Bocelli was the first guest to grace the stage of Teatro Ariston, which has hosted the festival for decades.
The beloved tenor and his 21-year-old son performed Fall On Me, a single from his 2018 album Sì.
The emotional performance received a standing ovation.
Bocelli also performed a duet with Italian pop icon Claudio Balgioni, who is hosting this year’s festival alongside Claudio Bisio and Virginia Raffaele.
More than 10 million viewers tuned in to Italian state broadcaster Rai for the opening night.
During Bocelli’s duet with his son, viewer numbers shot up to 15.6 million.
Bocelli has been a regular at the festival ever since he won the Newcomers’ category in 1994 with his performance of Il mare calmo della sera – the same song he performed with Baglioni on Tuesday.
