Very few singers can have made their debut in an international opera house at the age of eleven, as was the case with José Carreras. This was no small undertaking, moreover, for he sang the role of El Trujiman, the boy narrator in de Falla's Master Peter's Puppet Show, whose music is so difficult that it is more frequently entrusted to a high mezzo.   José Carreras made this important first appearance at the Liceo in his native Barcelona with José Iturbi conducting. Uniquely, perhaps, he made his adult debut in the same opera house at the age of twenty-two, by which time he was a highly promising tenor.

The London-based impresario Denny Dayviss invited José Carreras in 1971 to make his international debut opposite Montserrat Caballé and Shirley Verrett in a concert performance of Donizetti's Maria Stuart at the Royal Festival Hall. Subsequently he was invited to sing both as Mefistofele (Faust) and Adriana Lecouvreur (Maurizio). José Carreras also found himself taking part in the British première of Donizetti's Caterina Cornaro: he had come to London to hear Montserrat Caballé singing and, when the originally scheduled tenor for this concert fell ill, he stepped in at only two days' notice to sing what was for him a new role in this difficult operatic rarity.   He was thus already an established favourite with London audiences when he made his Covent Garden debut as Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata.

Maestro von Karajan engaged José Carreras in 1976 for his Easter Festival to sing the tenor part in Verdi's Requiem, and their artistic and personal relationship lasted over 12 seasons, performing and recording together in Salzburg, Vienna, Lucerne and Berlin. In February 1991, Carreras returned to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for performances of Samson et Dalîla where he sang Samson opposite Agnes Baltsa. 1991's diary included tours to Japan, South America, Germany, a highly successful debut tour of Australia, and a performance in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci at the Vienna Staatsoper. José Carreras was Musical Director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1992 Olympics in his home town of Barcelona.  In November 1992 he made his stage debut as Loris in Giordano's opera Fedora at the Zurich Opera.  In January 1991 he made his universally acclaimed stage debut in Verdi's Stiffelio at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

During his career he has made a number of excursions into "light" repertoire, not just popular Spanish and Italian songs but also Lloyd Webber, West Side Story and South Pacific.  Then, of course, there was the Three Tenors concert in Rome before the World Cup Final, an event which was seen by 1,000 million people on television.  The three tenors came together again for the World Cup Final in 1994, and a recording of the event, The Three Tenors in Concert 1994 marketed by Teldec Classics, achieved incredible popularity world-wide.  In 1996, the Three Tenors went on their first world-tour.  José Carreras also played an acting/singing role in the cinema, when he portrayed the life of Julian Gayarre in the film Romanza Final.

Amongst the many international awards and distinctions which have been bestowed upon José Carreras are Doctor HC for the Medical Faculty of the University of Barcelona, Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Lifetime Honorary Member and "Kammersänger" of the Vienna State Opera House, as well as Grande Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana.  In 1988 the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation was established in Barcelona. With the collaboration of a highly qualified world-wide team, including Professor E.D. Thomas, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Medicine, Carreras successfully governs his organisation as its President. In October 1997 José Carreras received the insignia of "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur" from Mr. Roland Dumas, President of the Conseil Constitutionnel of the Republic of France.

José Carreras records exclusively for Erato Disques. His album became his best-selling solo album with over 500,000 copies sold world-wide.   At Christmas 1996 Erato released the recording of A Celebration of Christmas recorded live at the Christmas Concert 1995 in Vienna with Natalie Cole and Plácido Domingo and broadcast to over 50 million people around the world. This was followed by the release of José Carreras sings Tosti - La Mia Canzone, a live recording from his recital with soprano Barbara Frittoli at Vienna's Musikverein in April 1996. In his new album, My Romance ,released in the autumn of 1997, José Carreras brings a fresh approach to classic romantic love songs drawn from operetta and Broadway repertoire such as The Merry Widow, The Student Prince, The New Moon, Carousel, South Pacific and many more.