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LATIN LEGEND JULIO IGLESIAS onpassion, performance, and his upcoming Ireland gig
April 22, 2014
By: Gerry Quinn, Irish Examiner
At 70, Julio Iglesias has never lost his passion for performing, says Gerry Quinn.
FORMER baseball player Sam Ewing said “success has a simple formula: do your best and people may like it.”
Perhaps Spanish singing superstar Julio Iglesias had a similar attitude at the beginning of his career, more than four decades ago. People all over the world like what the 70-year-old does.
Iglesias is the bestselling Latin music artist in history: he has released 80 albums, sold 300 million records in 14 languages,. and received 2,600 gold and platinum discs. Iglesias will perform at Dublin’s O2 Arena on May 15.
Iglesias turned 70 last September, yet his popularity continues to soar. A world tour that began in 2013 takes him to all the continents and his Dublin date will be his first here since 1982.
“The biggest privilege in the life of an artist is to come back. And the Irish people have let me come back to that beautiful country, so I am so grateful for that.”
Iglesias has performed in 600 cities, and it is estimated that 60m people have seen him live. He is renowned for recording duets with artists from other genres — the list includes Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Plácido Domingo, Dolly Parton, Sting, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka and Art Garfunkel.
What propels him to continue with such a gruelling work schedule, now that he has reached 70?
“It’s the passion,” he says instantly. “The passion I have for doing things. I love what’s happening in my life and I am very grateful to the people. When I communicate with them, when I sing to them, it looks like a light comes back to me, in my eyes, in my brain, in my heart, in my body.
“Where else can I ask for a life like this? I am 70 years old and I can still reach out to the people, from Finland to China, and communicate to them and I am so grateful to be able to do that.”
Iglesias’ singing vocation began after a car crash ended his career as a professional soccer goalkeeper with Real Madrid Castilla. While recuperating in hospital, a nurse gave him a guitar and, in learning to play, he discovered his musical talent.
In 1968, Iglesias won the Benidorm International Song Festival and this led him to represent Spain in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest, singing his own song, ‘Gwendolyne’, and finishing fourth. ” ‘All Kinds of Everything’ was the winner,” he says, in reference to Ireland’s first success in the competition by Dana.
“I remember it well,” he says. “That time, it was musically much stronger that it is now. I remember ‘All Kinds of Everything’. I remember Dana. I remember the euphoria of the country when she won. I remember giving a kiss to Dana when she won. I remember it was an experience for my life to come.”
Iglesias says the Eurovision was the springboard that kickstarted his long and lofty career. “For the first time in my life, I performed in front of the whole of Europe. Then, in 1971, my life changed completely. Back then, I never expected to have such a long career.
“I never, in my life, expected to play and sing with Sinatra, with Plácido Domingo, with Willie Nelson, with Stevie Wonder, with Diana Ross, with everybody, really. In 1970/71, I was just a little baby trying to reach by my body, my heart, and my brains in three minutes.
“Today, they give me two hours. I have perfect contact with my brain and my heart, even if my body is not so strong. My heart and my brain, they are together all the time. If I continue to sell records, it is because I look for something in the song still. I don’t change the style of singing, if possible,” he says.
Last year, Iglesias received two historic awards to add to his already overburdened trophy cabinet. In Beijing, he was awarded The First and Most Popular International Artist of All Time in China, and he was one of the first five artists who entered the Latin Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in Miami.
Yet he is reticent to talk about all these awards, which include a Grammy.
“To be honest,” he says, “the biggest reward that I have are the people. When I’m asked to play in Ireland, or I do a gig in China, the people still are there for me. That’s the biggest award I have. I’ve been given so many awards in my life. But there’s a little moment when I go on the stage after a long life. That’s the award I love most,” he says. “I love to be with the people. The biggest support I’ve had in my life is the people.”
Over the years, Julio Iglesias has certainly done his best and the people have loved it. The rest is history.
* The Prince of Romance: Julio Iglesias plays Dublin O2 Arena on Thursday, May 15.
