Julio Iglesias

Julio Iglesias
Background information
Birth name	Julio Iglesias
Born	September 23, 1943 (1943-09-23) (age 66)
Origin	Madrid, Spain
Genres	Latin / Latin pop
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter
Years active	1968 - Present
Labels	Columbia, Sony
Website	Official Site

Julio Iglesias (born September 23, 1943 in Madrid) is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million albums ^[1] in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music he is one of the top 10 best selling music artists in history. While Iglesias rose to international prominence in the 1970s and 1980s as a performer of romantic ballads and his success has continued as he entered new musical endeavors. Thus far, he has performed approximately 5,000 concerts^[2].

Background

Julio Iglesias is the eldest son of Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga and Maria del Rosario de la Cueva y Perignat who was of Jewish^[3] origin; Carlos is his younger brother. When the singer was 61 years old, his 89-year-old father sired more children: half brother Jaime (18 May 2004), half-sister Ruth (26 July 2006). Julio's siblings were born of Dr. Iglesias's second marriage to Ronna Keitt.

In the early sixties, when he was a law student in Madrid, he briefly was goalkeeper for one of Real Madrid's youth soccer teams; however, a 22 September 1963 car crash truncated his footballer's career: I had a car accident; [a] very, very strange car accident . . . I lost control of the car, and rolled it, resulting in what they call 'paraparexia', which is not a paraplegi[a]. It's a compression in the [spinal] cord, in the sense of the neck . . . my spinal cord; and I was very, very ill for three years.

His doctors thought he would never walk again, but slowly, he began recovering his health. To develop and increase the dexterity of his hands, he began playing guitar. When recovered of health, he resumed academic studies, and travelled to England to study the English language, first in Ramsgate, then at Bell Educational Trust's Language School in Cambridge.^[4]

Musical career

Early career to 1978

In 1968, he won the Benidorm International Song Festival, a songwriter's contest in Spain, with the song La Vida Sigue Igual and signed a contract with Discos Columbia, the Spain branch of the Columbia Records company. He represented Spain in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest, earning fourth place, after Northern Irish singer Dana Scallon, and the Welsh singer Mary Hopkin. His entry was the song 'Gwendolyne'. Shortly after he had a number one hit in many European countries with Un Canto A Galicia. That single sold 1 million copies in Germany alone. In 1975 he found success in the Italian market by recording a song exclusively in Italian and for Italy called Se mi lasci non vale (If you leave me, it can't be). Notable albums from this decade are A Flor de Piel (1974, with the European hit 'Manuela'), El Amor (1975), and Soy (1978). He also sang in French. One of his popular songs is Je n'ai pas changé.

The Peak, 1978 – 1990

In 1978, he signed a contract for CBS International, adding English, French, Portuguese, and German to his languages repertoire. Iglesias released the album De Niña a Mujer (1981), from it came the first English-language hit, a Spanish cover of "Begin the Beguine" (N. 1 in the U.K.); he also released a collection, Julio (1983).

In 1984, he released 1100 Bel Air Place, the hit album which gave him great fame in English-speaking markets. It sold three million copies in the U.S., with the first single "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", a duet with Willie Nelson, earning fifth place in the Billboard Hot 100; it also featured "All of You", with Diana Ross.

In 1985, Julio Iglesias, Sr, was kidnapped, but found alive two weeks later, prompting Julio (divorced from Isabel Preysler) to move his family to Miami, Florida. That year he recorded duets with Diana Ross and Willie Nelson. In 1986, it was rumoured that Julio, seeking a day's solace from fame, was found walking the streets of Cayey, Puerto Rico, after a seven-days'-disappearance. After visiting the Dominican Republic, he became a citizen of that country in 2005^{[citation needed]}.

Iglesias won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in the 1988 Grammy Awards for the album Un Hombre Solo ("A Man Alone"). He recorded a duet with Stevie Wonder on "My Love", in his Non Stop album, a crossover success in 1988.

The 1990s

In the 1990s, Julio Iglesias returned to his original Spanish melody in Tango (1996), nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards, losing to the Romances album by Luis Miguel ^[5]. Also that year, his youngest son, Enrique Iglesias, also was nominated for the Vivir album.

