AN opera super-fan was rendered speechless when she met global singing sensation and her idol Andrea Bocelli last month.

Grace Jones, 78, officially ticked off her biggest bucket list wish when she met the Italian crooner in person at a concert rehearsal in his hometown of Lajatico, Italy.

Andrea Bocelli is one of the world’s biggest selling recording artists, clocking up more than 150 million record sales worldwide. Blind since the age of 12, the close friend of legendary opera singer Luciano Pavarotti has won a Golden Globe award and has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Mother-of-four Grace, of Covingham, was taking her annual trip to watch Andrea's summer concert, The Theatre of Silence, with son Lee and daughter Michelle when a chance encounter with the legendary singer's wife led to their magical first meeting.

“We were sat there watching him rehearse and we saw Mrs Bocelli walk past and we called out to her, I couldn’t believe she came to chat to us and was standing there asking us about him, then she said she was going to get him. I was in shock,” Grace said.

The former dinner lady was left gobsmacked when, after spotting Grace's customised Bocelli t-shirt, Andrea’s wife took the world-famous tenor off the stage and into the arms of his number-one fan.

And Grace revealed the charming singer hit all the right notes during their meeting.

“I just kept stroking his arm, I just couldn’t talk. He had such a presence about him and he was absolutely magical and just a lovely man,” she said.

“He spent about 10 minutes with us and it was one of the best moments of my life. I wish I hadn’t got so tongue-tied though and I keep thinking of all the things I wish I’d asked him.”

During her two decade-long fandom of the smooth songbird, faithful fan Grace has amassed a collection of Bocelli memorabilia, become familiar with his friends and family and seen him in concert 12 times.

Grace was first enraptured by the voice when she was on holiday in Greece with late husband Alan.

She said: “I just heard this voice and I spent the rest of the holiday trying to figure out who that beautiful singer was. He just got me in a way no-one else has.

“He gives me a tingle, and no other famous person or singer has had that effect on me. It’s emotional to even be in his presence, I just can’t believe I got that opportunity. I still can’t believe it.”

Grace, who credits Bocelli’s rendition of Jennifer Rush’s anthem The Power of Love as her favourite tune now has plans to see the singer perform again when he embarks on his UK tour next year.

She said: “I can’t wait to see him again, I wouldn’t say I’m a bigger fan now, because I don’t think that’s possible.”