Julio Iglesias: ‘I want to do things better’
April 19, 2013
By: -, El Universo
In Julio Iglesias’ recipe for success, talent plays a small part. “You first reach success with good timing, just the right time, the right moment. Afterwards with a lot of luck, after with a little talent”, said Iglesias. He decided to record “1” so that people know he is singing better. The double CD, which arrived in the United States as a deluxe edition after having made a debut in Spain and Latin America, includes songs in English, Spanish, Italian and French, such as Crazy, Hey!, Me olvidé de vivir, De niña a mujer and Me va, me va. The Spaniard is the latin musician who has sold the most albums, more than 300 million- a Guinness world record. At the country club on the exclusive island of Indian Creek, the charismatic and at times ironic singer said that the only thing he hadn’t achieved in life was to “buy time”.
Why a greatest hits album?
It isn’t a greatest hits album. Greatest hits don’t exist, the people have them and that’s it. It’s an album that I’ve re-recorded, I went back and sang 80% of it. Why? Because I had sung very normally. I was never a born-singer. I was not a person with a natural predisposition for singing. I had to learn everything. In fact, I’ve learned everything.
What do you want to transmit with this album?
Nothing. I want to do things better. I want people to know I sing better. I want people to understand that the sounds are much better today, I don’t want my voice to be hidden in 20 years and an orchestra they want put back in, I don’t want anyone to fool around with my music. I want to do it myself.
What has your career given you?
The looks of the people. the applause, the recognition. When I go to a restaurant and I get fresh food (laughs). No, what my career has given me is the opportunity to meet people from the inside and on the outside; to look fairly in someone’s eyes, different cultures. If I get in an elevator with you and there are six different cultures, I’ll certainly pick up on five. That is wonderful.
What is it that makes you happy?
(Silence) No, no, happiness for me is not any special motivation. There are more important things than happiness. Emotion is much more important than happiness, happiness has nothing to do with it. What is exiting and passionate is 100 times greater than happiness.
In your songs you always talk about women. How important have women been in your life? How much inspiration have they given you?
If I could say that the aesthetic here is the most important relationship between feeling and the mind, I would say that women have been vital in my life. Because a woman has always been more attractive in all overall feelings, even including friendship, which is a feeling that has no gender. Women have always been pioneering for me. I think women are very advanced in time, 100 years.
Is there anything left to be done?
I think learning music, yes. Because if I had learned music, I would have “laid the egg, I would have fried it and I would have eaten it”.
Are you afraid of death?
Of the physical less than the psychic.
This 2013 you turn 70. Is that something special for you or just one more number?
70 years isn’t an easy number. Neither was 60, nor 50. I think I haven’t had any easy number because I’ve had to continuously learn to live. I wasn’t born learned. There are people born with everything right. I was born with everything separated and I’ve been putting them together. And now that I’m 70 I’m arriving to that puzzle where many things are completed.
Julio Iglesias mounting ‘comeback’ with new versions of his famous songs
August 24, 2012
By: Richard Ouzounian, The Star
Have you ever thought of taking a second crack at your life?
Sure, we mere mortals may have indulged in a fantasy game of “coulda, woulda, shoulda,” but what’s Julio Iglesias doing entertaining those same notions?
On Aug. 28, Sony Music Canada will release Iglesias’s latest CD, 1, on which he presents new versions of 38 of the most emblematic hits he’s recorded during his 44-year career.
“Moonlight Lady,” “Always on My Mind,” “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” as well as any other favourites, will be on this two-disc set, which is half English, half Spanish.
But if you’ve already sold more than 100 million copies of 77 albums in 14 languages and are officially one of the 15 bestselling music artists in history, what makes you do it all over again with your 69th birthday staring you in the face (Sept. 23)?
“Imagine that someone gave you the opportunity to redo everything you’ve done before? Wouldn’t you take it?” Iglesias, asks on the phone from his home in Miami. “I looked on it as an open window and an open door all at once, a comeback with songs.”
The notion of a “comeback” for a star who’s never gone away seems strange, but Iglesias embraces it.
“There comes a time in your life when you feel you have finished one chapter and can move onto another. I began to feel like that a few years ago, but before I moved on I looked back at what I had done.
“Do not misunderstand me. I am proud of all the work from my past and the people I did it with. But I am a different man now, I have a different voice now, I understand the world and all of its people differently as well.
