JON Christos decided he wanted to be an opera star when he heard a recording of Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma at Oxford railway station 14 years ago.

This afternoon, the unknown opera singer signs a deal with Sony which could make him a millionaire within a year.

Jon, 28, says he owes his success to his mum, Sylvia, who scrimped and saved to give him the best possible music education and all he wants to do is buy her a bungalow.

His manager, Perry Hughes, who used to represent Salford tenor Russell Watson, describes him as the "real deal".

From the age of nine, Jon studied in Manchester at Chetham's School of Music and at the Royal Northern College of Music.

He perfected his stunning vocal skills and learned to play various instruments including the piano. He was 14 when he and his mum, heard Pavarotti singing the aria soon after his dad, Chris, had died.

Records

Sylvia, 60, an auxiliary nurse at Hope Hospital, Salford, said: "We had been to see my eldest son Mark in Oxford. I turned to Jon and said, `I would love to hear you sing that one day'. And I have done."

In the four years since he graduated from the RNCM he has sung the aria at music halls across the country as a freelance opera singer.

Jon, who lives in a terrace house at Monton, near Eccles, with his mum, said: "With me what you see is what you get. I am from Monton. I will always be from Monton whether I sell a million or half a million records. I would love nothing more than to look after my mother.

"I don't really think about money because I have never really had any. It will be nice to clear some debt, though."

His mum said: "I just want him to be happy."

Jon plans to write some scores and play the piano during performances. Graham Samuels, a Sony vice president, said: "We are delighted to have signed Jon. He is one of the brightest new tenors in the country."

Tweet