Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling (5 February 1911 – 9 September 1960) was an operatic tenor and a highly regarded singer. Björling was one of the few non-Latin tenors to rival the Italian dominance of the opera world at that time.

Luciano Pavarotti had great respect for Bjorling and regarded him a great tenor. He also used Bjorling's choices of roles as a sort of road map for his own career, although he did not perform as many non-Italian roles as Bjorling did.

The Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) published an article on September 6, 2007, that refers to two interviews with Pavarotti. It is clear that Jussi Björling was his idol. "When I'm about to train a new opera, I first listen to how Jussi Björling did it. His voice was unique and it's his path that I want to follow. I would more than anything else wish that people compared me with Jussi Björling. It's like so I'm striving to sing."

Anouther quote came from Luciano Pavarotti when he was compared to being in the same league as Bjorling. Pavarotti replied "Please, I'm only human" a statement demonstrating that even the great modern tenor had enormous respect for Bjorling.