Julio Iglesias (born September 23, 1943-) in Madrid is Spain's best selling singer in history and one of the best selling hispanic singers of all time. Julio Iglesias has sold 250 million records and released nearly 80 records. He has performed approximately 5,000 concerts during his career
Early career to 1978 He was a professional soccer player with Real Madrid, where he played as goalie. During this time, he also enrolled in law school. He had an accident that dashed his hopes of becoming a great soccer player, but during his period in bed, he started to compose songs. He received a certificate as a lawyer from Cambridge University a little later.
In 1968, he won a songwriter's contest in Spain and signed a contract with an Columbia Records Latin music label, Discos Columbia. He entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 for Spain finishing fourth behind Irish singer Dana and Mary Hopkins of England. He sand the song "Gwendolyne" which as the name of his first record. During the 1970s, he married the half Spanish-half Filipino girl Isabel Preysler and they had three children: Chabeli Iglesias, nowadays a former show host who is a news reporter in Washington D.C., Enrique Iglesias, now a world-famous singer who followed his father's steps, and Julio José Iglesias, a model who has released 2 CDs. It was during the 1970s that the Iglesias family's private life became of public knowledge, with Julio and the rest of the family on the covers of various international magazines many times.
Peak of success 1978-1990 In 1978, he signed a contract for CBS International, propelling him to add English, French and Italian to his language repertoire, because he recorded in those languages also under his new management. He achieved his first hit in English with a cover of "Begin The Beguine" and a compilation album Julio in 1983 building his reputation.
In 1984, he released the smash hit album 1100 Bel Air Place, which gave him considerable fame in Engkish language markets. The album sold three million albums in the US alone with the first single "To All The Girls I've Loved Before", a duet with Willie Nelson reaching top five on the Billboard Hot 100. The album also featured "All Of You", a hit duet with Diana Ross.
In 1985, his father was kidnapped but found well and alive after two agonizing weeks. This prompted Julio, who had already divorced from Preysler, to move his family to Miami, where they settled in a mansion at Miami Beach. That year he also made duets with Diana Ross and Willie Nelson. It was rumored in 1986 that Julio, perhaps seeking to get away from all the fame and hoopla for one week, was found walking around the streets of Cayey, Puerto Rico after disappearing for seven days. Julio feels there is a deep connection between him and Puerto Rico because one of his grandmothers was from there.
Iglesias won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in the 1988 Grammy Awards for the album Un Hombre Solo or "A Single Man". He also recorded a duet with Stevie Wonder on "My Love" from his Non Stop album which achieved crossover success in 1988.
Stories of Julio's expensive private jets, boats and houses became legendary during that decade, and his world tours took him to such places like Indonesia and Malaysia.
Career 1990-today In the 1990s, Julio went back to his Spanish music roots and in 1996, he released the CD nicknamed Tango. He is slowly stepping out of the limelight now and enjoying his son Enrique's popularity, together with his long time companion Miranda and their baby daughter.
Julio is very amenable to sign autographs, although he can be a little difficult to reach sometimes, due to his and his family's security detail, which they have had since the 1985 kidnapping of Julio's father.
Iglesias returned to the headlines in October, 2003, when he went to Argentina and kissed show host Susana Gimenez three times on her mouth during a live telecast of her show.
Discography This list contains all albums of original material plus notable compilations.
Gwendolyne (1970) Julio Iglesias (1972) Un Canto a Galicia (1973) A Flor de Piel (1974) A Mexico (1974) El Amor (1975) En El Olympia (1976) recorded live at the Paris Olympia Si Mi Lasci (1976) Yo Canto (1977) A Mis 33 Anos (1977) Sono Un Pirata, Sono Un Signore (1978) Soy (1978) The 24 Greatest Songs (1978) A Vous Les Femmes (1979) Aimer La Vie (1979) America (1979) Emociones (1979) Innamorarsi Alla Mia Eta (1979) Hey! (1980) Sentimental (1980) Fidele (1981) Zartlichkeiten (1981) From A Child To A Woman (1981) Minhas Cancoes Prefidas (1981) Moments (1982) also Momento or Momenti Por Una Mujer (1982) In Concert (1983) Pelo Amor di Uma Mulher (1983) Julio (1983) 1100 Bel Air Place (1984) Libra (1985) Un Hombre Solo (1987) Tutto L'Amore Che Ti Manca (1987) Non Stop (1988) Latinamente (1989) Raices (1989) Starry Night (1990) Ein Weinachtsabend Mit Julio Iglesias (1992) Calor (1992) Crazy (1994) La Carraterra (1995) Tango (1996) My Life: The Greatest Hits (1998) Noche de Cuatro Luanas (2000) Una Donna Puo Cambiar la Vita (2001) Ao Meu Brasil (2001) Personalidad: 20 Exitos (2002) Divorcio (2003) Love Songs (2004)
Source: http://www.biographybase.com/biography/IglesiasJulio.html
