Iglesias says 'thousands sing better than Pavarotti'

Story filed: 12:54 Friday 20th February 2004

 

Julio Iglesias says there are thousands of people who can sing better than both Pavarotti and himself.

"I know I can't really sing properly. Instead I just purr," the 60-year-old tenor has told German magazine Bunte.

But Iglesias said he had no plans to stop recording his voice: "Without singing I'd be dead. Singing is my life. Even if I sing poorly."

The millionaire is convinced that his lack of singing talent is the key to his success: "The best singers can never touch people, never. There are thousands of people who can sing better than I do. There are thousands who can even sing better than Pavarotti. But my voice has an emotion, a style."

Iglesias added that he is still searching for the perfect song: " I have to keep singing because I still haven't found the perfect song or the perfect romance with my fans. I sing today so that people will love me more."

He also said he reckons he'll end up "singing in a small club in Germany" when he's 80 years old

Julio Iglesias Still Singing Love Songs
(AP, 01/29/2004 1:06 PM)

By Adrian Sainz

At 60, Julio Iglesias is still pining for love.

Passion, emotion, a smooth voice and sex-symbol status have made Iglesias the best-selling Latin male artist ever. But he says it's his fans' love that drove him to record a new album.

"When you get to the 35-year mark in your career, you make albums for your fans to love you more, so they don't forget about you," Iglesias told The Associated Press during an interview at his waterfront mansion on an island north of Miami Beach.

The father of seven — including singing sons Enrique and Julio Jr. — is on a world tour for his album "Divorcio," his first since "Noche de Cuatro Lunas" in 2001.

The title may seem strange for a lover, but the album's songs — Iglesias' trademark ballads plus lively cumbia and Caribbean rhythms — refer to divorce from worldly possessions, old acquaintances and bad memories.

"Divorcio" sold 200,000 copies in Spain the day it was released, adding to Iglesias' career total of more than 250 million albums sold. And the master of crossover plans to record songs from the album in French, Italian and English, as he has done previously to expand his international appeal.

Alexandra Lioutikoff, senior vice-president of Latin American membership for The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, said the worldwide market for Iglesias is "guaranteed."

"He is like the flag for us," Lioutikoff said. "You have an artist whose first language is Spanish, but he's good and he reaches the people, and it doesn't matter in which language he's singing."

Iglesias' popularity peaked in the 1980s with the album "Julio" and the hit duet with Willie Nelson, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before."

Iglesias' ability to sing in English set him apart, opening doors for him among American listeners, Lioutikoff said.

"In the American market, he's been taken seriously since the beginning," she said.

Iglesias is supremely confident when talking about his 35-year career. He is so certain of his appeal that he canceled a tour of Asia just to complete his U.S. promotional tour — knowing the late change won't affect his popularity there.

"I'm the Latin artist who has been the most successful in history at representing the Latin culture. That's a title that I've earned after 35 years. The stylings of my words are immodest, but it's the truth.

"I have spread `Latinism' from Finland to China ... and I never want to lose that privilege."

But reaching the heights of Latin music wasn't always on Iglesias' mind.

As a young man, not only did he get a law degree, but he also pursued a dream of playing soccer for Real Madrid as a goalkeeper. However, his short-lived futbol career ended when a serious car accident left him unable to walk for two years.

During his recovery, Iglesias wrote poems and set them to song, and the erstwhile soccer player who was rejected by the chorus in his Madrid high school fell in love with music.

He landed his first recording contract and hit No. 1 in Spain for the first time in 1968. Since then, he has played in front of 100,000 people in Santiago, Chile; performed songs with Diana Ross, Paul Anka and Sting; won a Grammy; and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"He came to my house and we recorded together and I played the guitar," Sting said in an interview. "He's an old style romantic crooner and he does it brilliantly."

Iglesias finds it rewarding to have stuck around this long. He leans back in his chair, runs his fingers through his curiously jet-black hair and gets metaphorical about his career after a long day of interviews, evident by the empty wine bottle and barren cheese plate in front of him.

"When the painting is hanging on your wall for a long time, you don't notice it. You get tired of it, even if it's a Picasso. When the next generation inherits the painting, they sell it. I don't want to be sold."

He's concerned about how he looks, asking, "You don't find me too bald, do you? Old, and bald, and with a belly?" He works out regularly and keeps trim, though his handlers didn't allow photographers at the interview and the home was dimly lit on an overcast day.

But Iglesias, ever the symbol of composure, nearly lost his wits in December on a Mexican television program.

Lip-syncing "El Bacalao," Iglesias suddenly felt a cramp inching his way up his calf and thigh. He couldn't move his leg, and one pause would inform the world he was not really singing.

Iglesias kept going in what he described as one of the toughest moments of his career. "It's the biggest embarrassment I've ever felt ... the only time as an artist when I felt embarrassment, an impotence on stage," he says.

Iglesias is always on the move, bragging that his "life is as fast or faster" than sons Enrique and Julio Jr., two of his three children from first (and only) marriage. He's selling his Surfside home for about $20 million as he spends more time in his Dominican Republic estate.

He has four younger children with companion Miranda Rijnsburger, and Iglesias is finding himself watching his babies grow up again. His twin daughters were born in May 2001.