“I think of something my father said to me many years ago. ‘Now I know why I did all the things that I have done.’ You see? You live a life, you have a family, you sing your songs. You do not think about these things. You just do them. And then one day, it all make sense to you.”
Listening to Iglesias’s new recordings of his old songs proves his point. The voice is still glorious, burnished by age rather than diminished, but unlike many performers who seek to replace the passion of youth with the overemphasis of age, he has gone for a new plainness, an unadorned quality in his singing that is even more effective.
“I want to sing simple things for the simple lives of simple people,” he says.
One could accuse Iglesias of ingenuousness, talking about simplicity while moving in a world of jet-set superstardom, but he speaks convincingly.
“What moves me the most about this process is that although I have changed over the years, the way that human beings relate to each other hasn’t. ‘Embrace me’ still means the same thing, even if today the kids say it differently.
“The meaning of the eyes is timeless. People in love look into each other’s souls and it is that feeling that I try to capture when I sing.”
Virtually all of the songs on Iglesias’s collection deal with love in one of its permutations or combinations, so it seems reasonable to ask him his own thoughts on the topic.
“Love,” he savours the word and thinks a bit before continuing. “Love comes to everybody in many different ways. Attraction is always the first thing, no? But love must be more than that. It must be magic.
“Yes, it has happened to me, many times.”
He was married to his first wife, journalist and socialite Isabel Preysler, in 1971 and they had three children, including Enrique Iglesias, but their marriage was annulled in 1979. And “then began the period of ‘all the girls I loved before,’” he laughs.
In 1990, he became seriously involved with model Miranda Rijnsburger. He recalls the moment they met.
“You are invited to a table, you sit down. You enjoy the eyes of somebody who is sitting across from you and that is how it all begins.”
Together they had five children. In 2010, after 20 years together, they suddenly married.
“It is like I said,” he explains. “You suddenly think of something that you have done in a new and different way.”
Iglesias is refreshingly philosophical about the passing of time, accepting its vices and virtues together.
“There are fans who think of the man I was 30 years ago who want to meet me now and I say, ‘Forget it, you will be disappointed!’ But I am not an old man. No, my friend. The passion is still in my body, in my heart and in my voice.
“Yes, when I get up in the morning, it takes me a moment to re-enter the world. When I put my feet on the floor the first time each day, I can feel a little light-headed for a moment or two, but it passes.”
He laughs, low and throaty. “Yes, the body gets weaker with time, but the memories grow stronger.”
One of the fascinating things about 1 is that Iglesias has kept many of his most famous “duets” from over the years, keeping his partners’ tracks intact and re-recording his own, often to much richer effect.
“I have sung with over 300 artists. Imagine that. And I have learned something from every last one of them. Classical, black, country . . . all those beautiful voices, all those beautiful people.
“Can you imagine me singing with Sinatra?” he asks, remembering the 1993 duet they did on “Summer Wind” when the Chairman of the Board was 78 and Iglesias was 50. Sinatra died in 1998 at 82. “Now, we are much closer in age and other ways.”
The Spanish legend sounds star-struck himself as he recalls the people he has recorded with.
“When you sing with Willie Nelson, the Beach Boys, Diana Ross, they bring you something new and you grow as an artist. I did not want to forget those experiences; I wanted to have them once again, differently.”
With Iglesias, it eventually comes back to the music, even when he grows rhapsodic over his European home, “just a kilometre away from Romanée-Conti,” considered by some to be the finest wine region in the world.
“Why is the wine so special there? It is the inclination of the land and the way the water goes through the terrain in different ways. It is like human beings, no? We all have a unique sound because the rain of life passes through us all in different ways as well.
“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe in a preordained destiny. Yes, we are given a voice and a life and an experience, but those are just the points we begin from.
“We are born to get alive. What we do after that is our business.”
Willie Nelson
“Everyone thought it so strange we recorded together, but we were very much the same. Except for how we dressed!”
Frank Sinatra
“He is the master of singing about the human heart. Still. No one has ever beaten him.”
Paul Anka
“I admire the bravura of Paul’s singing. He may be Canadian, but he sounds European to me.”
