and also how we’ve been able to continue.”
The group continue to play at the most iconic venues around the world, but David believes Edinburgh Castle fires the group up unlike anywhere else.
David says: “You walk on to stage and it just hits you that you’re actually playing in a castle. There’s just so much history and gravitas in that locale — the sheer majesty of it all.
“We have played in some incredible venues, but a place like Edinburgh Castle, that has been fought for over the centuries?
“It certainly gives you extra fire under your bum.”
Steven believes experiencing these majestic venues for the first time has helped Il Divo to process the loss of their dear colleague.
He says: “I remember being in Japan and eating this incredible food on the Bullet Train you get from the vendors at the stations. The guys were just watching me and reliving their memories of their first time there with Carlos.
“They would then start talking about the past and the things they had done together, but it was nice as I felt that I was giving them that connection to their memories because they could see these experiences through me.”
David adds: “Carlos is woven into the very fabric of Il Divo because for those first 18 years he created all this music with us.
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“So we will be thinking of him when we play Edinburgh Castle. I’m sure Steven will love playing there the same way Carlos did.”
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The band will be thinking of Carlos