"The love for both generations is the same, but you try to avoid the mistakes you made in the past," he says.

Several publications have written that the relationship between Enrique and his father is strained, partly because dad didn't get involved early in his son's solo career. Julio Sr. admits he has never seen Enrique perform live, saying their busy schedules haven't coincided, but insists talk of problems is overblown.

"The success my children have had has helped me immensely," Julio Sr. says. "I've showed them a certain respect for this career and certain ambition for this career.

"They've become popular, and they show a tremendous love for the public. They're professionals."

Popularity is something that Iglesias has become accustomed to: "You retire when you are sick and when you can't do it any more or when the public retires you. That's the most painful, because that's the one that leaves you wanting to accomplish more."

In one of his classics, "Me Olvide De Vivir" (I Forgot To Live"), he sings, "I forgot that life is lived in a moment ... I forgot to experience the details of life."

Today, Iglesias is willing to adjust his viewpoint.

"My life in the past 20 years has changed. I don't count days anymore, I count the hours, the minutes, the seconds. I reflect more and want to take advantage of every moment because I have less of them

"Maybe today I wouldn't write `I Forgot to Live.' I would write `I Remembered to Live.'"

Julio Iglesias returns to his professional career of 35 years

Madrid , January 5 th . At 60, the Spanish singer Julio Iglesias has returned to his professional career with an artistic divorce from his last recording and a return to his romantic style of the 70's

His most recent album “Divorcio” included various songs that are a return to the style that most of the world knows him for. And the success of this last disc confirms that which this new strategy asserted. “Julio has returned to the formula of before, after two discs that were somewhat experimental. With “Divorcio” it is the same as the 70's and 80's, with the sound of 2001” Julio's new manager Fernan Martinez told EFE.

The Colombian artistic business man, who launched the careers of Enrique Iglesias and Juanes, and the new person in charge of relaunching the professional career of Julio Iglesias, with whom he worked back in the 80's as his publicist. When asked if his career was stagnant Martinez answered no: “He was on a break, there was not a definite marketing plan. Martinez stated that with 250 Million albums sold, Julio is the living singer with the most albums sold in the world and said that at a minimum he has sold 3 million of each disc “That is something that no singer has done-Anglo or Latino.

Responding to the thought that Julio Iglesias has spanned over three generations, Martinez insists that the Spanish singer “is what's new” and that “he will grow a lot more”

The return to the romantic style of the 70's had something to do with public opinion.

In the last few years Julio has recorded a lot of Latin music, especially Colombian vallenatos, Rancheras boleros and has experimented with tangos and Carribean music like “La Gota Fra” or “Caballo Viejo”. His last album with the provocative title “Divorcio” it has nothing to do with the stability of his relationship with Dutch girlfriend Miranda Rijsburger, the mother of his four small children, and the person with whom Julio lives in his mansion in Punta Cana ( Dominican Republic ) and in Marbella ( Spain )

The album “Divorcio”, which has been in the list of Latin successes in Billboard for 8 weeks and on Latin radio stations in the U.S the first single “Corazon de Papel” can be heard quite often and a second single “El Bacalao” is about to be released.

The video for “Corazon de Papel” was recorded in a mansion in Argentina , the same place where Madonna and Antonio Banderas filmed “Evita”

Iglesias travels to New York today, Monday where he has a string of television appearances in English On 6 th of January he has an interview on “Live with Regis and Kelly” on the 8 th with Barbara Walters on “The View” and on the 9 th in Atlanta in “Live From” on CNN. The intention is promocion for the new disc “Divorcio” among United States audiences, which although is in Spanish has not been an obstacle in the English market.

Martinez informed EFE that “Divorcio” has already sold more than 750,000 copies and that Julio seems like he is 30 years old, he has already confirmed 120 concerts in Europe , Asia , United States and Latin Ameica

US TOUR DATES

Julio Iglesias has announced shows in Mississippi, Florida, and Connecticut for the early part of 2004.  Check out the tour dates on our TOUR page, or for the latest information stop by the message board!

DIVORCIO- TOPS THE US CHARTS

'Divorcio' has re-entered the US Billboard charts at the number 11 spot (week ending JAN 15th) 

This follows a whirlwind of promotional stops made by Mr. Iglesias to "Live: with Regis & Kelly" "The View" and CNN later in the week.

To check on the ranking of 'Dicorcio' according to Billboard- Click Here

Song Listing for DIVORCIO

Julio Iglesias: Divorcio

SONY DISCOS 506324 9

Divorcio
Corazón de Papel
Criollo Soy
Que Ganaste
Como han Pasado los Años
La Carretera II
La Ciudad de Madrugada
El Bacalao
Echame a mi la Culpa
Esa Mujer
Crazy in Love
Extraños Nada Mas

LOVE SONGS

Across Europe and in some South American countries, a new compilation of Julio's greatest love song's has been released.  A week after the release "Love Songs" is the #1 album in Russia, and #2 in Portugal.  No word on whether or not this album will be released in the US.

The set list for this album is as follows...

Julio Iglesias:  Love Songs

Europe : 512604 2 : Compact Disc