This is the sort of pop culture news to which one has a weird closeness and, yet, dislocation. It is sort of a touchstone as to the disutility of pop culture, as the obit in the Times tells in perhaps a bit too honestly than need be:

And in the early 1990s he began staging Pavarotti and Friends charity concerts, performing side by side with rock stars like Elton John, Sting and Bono and making recordings from these shows. Throughout these years, despite his busy and vocally demanding schedule, his voice remained in unusually good condition well into middle age. Even so, as his stadium concerts and pop collaborations brought him fame well beyond what contemporary opera stars have come to expect, Mr. Pavarotti seemed increasingly willing to accept pedestrian musical standards. By the 1980s he found it difficult to learn new opera roles or even new song repertory for his recitals. And although he planned to spend his final years, in the operatic tradition, performing in a grand worldwide farewell tour, he completed only about half the tour, which began in 2004. Physical ailments, many occasioned by his weight and girth, limited his movement on stage and regularly forced him to cancel performances.

How to celebrate Pavarotti? You will have to decide for yourselves. In the interests of ensuring the word "girth" does not appear in my obit, I will do a sit up in his memory. Maybe the fourth one. And maybe I can avoid having past unfortunate collaborations with Sting and Bono referenced in my obituary, too.