Diana Ross
“A very great artist and a very great lady.”
Dolly Parton
“How can you not love Dolly? She exudes the joy of living in everything she does.”
JULIO IGLESIAS I CAN DISCUSS PERFECTLY WELL PLATO OR KANT
August 10, 2012
By: Darío Prieto, El Mundo
He is happy «with wine and a piece of bread and, of course, with caviar and champagne.» He has sung to life, to love, and to the people of Spain. He has socialized with U.S. presidents and has invited 400 unemployed workers to his concert in Leon. Here he is: Julio.
The first part of the conversation takes place in an electric golf cart in which the singer of Hey travels around his estate in the mountains of Marbella. There is a stage set up on the edge of the pool, where he has been talking via satellite with Finland, Indonesia, the Philippines, China and India, as part of the promotion of his compilation 1, in which he returns to sing his greatest hits. The same ones he will launch into on Sunday, a few kilometers from here, in the final concert of his Spanish tour.
Julio, thank you very much for inviting me to your…
You’re welcome. But listen: What’s this I have heard that you got married with my music?
Well… the truth is that we played three songs at the wedding, yes.
And where was it?
In Villafranca del Bierzo, Leon.
Well hey. I remember when we used to stop there those summers on our way to Cangas del Morrazo. How fast the years go by. And I don’t have much time left, Darío.
But, Julio, what a thing to say…
How old are you?
33. Now that you ask: where were you at my age?
[Laughter] Ah, if I told you…
With more than 300 million records sold, Julio Iglesias is the Spanish musician who has had the most international success. A global icon of a rogue and of a gentleman. Mischievously he remarks to a Taiwanese journalist that his older children are half Asian on their mother’s side, and seeing her face reminds him of them.
You look sad.
When I reviewed these songs, I realized that I would no longer be able, in my damned life, to write songs like these again. They are full of words that I would not be able to put together again. And nothing would please me more than that my country would understand that I have learned. If you leave this life without them telling you that you have done well in the country where you were born, then a sad vestige remains, like marginalization. That «No one is a prophet in his own land» is horrible for Spain.
How did you begin?
In the year 1963, when everyone was singing about «baby» and «doll,» I wrote La vida sigue igual, which was the first pop song in Spain, without a doubt.
Are you a philosopher?
[He laughs, throwing his head back. Then he gets serious.] I was in bed dying after a car accident, and I still could say: «There is always something to live for.» And then that became a hymn. I read a lot when I was sick, and I can discuss perfectly well Plato or Kant, but I am not very interested in picking up a book to write a song.
But your music does present an attitude toward life.
My songs are all small stories. I do not become rhetorical when I write because I have never been an intellectual. I am a watcher, who, having lived in so many places, has learned more from looking into the eyes of different cultures.
How does the crisis appear at this stage?
Spain is a modern country which is ready for a new economic boom. Having not lived in Spain for 35 years, when I return, I continue to be amazed: We have fantastic roads, plenty of airports, and a high speed train. An extremely modern country.
But with serious problems.
What is not logical is the rate of unemployment, 25% without jobs. But the greatest shame of my country is that, after 15 years during which Spain gave refuge to people from around the world, today it has become a place from which young people, 25-30 years old, have to leave. People who have cost the Spanish state a lot, and who leave at an age when they fall in love with a person or with a country, and they stay there forever. Human beings very educated whom we are losing. It’s absurd.
Is it the fault of the politicians?
In general, with some exceptions, Spanish politicians do not have the necessary universality. They have not visited other lands, and instead of being technocrats have been populists. Spain has been a country of the short-term, less in the case of the great poets and the great artists.
What do you do for your country?
So that people are aware: I pay my direct taxes in Spain. Although I am not a resident here, 25% of what I charge anywhere in the world, whether it be from concerts or from copyrights, I pay in my country.
And the well-known Spanish jealousy?
Spain is as it is, and there is no reason to judge it for the passions it has, nor to take it personally. Like the taxi driver was nasty, so Paris is awful…No. When you go out, you notice the affection that we arouse. Those who least like the Spanish are the Spanish themselves.
As a former football player, how goes the selection?
