Passion: Julio Iglesias

40th jubilee for Julio Iglesias
BY PHIL ROURA
Sunday, April 27th 2008, 4:00 AM

The clear, sexy voice that has entertained millions around the world since 1968 sounds raspy. But Julio Iglesias insists that the virus that hit him earlier this month is gone.
“I’m much better now than I have been in a while,” says Iglesias, though he’s still recovering from the fever that put him in bed for a week.
The international superstar fell sick in the middle of his 2008 world tour, which celebrates his 40th anniversary in show business — a milestone he reaches in July.
Rarely ill, Iglesias was forced to cancel seven shows spanning concert dates in California, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. But he says he will play Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on Wednesday and be able to do a two-night gig at Caesars Atlantic City on Friday and Saturday. (He is also booked for the Capital One Bank Theatre in Westbury, L.I., May 7.)
“I’m feeling very well. Even my sex life is healthy again,” he says with a giggle.
Which means obstetricians should be put on notice. Over the past 11 years, the frisky Iglesias has sired five children with Dutch model Miranda Rijnsburger. Their latest, Guillermo, turns 1 on May 5.
“He is the most beautiful baby,” says the proud papa. “But all of my children are beautiful. They have a beautiful mother, no?”
Papa ain’t so bad, either. At 65, he is a sex symbol to legions around the world, even if he does have three grown children — daughter Chabéli, a journalist, and her singing siblings, Julio Jr. and Enrique — from an annulled first marriage.
“Sure, we see each other,” says Iglesias, a little taken aback when asked about their seeing each other.
“I’m very proud of them. But my older kids are very independent. They have their own lives and careers.”
And so does the head of the family.
“Right now I am enjoying my life,” he says. “If nothing else happens, I am grateful for my fans and my friends, who have always supported me. In the final analysis, the decision [to be a success] is never yours. It is up to the people.
“But I do love what I do. I am proud of the last 40 years. And I am proud as well that I have been accepted by the people in Atlantic City for the past 30 years.”
Iglesias’ tour will also take him to Russia, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Holland. Plans for 2009 include concerts in New Zealand, Australia and China, the last, he says “is in a state of confusion” as capitalism and communism try to cohabit.
“I’ve been there many times,” says Iglesias, who has a degree in international law. “I have witnessed [China’s] development. It has been amazing, but there is confusion between its politics and the free-market economy. Shanghai has become another New York. Beijing, which was once a city flooded with bicycles, is now filled with cars. They weren’t prepared for the [resulting] pollution. In 1971 they had maybe 200,000 cars. Now, there are more than 20 million. So now, everyone is worried about the health of the athletes during the upcoming Olympics.”
Iglesias, though, limits his international relations to music. As for that career, he became an entertainer literally by accident. In 1963, Iglesias, then a promising young goalkeeper for the great Real Madrid soccer team, was in a car crash so horrific that doctors thought he’d never walk again. While he was recovering, a nurse handed him a guitar so that he could exercise his fingers — and the rest is history.
Today, “music is changing,” says Iglesias. “But I always believe what is good will remain. Some people will come along and stay. Others will leave.
“There are now more opportunities for young people than ever before, but it seems all you have to do is win a contest on Thursday and go on tour on Friday. To be that much in a hurry is not good.”
Meanwhile, Iglesias is heeding his own advice and will wait at least a year before recording his next CD. His most recent album — a French disk titled “Quelque Chose de France” — was released in 2007.
Doing an album “takes a major commitment,” he explains. “Right now all I want to do is perform.”

(Source: NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/04/27/2008-04-27_40th_jubilee_for_julio_iglesias.html)