When singer Laurence Munday takes the stage tomorrow he'll have two men on his mind - deceased friend Craig Jordan and singing legend Luciano Pavarotti.
Tomorrow would be his second Christmas in the Park at Anderson Park, Napier. Mr Munday remembered his friend and business partner crying after his 2008 performance.
"You've
got to have someone like that to keep you going," he said. "He was my right hand man."
After working together for four years, Mr Jordan died earlier this year from sleep apnea, aged 32.
"You've got to have good friends to keep you going and encourage you," Mr Munday said. "People don't understand that you've lost the guy who stood next to you for four years."
Although he enjoys being a barber, owning a business was holding back his music career so Mr Munday intended to sell the Groom Room in the next few months to focus on singing. "I've spoken to a few well-known musicians and they've all said the same thing: You want to be a barber or you want to be a musician?"
He aspires to follow Pavarotti onto the stage and into people's hearts.
"He was the one that brought opera to everybody - before that it was something that was quite elite," Mr Munday said.
His performance would include the song Miss Sarajevo, where U2 frontman Bono and opera legend Pavarotti brought their skills together in a powerful and emotional song. "It brings opera and popular music together," he said. "I hope this will be the star attraction. It's one of my favourites."