It gives me great joy when I see Xavi Hernández playing with Xabi Alonso, Casillas, Ramos, Piqué… And I ask myself: How is it possible that, knowing that together we win so much, we do not stay together? Spain is a multicultural country, and it is more than accepted, but united we are much more effective. I never understood this. And more, since I live in a country which is rightly called the United States, and which unites itself in an impressive way when it has to come together.
The melting pot, they say.
We are the same. We are Jews, Arabs, Celts, Phoenicians… But the division… No. no and no. That is a lie. And in Spain we are going to have political problems in that regard. So this brilliant Spanish sport that we have now should be an example of what the economy and the social life must be.

Julio Iglesias: “El señor” in his domain
July 14, 2011
By: Diego León, Elenco, Colombia
Old LP record sleeves of „El amor” and „A mis 33” share wall space with other singers of international renown at the Punta Cana Yacht Resort bar lounge , where many people say Julio Iglesias is an owner and where his pilot, music producer, lawyers who manage his real estate business and other guests stay: He soon turns 68, (23rd of September), and hasn’t lost his agility nor his gallantry.
„El señor”, as everyone on the island calls him, is the symbol and springboard of a construction and tourism industry which began to grow on the Dominican tropical paradise upon his arrival: „I wanted to buy a house in La Romana (an hour and a half from Punta Cana and where Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in `94 and where other celebrities such as Marc Anthony and Sharon Stone have houses), but Oscar de la Renta told me we should come here; we met with a company president of the area and we became partners. This place has developed quite a lot in recent years.”
Mr. Iglesias met with us dressed in a sweater, after Sunshine, a beautiful Canadian blonde assistant eight years in his service, punctually picked us up at the resort at 4:15 pm. It took just five minutes to get to the Coral 5 neighborhood where an enormous gate opened up and a mansion with huge gardens and Balinese decorations appeared before us.
At the entrance of the house’s five reception rooms appeared one Nathaly, a sexy Panamanian dancer with a cinnamon complexion and graceful movements, who travels with the singer and is responsible for everything running like clockwork. Dispersed around were 15 employees who water plants, do the cleaning, cut the grass, and see to every need and request. „The señor is in his studio”, and we sat down in the beach dining area, next to a basket with Miranda’s and the five kid’s beach sandals, sails fluttering in the wind and an amazing view of the crystal-clear blue sea that caresses the white sand. The home of Oscar de la Renta is only a few metres away, who during those days had other journalists over for the launch of a perfume.
„He lives five minutes from here, he comes over in a golf cart and he gets to his plane through the VIP gate”, one of the employees told us from the airport where Julio has a 42 thousand kilogram E5 private Jet with a capacity of up to 12 passengers.
For the first meeting we moved to the homemade studio set up with the latest technology. Full of excitement, like a kid showing off his new toys, the singer let us listen to the old songs and compare them to the latest new versions, new voice recordings and re-played instruments with which he wants to surprise his long-term fans and capture the heart of the new generation: „I have more than one thousand songs in Spanish, I’ve taken around 120 from La vida sigue igual up to Me olvidé de vivir, and I’m singing them afresh. As I know I’m not able to write songs like Abrázame or Quijote again, I discovered this system which lets me go back and sing better what I did before with a normal sound and voice. My voice has gained a lot with time”.
Alberto Sanchez, the sound technician who has been at the head of the project with Mr. Iglesias for a year and a half, says its all about taking songs and on top of the bare bones re-recording the base, drums, strings, voice, and replacing the old for the new without losing the essence.
Driving in a golf cart by Julio himself we returned to the dining area with a view of the marina and a cool breeze. „Dinnertime is very important as its a time of communion; there, love is won and lost. I’ve had many dinner tables with my children; and as with the oldest ones (Julio Jose, Enrique and Chabeli) I had little time, they were rather intense, with some very deep conversations”. I’ve been nearer to the younger ones, enjoyed more time with them.
It’s been more than ten years since he’s met with journalists, a decade without people poking their noses in his life and without him accepting to answer any question. While he talked, Chipi and Misty walked by, the cats that played together on the hot sand. „You are the first ones to come here; afterwards, in these next two months I’ll receive around 50 journalists from all over the world.” Of course, Julio didn’t need to do this, he’s been living from occasional concerts, but from sheer pleasure, as his current income is a result of „other empires” he has been working on.
