From a kidnapped father being told every night he'd be murdered,
to a son who had to go to court just to be acknowledged. Much more than just
Enrique Iglesias's father, the world famous Julio Iglesias's story is one for the ages.
Julio Iglesias was born in September 1943 to privileged parents in Madrid,
Spain. According to the book about his life, In His Eyes: The Julio Iglesias Jr. Iglesias' Story,
his father was a renowned gynecologist whose help was invaluable during his
son's delivery by cesarean section. Not only was the family rather well-off,
it has been noted that theirs was one of the most distinguished names in Spain.
They definitely had everything they needed in terms of wealth, privilege,
talent, and good genes. Reflecting on the privilege his family enjoyed back then,
Iglesias acknowledged his father's work as one of the main reasons for their success, once saying -
"If you gathered together every baby that my father has delivered,
it would fill Madrid's Plaza de Toros."
It would be fair to say that Iglesias and his folks were well-respected in their circle and
seemed like an ideal family from a distance. Their family had a rich and powerful legacy,
which was a definite advantage for Iglesias. Even while the rest of the country struggled
in 1946 after a trade conflict emerged between the United States and Spain,
Iglesias and his family didn't have anything to worry about.
While their financial needs were taken care of, Julio Iglesias' parents weren't quite able to
keep up a healthy relationship through the years. Tensions were rife between the couple on account
of the fact that Iglesias' father was unfaithful on several occasions. According to In His
Eyes: The Julio Iglesias Jr. Story, when it became obvious that the singer's father wasn't being
loyal to his wife, Iglesias supported his dad while his brother, Carlos, stood by their mother.
The couple only put up with each other to ensure that they could raise their sons together,
but the relationship was not healthy. Iglesias' father once candidly revealed
that he knew his wife wasn't in love with him anymore, reportedly saying -
"Slowly, slowly, the hurt was incubating inside her until,
eventually, she reached a moment when she stopped loving me."
Despite their differences, the couple refused to separate and put up with each other as they took
care of their children. Of course, this was still not a great environment to grow up in
and would undoubtedly affect the singer and his brother's relationship in more ways than one.
While Julio Iglesias wasn't the best in academics, he found his strength in other fields,
particularly soccer, as per In His Eyes: the Julio Iglesias Jr., Story. For him,
being an aspiring soccer player meant that he would have to prove his worth
as he competed against many other talented players. One of his former teammates said -
"He was agile and daring. He always went for the ball, even in the most impossible situations."
He added that he felt that Iglesias was definitely
talented enough to beat many others in the field and be a formidable soccer player.
He was so good that, at 15, he even earned a spot as a goalkeeper in Real Madrid's line-up,
where he managed to prove his tenacity. His success as a soccer player added to
his popularity among his peers. However, this would be short-lived, as Iglesias was
unfortunately forced to abandon his soccer dream when he met with a devastating car accident.
According to In His Eyes, the young soccer player was away on a holiday at a resort with a group
of friends after a particularly good soccer game. After a fun party, Iglesias and his friends found
themselves heading back to Madrid, but during the drive they veered off the road after taking
a tight turn at more than 100 mph. Luckily, they all seemingly escaped with a few injuries.
However, the real impact of the accident would not be revealed until much later.
While Iglesias assumed that he was fit enough to play professional soccer, he was proven
wrong when he found himself struggling. He started experiencing muscular pain that became
increasingly hard to ignore, and he eventually had to go through a surgery to relieve recurring
pain in his spine. He later remarked that it was a rather tough time for him, saying -
"I think it was for me the greatest moment of anguish I have ever experienced."
Things got worse before they got better, as Iglesias was temporarily paralyzed after the
surgery and had to fight to recover. In fact, his doctors thought he would
never walk again. To cope with the major setback, he started playing the guitar,
distracting himself from his emotional trauma and providing him with an outlet for his feelings.
"To be vulnerable in front of the people is much more attractive to anything.
I think that is the most attractive thing that an artist can have."
Julio Iglesias may not have been an extraordinary student, but he was smart enough to get into
law school. He was simultaneously pursuing his soccer dreams and balancing his studies before
the fateful accident, ultimately dropping out of school. In 2001, according to The Guardian,
Iglesias decided to appear for the one final exam that he'd missed in order to earn his law degree.
He later explained his reasoning for finishing his degree 35 years after he'd begun, saying -
"I did it for my father. Four or five years ago he started
asking me if I was not ashamed about never having finished."
Despite making it through the exam and earning his degree,
Iglesias assured everyone that he didn't intend to stop singing or change his career path.
While it's true that Julio Iglesias is talented and blessed in terms of his musical abilities,
he had revealed in the past that this hasn't been an effortless journey for
him. He told the Associated Press that he learned the importance of discipline and
taking his music seriously if he wanted to truly make a mark on the industry, saying -
"Everything was a bigger struggle for me, everything required a bigger effort,
so I understood that the sole basis for my future was discipline,
and I maintain that discipline today, at 75."
