As of May 2021, which opera singer is credited with receiving the longest standing ovation ever?

During a July 1991 performance of ‘Otello’ in Vienna, opera superstar Plácido Domingo received an 80-minute standing ovation. The ovation, considered the world's longest, also featured an astounding 101 curtain calls.

José Plácido Domingo Embil was born in Spain in 1941. In 1949, shortly before his eighth birthday, his family moved to Mexico. His parents, both singers, had decided to start a zarzuela company there after a successful tour of Latin America. (Zarzuela is traditional form of musical comedy which originated in Spain.)

As Domingo grew up in Mexico, he initially had dreams of becoming a soccer player - until his talent for singing was discovered. Thereafter he joined his parents' zarzuela company. In 1957, at age sixteen, Domingo made his first professional appearance, accompanying his mother on the piano. That same year he also made his zarzuela debut, singing a baritone role, although today he is primarily known as a tenor.

Through the decades, Domingo has achieved significant success as a crossover artist, especially in the genres of Latin and popular music. In addition to winning fourteen Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, several of his records have gone silver, gold, platinum and multi-platinum.

He has recorded over a hundred complete operas, and appeared in approximately 130 different roles, more than any other tenor in the annals of music. He has sung at every major opera house in the world, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.