While talking about the children he has with Miranda, he pointed out the places they sit at, as if they were there: Miguel Alejandro, 13 years old; Rodrigo, 12; the twins Cristina and Victoria, 10, and Guillermo, 4. „They’re in Miami, tomorrow we’ll see if they’re coming down or I go up to meet them.”
Another house in Miami, taken care of by Rosie for nine years and ten employees, where a giant tortoise is the pet, and a mansion in Spain with five assistants who look after his dogs Charlie and Chaplin, form the homes of the singer-songwriter.
A year ago he married Miranda, after a 20-year courtship: „I can’t imagine life without knowing Miranda is looking at me.”
Nowadays, he spends more than 15 out of 24 hours in a day in the studio. For several years now some producers from Broadway have been insisting on doing a musical about his life, with his songs. He’s been thinking about it a bit but hasn’t decided: „Because, this future that I’m building now is more important, getting people to go back and listen to my songs. The result that I’d like to get from this record is having people in their 20’s and 30’s saying Oye, mamá, tenías razón.”
Its the first time in history that a musician has decided to re-record everything, absolutely every one of his biggest hits, and the producer Sony has been an accomplice. Two months ago in Columbia they launched „1”, the test album that introduces 12 of these experiments and 100 thousand copies were sold in just three weeks.
That encourages him, mainly because since 1984 he hasn’t had a strong presence in this market: „Its not that I’ve been away from Latin America, but that I’ve been busy discovering other cultures, singing in other languages.” In a few days the same experiment will be launched in Brazil, in Portuguese; later on September 15th, a CD will go around the world that will have 18 songs in Spanish and 10 in English, and in March of next year he’ll try out the records in French and Italian.
Julio Iglesias: master singer and musical icon June 26, 2011
By: Ángela Covo, Diario “La Prensa” de San Antonio
San Antonio.- In less than 3 short weeks, ARTS SA presents another master of the musical arts, Julio Iglesias, who will perform at the Majestic Theater on July 14. There are only a few tickets left, and while ARTS SA is gratified by the warm support – you’d better hurry to make sure you get a seat.
By Angela Covo
Julio Iglesias is much more than the world’s most popular singer – he is the international icon of romance and elegance.
The singer has a huge and loyal fan base across the globe. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, long-time fan Alicia Dichiaro eloquently expressed, „Julio Iglesias is not only incredibly romantic, he projects an image of sweetness and kindness – and he sets the standard for beautiful music.”
And although Iglesias has a very particular style, his repertoire is at least as broad as his fan base. From the melancholy strains of tango to American standards, gorgeous Spanish ballads to rumbas and flamencos, the vocal stylist has mastered all the genres and in several languages, bringing his gift of music to millions of people all over the world.
While Iglesias casts a spirit of bon vivant, in fact, he is most proud of his strict sense of discipline.
„One must understand the concept of control. To learn more, to be more confident, these things are not for free, there is a price to pay, and it is well worth it”, he explained. „It is the result of understanding in your heart that the most difficult thing in life is not to drive, but to be driven.”
While a law student in Madrid, and a rising star goalie for Real Madrid futbol, Iglesias suffered a devastating accident that almost killed him. In fact, the athlete lay cripple for quite some time, regaining the use of his limbs by sheer determination, and of course, discipline.
„I had an accident when I was very, very young, about 20 years old – I was almost dead, but I changed my life on many levels – I learned to play the guitar and became a singer”, Iglesias said.
He explained that he never felt bitter about the incident that destroyed the life he had already planned out. As he regained his strength, day by day, he started to play the guitar to improve his dexterity, and discovered his God-given talent.
„It turned out that I could sing and I started to write songs”, he said. His parents encouraged him, and although he believed they were biased, he forged ahead. Iglesias refocused his passion, brought to bear his discipline, and recreated himself … from lawyer and athlete to singer – with superstar status.
