Perhaps what drives him is the fact that his entire career is a fluke.Īt school he says he couldn't even get into the choir.Īt 20 Julio was playing in goal for Real Madrid reserves and studying law as a back-up career when a car crash turned his life upside down. People invite me to sing there and then they do something even more generous - they invite you to sing again. "It is a privilege for me to play all these beautiful places all over the world. How can you tell me to stop - a guy like me, who has been on the road for so many years? I am like a man who needs insulin and without it he will die. It has nothing to do with material situation. "Why do I do it? Because it is my passion. He is 70 now, the most successful Latin music artist bar none and still touring constantly. Later this month, he is due to perform two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall to mark the release of his latest album - his 81st. Within seconds he is calling me Anita bonita - Anita is the Spanish diminutive of my first name and "bonita" means "pretty".ĭespite 40 years as a star in the English-speaking world his grasp of the language is still shaky but it hasn't stopped him selling more than 300million records in 14 languages. Instead it turns out Julio Iglesias is an absolute hoot. In other words I was ready for a stereotypical Latin male (and before the complaints start I have a tribe of Italian male relatives so I know of what I speak.) I had imagined a man with a pretty high opinion of himself, who takes himself VERY seriously and thinks he is God's gift - and not in an ironic way. Really? He would like to be a space tourist? "The rest of the time I am in Miami or Spain or all over.