Opera Singer, A dramatic tenor called "God's Tenor", he shall be remembered for his numerous performances of 'heavyweight' roles both Wagnerian and non-Wagnerian. Born Jonathan Stewart Vickers, he was the son of a Presbyterian lay minister, was raised in a small city, worked on his family's farm, learned to sing in church, abandoned his desire to enter business when he received a scholarship to Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music in 1950, drove a beer truck to make ends meet, and upon his graduation five years later began a recital career that saw him win acclaim on both sides of the Northern Border; Mr. Vickers bowed at London's Covent Garden in 1957 as Riccardo from Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" and later sang Enee of Hector Berlioz' "Les Troyens" and a memorable Giasone opposite Maria Callas' title heroine in Luigi Cherubini's "Medea", was first heard at Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1957 as Siegmund in "Die Walkure" then used the same role as the vehicle for his 1958 Vienna State Opera (VSO) bow, and made his January 17, 1960 Metropolitan Opera debut as the tragic clown Canio of Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci". Over the years, he starred in virtually all the world's major venues, his roles including the title leads of Verdi's "Don Carlos" and "Otello", Benjamin Britten's "Peter Grimes", his portrayal considered by many, or at least by non-fans of Sir Peter Pears, to be definitive, both Handel's "Samson" and Saint-Saens "Samson et Dalila", Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" and "Parsifal", and Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chenier", as well as Radames in Verdi's "Aida", Florestan of Beethoven's "Fidelio", Don Alvaro from Verdi's "La Forza del Destino", Pollione in Vincenzo Bellini's "Norma", Herman of Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades", and the bullfighter Don Jose from Georges Bizet's "Carmen". Mr. Vickers also sang the tenor parts in a number of oratorio works both on stage and in the studio, his assignments including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Verdi's "Manzoni Requiem", and Handel's "Messiah", a piece for which his voice was probably too heavy. His characterizations were intense, with his Canio heartbreaking, his Otello frightening, and his Peter Grimes both; a profoundly religious man who refused to sing Wagner's "Tannhauser" because he considered the work to be an overt attack on his Christian faith, he nevertheless could be rude, thorny, and difficult (on one (in)famous occasion he yelled at a Dallas audience "stop your damn coughing" and during 1985 performances in Chicago he was publically disrespectful to Julius Rudel, the nicest of maestros), and while he was respected by virtually all, he was actually liked by very few outside his own family, to whom he was completely devoted. Mr. Vickers retired in 1988, his final performance a presentation of act III of "Parsifal". His honors were many, among them two Grammy Awards, 1969 designation as Companion of the Order of Canada (CC), and 1998 presentation of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. His story is told in Jeannie Williams' 1999 "Jon Vickers: A Hero's Life"; progressively ill over his last 15 or so years, he died of Alzheimer's Disease. At his demise he could be heard on a rather vast recorded legacy including made-for-television presentations of "Otello" and "I Pagliacci", a number of live and studio complete operas, among them "Parsifal", "Aida", "Carmen", "Fidelio", "Les Troyens", "I Pagliacci", and, of course, "Otello" and "Peter Grimes", as well as numerous archived broadcasts.