© Wikimedia Commons
Name | : | Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva |
Born | : | 23-9-1943 |
Nationality | : | Spanish |
National Finals | : | Spanish National Final 1970 |
ESC Entries | : | Gwendolyne (1970) |
Website | : | http://www.julioiglesias.com/ |
Biography
Julio Iglesias is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer.
He alternated playing professional football with studying law at the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. In the earliest years of his young adulthood, (1960-1964) he was a goalkeeper for Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División. His professional football career was ruined when he was involved in a serious automobile accident, due to which he was unable to walk for two years. After his rehabilitation, Iglesias studied for three months at Bell Educational Trust’s Language School in Cambridge, UK. After that, he went back to obtain his law degree at Complutense University of Madrid. In 1968, he won the Benidorm International Song Festival, a songwriter’s event in Spain. After this event he released his first album, “Yo Canto” In the following years he released albums, gave concerts, sang duets, and became a famous artist and idol. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Continental European singer in the world and one of the top ten record sellers in music history, having sold more than 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages. It is estimated that during his career he has performed in more than 5000 concerts, for over 60 million people in five continents. In April 2013, Iglesias was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Latin Composers.