His point was simple — it's not enough to be passionate about something, and pursuing his
interests required him to be focused. After he realized soccer was not possible for him, he took
a leap of faith and started getting into the music scene, playing in front of strangers and slowly
gaining popularity for his charisma and incredible voice. That said, Iglesias didn't take his talent
for granted, despite becoming very successful, making sure that he worked hard to stay relevant.
According to several testimonials, what really helped Julio Iglesias finally break into the music
industry in a big way was winning the Benidorm International Song Festival. According to In His
Eyes: The Julio Iglesias Jr. Story, Iglesias's career was already looking promising before he
participated in the event, as he had already forwarded a song of his to record labels and
heard back from staff members at Columbia Records, who were intrigued by his talent.
They were impressed and signed him while simultaneously giving
him a chance to shine at the Benidorm International Song Festival in 1968.
"So three nights before the contest, the guy who's supposed to sing my song has Hepatitis,
so the record company says that 'You have to go - and play your song."
Iglesias didn't let anyone down and emerged from the competition as its winner,
making sure that he got noticed by many fans as he began his long and illustrious
journey in the music industry. What helped Iglesias was the fact that
he believed in his work and didn't leave any stone unturned to achieve his dream.
As per CBS News, Julio Iglesias once lived a rather wild life,
and it's something that he chose to speak about publicly. Basically, in his 20s, he had
his share of weird habits that he had to stick to before performing in front of his fans, saying -
"[I had a] superstition, a quirk or whatever,
that I couldn't go onstage to sing if I didn't make love first."
Well, he did, however, end up breaking the habit. The singer did eventually grow out of
this particular superstition, but he had numerous others. According to People, he would observe
little rituals, such as exiting a dining room if someone spilled salt around him, not buying
cologne, or not even keeping cash on him. He had a lucky life and he knew it — right down to the
foot massages he received while unwinding before a big gig. He acknowledged his privilege and said -
"It's a nice way to live, no? How can I not love what's happened to me, how lucky I am?"
"I-The only thing I can say to the people is that I love… when they love me."
In the early 1980s, Iglesias had to live through one of the worst times in his life. According to
People, his dad was kidnapped by terrorists, which was an incredibly traumatic experience
for everyone in the family. Reflecting on the terrible incident, the singer later said -
"He was kept for a month in a little room with no lights,
and every day they told him they would kill him the next day."
Iglesias decided to comply with the kidnappers' demands for money in order
to save his dad. However, the police were able to save his father before Iglesias came through
with the ransom. The singer once mentioned that the incident really scarred his dad,
saying that his father had become extra cautious and struggled with crippling fear for two long
years after he was kidnapped. This also had an impact on the rest of the family. According to
Biography, one of Iglesias' sons, Enrique, was taken to Miami after the kidnapping
to ensure that he was safe and away from anything that could potentially harm him.
Julio Iglesias is human and hasn't shied away from
expressing his vulnerabilities. According to a piece by SFGate,
one of the things that the singer has often been afraid of is not working or having something to
do. He was pretty clear about it when he said - "If you stop work, you start to die. It's
important for me never to stop. I am so grateful for the things life gives me."
"I love music, I know that I love to be on a stage,
I love that my passion get crazy when I see the people listening to me."
In another piece by People that was written in 1988, it was apparent that Iglesias was
scared that he'd stop being famous someday, a possibility that he simply wasn't comfortable
with. He did his best to avoid that from happening and toured as much as he could,
using a jet to travel to many different places in a short period. Speaking about his fear, he said -
"The biggest problem in my job is that you get afraid to lose it. One day you are a winner,
but the next, no matter how big of a star you are, you can be a loser."
He has also been a bit of an admitted perfectionist. When he was asked about
his regrets in an interview with the Associated Press, he talked about wishing that he'd made
better use of his time and focused even more on perfecting his skills as a musician, saying -
"Had I known when I was 20 that I was going to be a musician, I would have taken to the piano,
I would have taken the guitar more seriously, I would have perfected my knowledge of music."
Julio Iglesias found himself in hot water when he was involved in a controversy back in 2019.
According to a report by People, despite Iglesias denying the claim, he was found to be the father
of a 43-year-old named Javier Sánchez-Santos. The latter looked quite like his father,
and a judge ruled in the son's favor after Iglesias didn't agree to a paternity test.
Sánchez-Santos was born after his mother, María, met Iglesias at a party, and she claimed that she
briefly dated Iglesias for a short period in 1975. While her testimony was ignored in 1992, the case
resurfaced many years later. It remained unclear whether Iglesias would have to pay compensation
for lying about the affair. Additionally, as reported by CNN, what really worked for Santos
was the fact that she didn't leave any stone unturned in her testimony. The ex-dancer could
provide specific details to the court, including details of where Iglesias stayed when she met him.