This may be the first Q&A I’ve run that really needs no introduction--but I'm going to give one anyway, just beause the numbers are so impressive: Julio Iglesias has released 77 albums in 14 languages, which have sold more than 300 million copies. He is one of the top 10 best selling music artists in history, and has performed something to the tune of 5,000 concerts. Iglesias adds to that number tonight, December 4, when he performs at Powell Hall, singing songs from his considerable catalog of hits, including "All the Girls I've Loved Before," “Nathalie,” and “Ae, Ao,” as well pieces as from his latest albums, Romantic Classics (his first English album in over 10 years), and Quelques Choses De France. The starts at concert 8 p.m., and tickets are $45–$135. Buy 'em straight from the box office by calling 314-534-1700, or by going to slso.org.
Mr. Iglesias was kind enough to take time out for an interview with us in anticipation of tonight's concert. Here is his charming take on why he loves to perform live, what keeps him touring, and what he likes about St. Louis.
--Stefene Russell____________________
SLM: So, you’re going to be performing in St. Louis for one night, and I wanted to talk first about that show, that concert, and give people a little preview. JI: Well, that’s a good question (laughs). I would love to know too. (Laughs.) No, I’m singing for two generations, from Finland to China, and I didn’t lose my passion for singing, so that is why I have been singing for the past month, all over the world. So, I’m just living through the music with the passion that I have when I start to sing. Nothing has changed in my life except that I have 30, 40 years, no? I was a baby. And now I’m babysitting (laughs).
SLM: Yep, I saw on your website that you have some new little ones … JI: That’s right, little babies.
SLM: I also saw on your site that you have a new album, and it’s your first album in English for quite a while. JI: I had to get back to the studio, yes. By the way, I will be back in the studio when I finish in Korea in April, so I will start the album in May.
SLM: And actually you’ve got two albums out recently, Romantic Classics and Quelques Chose de France…JI: Sorry, do you speak a little bit of French? It’s not easy to say
Quelques Chose de France, en francais. (Laughs.)
SLM: Ah, well, just a little. I’d be afraid to go there, because it’s been so long since I’ve spoken it—even though St. Louis is technically a French city…! So, I’ve got this list of some of the songs you may be performing on December 4, including “All the Girls I’ve Loved Before,” which is sort of your signature piece, the song people associate with you. JI: (Laughs.) Yes, yes. I will sing the classics for sure. When you have a long career, you have to sing the songs that the people want to hear. And that’s absolutely a priority for an artist. I will sing whatever the people want me to sing. For me to perform is a communion between the audience and myself. I don’t go to play for me. I go to enjoy myself with the people, it’s like to pass the passion and emotion to the people. To sing is very easy. To sing is just … a quality of techniques that you have because you have been performing for four generations. But to perform, to entertain, to impassionate the people, it is completely different.
SLM: It’s a different kind of gratification, I guess?JI: Well, gratification, I am 60 years old, maybe a little more, and I look like 35 years old when I go on the stage, because my blood runs so strong and so powerful, that I pretend to be a young kid on the stage. (Laughs.)
SLM: Well, that’s why you’re still at it, I guess—JI: That’s exactly it! Because believe me, it’s not a question of money in my life. I love to play for the people who come to see me.
SLM: Now, some of these song from the 60s, 70s and 80s that are on Romantic Classics.JI: Well, for example, some of the songs that I’m playing, from years ago, songs I did with Diana Ross (“All of You”) or with Willie (“All the Girls I’ve Loved Before”), of course I had to sing “I Want to Know What Love Is,” and other songs that I have been playing for generation. The concept was an Anglo-Saxon/Spanish concert. (Laughs.)
SLM: I also saw this note that the orchestra is not performing with you, so you’re bringing a band with you? JI: Yeah, we bring a lot of people. Unfortunately we come from a long, long, tour, and to prepare an orchestra concert is very difficult when you are in a tour that started last year and it will finish in April. It’s not like I play the same way every day, no. But it has a book of music and techniques which is … well, a nightmare to just prepare a concert with orchestra. But I have done this many, many times by the way. And I would love to play with the St. Louis Orchestra. And I have time, I’m a little baby, I can do that!
SLM: So you’ll back and do that, maybe? JI: I’ll come back, I’ve played St. Louis many times, and it is always a pleasure to come back. That is the biggest compliment in the life of an artist, when they give you the opportunity to come back to a place.
SLM: When were you here last? JI: The first time was 30 years ago. I played last time at the Fox Theatre, which is a beauty, by the way. And I’ve played many times in St. Louis, and I love it. I love to visit the city. I don’t pass through there like a ghost, no, no, no. I can see St. Louis with my eyes right now, I know exactly the city, it has a contemporary Francophone ancestral culture, you know what I mean? And I like it very much. It’s easy for me, I am flying my own plane, so I have time to spend and leave whenever I want. It’s good for me to visit the places. I also will be in St. Louis the 3rd, because I don’t play the 2nd, and it will be until the 5th in the afternoon. I will go to a good restaurant for sure, and I will enjoy the city, and pass through, and I will walk a little bit. That is what I do normally.
SLM: So you had mentioned the album you’re going to record next year, and I wanted to ask about the concept behind it. JI: You know, until I start, I don’t know exactly. I will go through ideas in the next six months with my producer, so I don’t know exactly it will be like this and like this and like this—I will just for the time being now, understand what exactly what I can release and people will accept. This is something also very much related with the people. When you want to do something, you also want the people to like it, not to tell the people you are doing is OK.
SLM: I guess that is a matter of maybe feeling, when you’re performing, what songs people tend to respond to? JI: Yes, of course, if there is no feeling for the music, don’t do it. It has to have something inside, something that is attractive, for you, too. The passion of the life of an artist—if there is no passion there, it doesn’t feel like anything.
SLM: So if you had three or four songs you’d love to do someday, maybe not for this album neccesarily, what would they be? JI: When you go to that class of music that is already made for another artist, you have to be very careful. Like Nat King Cole, or any major artist, when they sing their songs, it is a masterpiece, you cannot do anything to it, because it’s already there. So you have to be careful. There is also another class of songs, it is a music that is sometimes a great song, but the artist doesn’t have a big faith, because they did only one song, it doesn’t have the character of the artist. So that kind of music you can take and think about, but it’s not so easy sometimes. Writing, you have to write songs in the language that is your maternal language. And that is not so easy. But I will try to do an album that at least my kids love! (Laughs.)
SLM: That’s right, your son [Enrique Iglesias], is performing now, too…JI: Exactly! I have a son who performs very well, by the way.
SLM: It’s almost like you’re starting a dynasty. JI: I don’t know about a dynasty! That might be too much. But my children are successful in many things.
For the latest on Mr. Iglesias' musical releases and his touring schedule, go to julioiglesias.com.