„You know, I have never believed in destiny, that is to say, I believe in circumstance, that one is born to do a certain thing”, Iglesias said. „But you have to compete, you have to really learn and you have to put your strength to the limit.”
And the singer-philosopher followed his star perfectly – and completed his law degree as well. In a recent interview, he joked, „I am a singer who sings that he was a lawyer at one time.”
He has been to San Antonio on tour at least 20 times, but he said the one thing he wants San Antonio to know is that he is not a saint – „Digales que no soy santo”.
And yet, while he will not accept the mantle of role model, he gives back constantly. In 1989, he was appointed goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and still actively participates.
„You see, I live an absolutely privileged life, and the love and passion comes from singing,” he said. „I am truly blessed”.
In the late 80’s he won a Grammy Award for Un Hombre Solo. In the 90’s, he recorded an album with tracks in different languages for separate releases (an extraordinarily difficult feat), followed by albums with duets with far-flung partners like Sting, Thalia, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson.
But it is the romantic pulse inside him that drives him to sing tango.
„Yo soy un tanguero, muy tanguero”, he said. He explained that the philosophy of the tango – the resolute themes of love, the tango’s deeply romantic sentiment, the utterly quixotic nuance and depth of intensity when a man loves a woman, all that passion and tradition that only the tango can deliver – is what attracts him and what he embraces.
His favorite tango is „El dia que me quieras”, possibly one of the most powerful and passionate tangos ever written.
The international star has been everywhere, performing for diverse audiences, but when asked what space he felt most connected to in his travels, without dropping a beat, Iglesias answered, „I feel absolutely connected to life, to the energy of the sun, to the pull of the sea.”
He will be bringing his music, his verve and zest for life to the Majestic Theater in San Antonio on July 14, and while we are delighted to have him back again, the feeling is mutual.
„I’m going to play in a beautiful theater in San Antonio, I am very excited.”

“My greatest success is to continue to be alive”
July 25, 2010
By: Pedro Luis Gómez, Diario Sur
Julio Iglesias professes to have a simple and stoic life. “I like discipline and hard work. I don’t do things on the spur of the moment, nor for the short term”
He continues at the top. 260 million albums sold, every 30 seconds one of his songs can be heard on the radio somewhere in the world; he fills theaters with tickets costing over $2,000; they fight over him in Las Vegas and New York; they call him from Monte-Carlo, Moscow or some Arab country… At 66, Julio Iglesias is, as always, full of dreams and loving his country. The New York Times finished an interview with Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero recently with an illustrative phrase: “Spain, which until recently was only known in the world for being the birthplace of Julio Iglesias…”
After having traveled four continents this year, he begins his European tour with a concert in Malaga, Wednesday the 28th, in the bullring of the Malagueta. This interview is taking place in his house on the Costa del Sol. Recently arrived from the United States, he will stay in Malaga until October. It’s hot and Julio looks tanned and in excellent shape; cheerful, he is dressed all in white, in a linen shirt and matching pants. To surpass is one of the most important rules of his ordered and stoic life. More unaffected than many imagine.
-What remains of that Julio Iglesias who debuted in July 1968 in Benidorm?
-The passion for life and for singing and the strength to get up on stage.
-There will be more differences. -The difference is that 42 years have passed since that Festival of Benidorm. Although for me, it is like it was yesterday. It is amazing how quickly time passes… I am very grateful to life and to my fans for this four-decade career. I have learned and have enjoyed very much; I have had and still have the privilege of traveling all over the world, and above all of meeting wonderful people, who have enriched me not only as an artist, but also as a person.
-You speak as if you have a long career ahead. -It all depends on the wishes of the public, who decide when an artist should retire. Right now, I have the fortune to continue singing and to have their affection. It is a privilege that life has given me, to see three generations come to my concerts.
-What do you think of Spanish music today? -I’m happy to see that there are many talented young people, who can go very far thanks to their efforts, their quality and their discipline.
-Is that your secret? -Without a doubt: all goals may be achieved with effort, quality and discipline.
-You are leaving a few loose ends in life. Do you improvise? -I like discipline and hard work. I don’t like to improvise, and I never do things for the short term.
