Julio Iglesias

Having joined Real Madrid as a goalkeeper, Julio Iglesias might have become a soccer star but for a major road crash which forced him to change direction. Instead he pursued a career in music which catapulted him to fame and made him an international icon and heartthrob. Julio represented Spain in the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest (he was fourth to Dana, representing Ireland) with a song called Gwendolyne and followed it with Un Canto A Galicia, which sold a million in Germany and was a hit in many parts of Europe. He went on to record in German, Italian, French and Portuguese but his major international breakthrough came in 1981 with his romantic English-language cover of the old Cole Porter classic, Begin The Beguine, a UK Number 1. In 1984 the album 1100 Bel Air Place made him big in America, selling over 4 million in the US alone, including hit duets with Willie Nelson (To All The Girls I've Loved Before) and Diana Ross (All Of You). Further international success followed with the Non Stop album (1988) including a duet with Stevie Wonder, but in the 1990s he reverted to recording in Spanish on the Tango album (1996). Julio maintained his popularity through the 2000s, selling a total of 260 million records from 77 albums sung in 14 different languages. He is the father of singer Enrique Iglesias.

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