Passion to perform still propels Julio Iglesias

By Jerry Fink

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Passion drives Julio Iglesias.

“I’m a young guy in my brain and in my heart,” the 65-year-old romantic says from his part-time home in Miami. “Passion moves everything, including mountains. Even in the worst occasions, if you have even a little flame of passion you will survive. Life has given me passion for everything.”

Iglesias — who will perform at the Las Vegas Hilton this weekend — does not merely talk passion, he lives it.

He has seven children ranging in age from 37 to 2. Among them is singer Enrique, 36.

Apparently passion runs in the family — Iglesias has a 5-year-old half-brother and a 2-year-old half-sister, born of his father’s second marriage. Dr. Puga Iglesias died in 2006 at the age of 90.

But the singer’s greatest passion is, surprise, singing.

“If I had not discovered music, what would I have done? I would be lost in the middle of nowhere,” Iglesias says. “I would be a lawyer and I would be a different person. I am very grateful for the circumstances that put me in the way of music.”

The circumstance was a near-fatal car wreck in 1963 that left him temporarily partially paralyzed. He was a law student at the time with a passion for soccer.

After the accident he moved to Cambridge, England, to recover. During the months of recuperation, he discovered the passion that would change his life — writing songs and singing.

He didn’t finish law school until 2001, which fulfilled a promise to his father.

“In ’68, ’69, ’70, I wake up my brains and my heart to music,” Iglesias says.

He didn’t perform in Las Vegas until 1978, at the old MGM Grand (now Bally’s).

“For me, the first time I came from Europe I was the typical European who doesn’t know how to deal with Americans,” he says. “But after the second time I started to be in love with Las Vegas. It is a very happy place.”

He performed at Caesars Palace for 23 years. In more recent years he has performed at the Hilton.

Iglesias performs about 100 concerts worldwide each year.

“I am excited about Las Vegas,” he says. “No doubt, it is the No. 1 place on Earth for entertainment. In Las Vegas you can play for 50 different nationalities. It is very attractive, I can meet people from so many different places.”

He can probably sing to all of them in their native languages. In 1983 the Guinness World Book of Records recognized him for selling more records in more languages than any other musical artist in history (English, Spanish, German, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese, French and Tagalog).

Iglesias has recorded more than 80 albums and sold more than 250 million units.

He says he owes his American audience, in part, to Willie Nelson. In 1984 they recorded “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” which became a Top 10 hit and sold more than 3 million copies.

“That, maybe, was the biggest step in my American career, without any doubt,” Iglesias says.

There could not be two more disparate characters — the suave, urbane European with the smooth voice ideal for romantic ballads and the gruff man of the earth who seems to have been cut out of sandpaper.

But, Iglesias says, they are close friends.

“I love him,” he says. “We have been together on many occasions. I have great admiration for the guy.”

Diplomatically, he says he doesn’t know if Nelson smokes marijuana — which has been noted in many stories.

“I don’t know,” he says. “Willie is a natural. When you’re a natural you can do everything because nothing gets in the way. Nothing detains you when you are a good guy, enjoying peace with your conscience — and I’m pretty sure Willie has that.”

These days Iglesias divides his time between raising his young family and jetting around the world to concerts.

His relaxation is performing.

“Let me explain to you something very important,” he says. “I need to be on stage. The passion is always there. It is very important to me. It is not a question of needing money for anything. I make more money sitting at my desk than singing. But if I stop singing, I die. What is my relaxation time? I don’t need relaxation time. I am a lucky man.”