He was going to be a lawyer or goalkeeper for Real Madrid, but a car accident made him start playing the guitar to recover the mobility of his fingers during the rehabilitation process. And in the end, well, what can I say. Julio Iglesias was not going to be a singer. But after more than 300 million records sold, songs translated into more than 14 languages and many (many) awards won —among them, a Latin Grammy for Musical Excellence—, he was a bit of a singer. Today Julio Iglesias is a living legend of Latin music, pop and romantic ballads who needs no introduction, but he does need a tribute.
Madrid, the place where “¿Por qué no la cantas tú?” made him international.
Although his music is a legacy without exact location, Julio Iglesias was born in Madrid. He also studied law in the capital until he went to London to learn English, where he sang in pubs and met the girl for whom he composed one of his first (and best known) songs: Gwendolyne. When he returned to Madrid, in 1968 he presented one of his compositions to a record company. “Why don’t you sing it?” the manager told him. “I’m not a singer”, Julio replied. Finally (and thank goodness), they convinced him to sing it himself.
It was with that song, La vida sigue igual, with which he presented himself at the International Song Festival of Benidorm in 1968, and with which he won it. A success that only grew when, in Eurovision in 1970 (yes, Eurovision, Julio Iglesias went to Eurovision) he won the fourth place performing Gwendolyne in Amsterdam. From then on, Julio Iglesias turned “from Madrid to heaven” into “from Madrid, to the world”.
A candlelit tribute to a luminous musical legacy.
And now Madrid, the city where he was born and of which he is a Favorite Son, pays tribute to his extensive legacy with Candlelight. A well-deserved tribute in which some of his most timeless songs such as Soy un Truhan, Soy un Señor, De Niña a Mujer or Con la Misma Piedra will be heard with the intimate sound of a string quartet in the historic Ateneo de Madrid. A unique experience in which thousands of candles will illuminate (even more) a night that will probably end up being part of Lo mejor de tu vida.
To talk about Julio Iglesias is to talk not only about his life, but also about the millions of listeners who have listened to him (and have not stopped listening to him) since the 70s. Songs that were born from a Madrilenian and that now find in that same city a unique concert that pays tribute to those songs that we have all heard at some time. Whether in adolescence, in our parents’ car, or because knowing the lyrics of Me Va, Me Va could be considered an inherent human knowledge.