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julio iglesias
Julio Jose Iglesias de La Cueva was born in Madrid, Spain, on
September 23, 1943, to the eminent physician Julio Iglesias Puga
and his wife, Maria Del Rosario de La Cueva y Perignat.
Julio's education steered far from music. He studied law in hopes
of becoming a career diplomat, even though his first true love
and ambition lied on the soccer field. A remarkable athlete, he
later landed his dream job as a goalkeeper for the professional
team Real Madrid. These dreams however, were soon shattered when
a near-fatal car accident left him partially paralyzed and unable
to walk for almost two years.
During his recuperation at Madrid's Eloy Gonzalo Hospital, Julio
would listen to the radio and wrote poems, many of which were
sad and romantic verses questioning man's mission in life. Slowly,
he began to dress his poems with music as he strummed away on
an old guitar his father's assistant had given him as therapy
to exercise his fingers and pass the time. He soon discovered
a new passion that since has taken over his life.
In 1968, Julio surprised everyone, including himself, by winning
the most prestigious song festival in Spain, The Benidorm, with
his own composition La Vida Sigue Igual (Life Goes On). This
event marked the beginning of a serenade to the world that has
never ended.
For the next fifteen years, Julio composed his own music and established
himself as an international superstar. By 1971 he had sold his
first million records. Shortly after, in 1973, he broke the mark
of winning the most awards among any other music artist in Spain
and Latin America. Equated to the numerous awards won were the
number of times his concerts broke box office records. In Chile,
more than 100,000 people attended his concert at the National
Stadium of Santiago in 1977.
Julio continued to excel in this music career. In 1983 he received
the first and only Diamond Record Award ever given to a performer
by the Guinness Book of world Records, for selling more records
in more languages than any other musical artist in history. His
first English release in 1984, 1100 Bel Air Place, immediately
went multi-Platinum and formed an all-important bridge between
European and American Music. In 1985, a star with his name was
unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In addition to these honors, in 1989, UNICEF appointed Julio as
Special Representative for the Performing Arts, a title he holds
dearly to this date. He points out that UNICEF supplies an outlet
for him to impact the lives of so many he is otherwise unable
to reach. The World has given me so much, it's important to give
something back, he says. The man who wrote his first hit thirty
years ago has gone to earn over 2,600 platinum and gold records.
Having now recorded 76 albums and sold over 250 million copies
has been an achievement recognized by Billboard Magazine as being
the most by an artist. A perfectionist at heart, he is his own
worst critic and is always striving to improve his abilities.
A record breaker as well as a record maker, Julio delves deeply
into his heart and soul with each new project.
Following the success of his 1998 album My Life: The Greatest
Hits, Julio released his new studio album Noche De Cuatro Lunas
during the summer of 2000. In which time he started the promotion
for said album and continued to do so in 2001. In October 2001
he released a version of Noche De Cuatro Lunas in Italian, titled
Una donna può cambiar la vita. The following month he
ended the version in Portuguese called Ao meu Brasil.
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