Julio went on to win the World Music Award for Tango in Monoco later that year where he was up against Luis Miguel and son Enrique again. Julio performed two "Tangos" to the delight of the audience.

With him continually touring and recording, to ensure his music reaches the world, Julio Iglesias has said, that singing, as an admirable activity, is something he can't picture not in his life. He is thrilled being a singer, and always wants to be a singer, loving the life so much, he would rather die on stage than in bed. He is proud of his achievements, and proud of Enrique's achievements, and of how much his music has enhanced peoples' lives. Julio Iglesias is amenable to signing autographs, though he can be difficult to reach, because of the security guards they have hired since 1985, after the kidnapping.

In 1995 he appeared as a guest star in the videoclip of Thalía's song Amandote; she had starred in the video clip of Iglesias's hit Baila Morena.

Since 2000

This biographical section of a needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2008) (Find sources: Julio Iglesias – news, books, scholar)

Iglesias returned to the headlines in October, 2003, when he went to Argentina and kissed show host Susana Giménez three times during a live telecast of her show.

2003 saw the release of the Spanish album "Divorcio." (Divorce) In its first day of sales, "Divorcio" sold a record 350,000 copies in Spain; and quickly reached the #1 spot on the charts in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Russia.

Julio Iglesias has toured in many countries; here is a poster for a gig in Iaşi, Romania.

The remainder of 2003 and early 2004 featured a mega 10 month world tour; which took Iglesias, fueled with the success of "Divorcio" from Europe and Asia to The United States, South America, and Africa. More than half the shows on the tour sold out within days of going on sale.

In December 2004, Miranda and Iglesias recorded a duet of the Christmas song Silent Night. The song, which was not officially released, also included a voice message from Julio, Miranda, and their 4 young children. The song was released online through the singer's web page, and a CD was included in their Christmas card as a holiday gift from the Iglesias family to their friends and fans around the world.

In 2008, Iglesias and Family recorded another song as a gift for their fans. The family recorded "The Little Drummer Boy" in Spanish and English and included it in the family's Christmas card.

Iglesias has made important investments in the Dominican Republic's eastern town of Punta Cana, a major tourist destination, where he spends most of the year when he is not on tour.

The singer's south Florida mansion on the exclusive, security obsessed, private Indian Creek Island was placed on the market in 2006 for a quoted $28 million dollars, making it one of "Ten Most Expensive Homes in the South" in 2006 according to Forbes Magazine.[1]

In September 2006 a new English album titled "Romantic Classics" was released. "I've chosen songs from the '60s, '70s and 80s that I believe will come to be regarded as the new standards," Iglesias says in the album's sleeve notes. The album features the hits "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Careless Whisper", and "Right Here Waiting".

Romantic Classics was Iglesias's highest debut on the BILLBOARD charts entering at number 31 in the USA, 21 in Canada, 10 in Australia, and top spots across Europe and Asia.

In late September, Iglesias returned to the studio to record songs in Filipino and Indonesian for the Asian releases of "Romantic Classics"- which helped propel sales in the Asian Markets. He featured a duet with Anggun on Indonesian-English song entitled "All of You".

Iglesias promoted "Romantic Classics" very heavily in the remainder of 2006, and was seen all over the world on popular TV shows, and in the USA, he appeared on Dancing With The Stars where he sang his hit "I Want To know what Love Is," "Good Morning America," "The View," "Fox and Friends," and "Martha Stewart."

2008 saw Iglesias promoting his "Romantic Classics" album in Europe, Africa and South America.

In 2009, Iglesias plans to tour the USA, Canada, South America and Lebanon. The tour is designed to be a celebration of Iglesias's 40 years in the music industry and stops include Beirut, Seattle, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and Vancouver... Just to name a few.

On the 10th April 2009 was featured as a guest artist on the Middle Eastern Version of "Star Academy" and sang with two of the contestants.

Discography

	This section requires expansion with: Chart positions and singles.

See also

• Julio Iglesias discography

External links

• Julio Iglesias Official Web Site
• Interview with Julio Iglesias
• Julio Iglesias at the Internet Movie Database

References