-What would have happened to Julio Iglesias if he had not gone to the United States? -Circumstances often determine people’s lives. I do not know what would have happened in my life with so many circumstances.
-Do you need to reconnect with your roots? You spend many seasons in Malaga. -Roots are never lost, no matter where you are. I am Spanish, I’m very proud of it, and of course I love to be in my country and to show it to my young children. For quite some time we have been spending long periods in Spain.
-How do they view the Spanish abroad? -Spain is a respected country, and is arousing an increased interest among foreigners for its cultural and touristic attractions, for its generous and hospitable people, and lately, for its great triumphs in the world of sports. The economic situation at the moment is not favorable. But our country has always become stronger in adverse circumstances. Spain is a strong country internationally, which has always had a fundamental appeal for the other nations, and its place in history gives it a major importance for the future.
Del Bosque, extraordinary
-Where did you watch the final of the World Cup against Holland? -In the United States. It was amazing…Such nerve! Spain’s name has been placed at the very top of world sport. I was excited and it filled me with pride to see it. With this team, Nadal, Pau Gasol, Fernando Alonso, Alberto Contador and other illustrious names, our country is at the forefront of the greatest athletes and this is wonderful for our country.
-And what about Vicente del Bosque? -He is an extraordinary coach and a gentleman. He knows how to stay calm, to anticipate the movement of the opponent with enough time to counter it, to motivate his players, and to give them confidence in the key moments of the match. Spanish football owes him a lot.
-Your favorite football team is obvious. And your favorite album? -I cannot speak of one single title. I have many favorite albums, from Nat King Cole to Sinatra, including the greatest blues artists.
-What has been your greatest mistake? -I have been mistaken many times, like every human being, but the most important thing is to learn from your mistakes.
-Your greatest success? -To stay alive, and to be more motivated than ever for life.
-Don’t you live in a glass bubble? You seldom go out. -The fact of not being present at parties or at social events does not mean that I live in a glass bubble. I am in contact with people daily; I sing in the most diverse countries, and this is a privilege because you see life from different perspectives and you understand it better. At this time in my life, if I do not go out very much, it is because I prefer to concentrate on my work, on the tour, on the next album that I am recording, and on being with my family.
-What is Miranda in your life? -Miranda is my life.
-Eight children. The youngest, Guillermo, just three years old. Have you already stopped or do you plan to continue? -I have eight children, five of them little kids, and at age 66, it’s a gift from God. My wife and I adore each other; this is the best time of our lives. So far, we have no plans to expand the family, but you can never know what may happen.
-Is it true that you do not get along with the three eldest, the children that you had with Isabel Preysler? -How can I not get along with my children? Who can think that? I adore them and I am very proud of them. Each one has managed to succeed by their own efforts. They are also generous, and are champions in life.
-Father, grandfather, with a brother and a sister who are less than three years old. Your family takes the cake. -Thank you very much. Yes, life has given me a large and united family.
-Do you miss your father? -Very much… No one nor anything can ever fill the void that he has left.
-To what does Julio Iglesias aspire now? -To keep on learning, to have health and discipline.
-What else do you need to achieve? -To see my children grow up, to instill in them life’s values, and to teach them to fly high, to continue with the passion for music and to thank the many people who have given me a privileged life.
-How is your world tour? -The tour this year is special, since it has taken us to four continents already, to countries as diverse as Australia, the Philippines, Uruguay, Argentina, Malaysia, the United Sates, Japan, Morocco, Egypt and many more… On July 28th, we will begin the European tour with a concert in Malaga, in the bullring of the Malagueta, followed by two concerts at the Festival of Cap Roig, August 5th and 6th. They are my only three concerts in Spain, and I am excited to sing in my country.
-And you who thrill millions of fans around the world… Is it true that you have made love with thousands of women? -That is the legend. The legend is much more attractive than the reality, but my respect for women has always been genuine. From them I have learned the most than from anyone in life.
-This year you were given the title of Adopted Son of Malaga and awarded the Gold Medal of the Fine Arts. What do these awards mean to you, even including several months ago a “Julio Iglesias Day” in the state of Nevada? -An award is the symbol of people’s affection, and this always makes you feel honored.
-Do you feel envied? -No. I feel happy.
