Short answers, pulled from the story.
Nessun dorma is an aria from the final act of Turandot, an opera by Giacomo Puccini. The text was written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. It is sung by Calaf, the unknown prince, who challenges Princess Turandot to discover his name before dawn.
Luciano Pavarotti popularized Nessun dorma at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. BBC television used his 1972 Decca recording as the theme for their coverage in Italy. That exposure pushed the single to number two on the UK Singles Chart.
Pavarotti sang the full role of Calaf on stage only twice, though Nessun dorma became his signature aria outside the opera stage. The first staged performance was in 1977 at the San Francisco Opera, conducted by Riccardo Chailly and with Montserrat Caballe as Turandot. His second was twenty years later at the Metropolitan Opera under James Levine, with Jane Eaglen as Turandot.
Aretha Franklin sang a soul-infused version of Nessun dorma at the 1998 Grammy Awards. She stepped in after Luciano Pavarotti withdrew at the last moment with throat problems. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences called it the greatest last-second substitution act in Grammy history.
The climax of Nessun dorma features a sustained B followed by an even longer sustained A, both high notes in the tenor range. Puccini's score wrote the B as a sixteenth note and the A as a whole note, without marking either as sustained. The practice of sustaining both notes became a performance tradition.
Nessun dorma has appeared in numerous films since 1982. These include Yes, Giorgio, The Killing Fields, Bend It Like Beckham, and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, among others. Solo Mio in 2026 is among the most recent.