Sawt Falasteen - Julio Iglesias, the Spanish crooner who won global audience

His romantic ballads, perpetual tan and flashing smile propelled this Madrid native from a reluctant contender in a seaside song contest to an international heartthrob.

"I created a style and here I am 35 years later," said Iglesias, who has sold over 300 million albums, in 2003.

Julio Iglesias de la Cueva was born into an affluent family -- his father was a gynaecologist -- in the Spanish capital on September 23, 1943.

He played as a goalkeeper with Real Madrid's youth team, but at the age of 20 a car accident and a period of prolonged illness put an end to his football dreams.

He started writing songs and playing the guitar to pass the time while undergoing rehabilitation.

While studying law, Iglesias sent a demo of some of his songs to a record label, hoping they might be performed by others.

Instead, the company encouraged him to take part in a songwriter's contest in the popular Mediterranean resort of Benidorm in July 1968.

He won, with his ballad "La vida sigue igual" or "Life remains the same", signed with Discos Columbia -- the Latin music label of Columbia Records -- and began performing around the world.

- 'Like to be loved' -

Iglesias, who has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, has performed with major names like Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra.

A lover of fine wines and good food, he has long cultivated a "Latin lover" image, readily discussing his romantic exploits during interviews.

"I like to be loved, that's why I do this job," Iglesias said in 2004, adding that he valued "the love and tenderness of a woman above all else".

The suave singer cracked the tough US market in 1984 with "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", a duet with Willy Nelson.

But he has done far more than just sing in English. One of the biggest crossover artists in the world of pop, he has also recorded albums in French, German, Italian, Japanese and Tagalog, among others.

He has been honoured with a host of awards including the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts from Spain and an honorary lifetime achievement Grammy.

"The importance of my life is what I was able to leave other people in terms of emotions," he said during a 2008 interview with AFP timed to coincide with his 65th birthday.

- Paternity case -

He was one of the celebrities who in 2021 was named in the leaked Pandora Papers, which exposed the offshore dealings and assets of some of the world's richest people.

And now Iglesias finds himself in the legal spotlight again after two women accused him of sexual abuse while working at his properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.

The women -- a domestic worker and a physiotherapist -- allege Iglesias engaged in sexual harassment, monitored their phones and limited their freedom to leave the residence where they worked,

Iglesias, 82 has not publicly responded to the accusations.

The twice-married singer has three children from his marriage to Isabel Preysler of the Philippines and five with his wife Miranda Rijnsburger of the Netherlands.

A Spanish court in 2019 ruled that Iglesias was also the biological father of a 43-year-old man born to a former Portuguese dancer who said she had an affair with the singer.

One of Iglesias's sons -- Enrique Iglesias, his youngest with Isabel Preysler -- has made a big impact on the global music charts with his own Latino brand of pop.

S.Barghouti--SF-PST