Julio Iglesias: Encyclopedia II - Julio Iglesias - Early career to 1978

Julio Iglesias - Early career to 1978

Julio was the son of Julio Iglesias, Sr. a doctor. He was a professional soccer player with Real Madrid, where he played as goalkeeper. During this time, he also enrolled in law school. He had an accident that dashed his hopes of becoming a great soccer player, but during his period in bed, he started to compose songs. He received a certificate as a lawyer from Cambridge University a little later.

In 1968, he won the Benidorm International Song Festival, a songwriter's contest in Spain, and signed a contract with a Columbia Records Latin music label, Discos Columbia. He represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970, finishing fourth behind Northern Irish singer Dana Scallon, and the Welsh singer Mary Hopkin. His entry was the song "Gwendolyne" which was his first recording. During the 1970s he married the Spanish-mestiza Philippine socialite Isabel Preysler with whom he had three children: Chabeli Iglesias, who has been a show host and is now a news reporter in Washington D.C., Enrique Iglesias, now a world-famous singer who followed in his father's footsteps, and Julio José Iglesias, a model who has released two CDs. It was during the 1970s that the Iglesias family's private life became very public, with Julio and the rest of the family frequently featured on the covers of various international magazines.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early career to 1978", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki