The world-renowned tenor Russell Watson never planned to be a recording artist, instead dreaming of football stardom as a young boy. “It was daydreams really. I was never any good,” he confesses. His rise to fame saw him move from imitating crooners in backstreet pubs to performing for the Pope, the late Queen Elizabeth II and two US presidents. Along the way, he's sold more than 7 million albums, won multiple BRIT awards and worked with musical legends including Paul McCartney and Luciano Pavarotti. Yet at the height of his fame, he came close to death. Brain tumours caused the then 40-year-old to suffer a brain hemorrhage while lying in bed one night, resulting in emergency surgery. These events rocked his world – and cemented his faith. He tells Premier Christianity's Emma Fowle the full story.