Julio Iglesias

Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Spanish: ; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record sellers in music history, having sold more than 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages. It is estimated that during his career he has performed in more than 5,000 concerts, for over 60 million people in six continents. In April 2013, Iglesias was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 1983, Iglesias was credited as having recorded songs in the most languages in the world, and in 2013 for being the best-selling male Latin artist of all-time. In April 2013 in Beijing, he was honoured as the most popular international artist in China. In Brazil, France, Italy and elsewhere, Iglesias is the most successful foreign record seller, while in his home country, Spain, he has sold the most records in history, with 23 million records.

During his career, Iglesias has won many awards in the music industry, including a Grammy, Latin Grammy, World Music Award, Billboard Music Award, American Music Award and Lo Nuestro Award. He has been awarded the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts of Spain and the Legion of Honour of France. He represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 with the song "Gwendolyne", finishing in fourth place. UNICEF named him Special Ambassador for the Performing Arts in 1989. He has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1985.

Iglesias was born in Madrid to Julio Iglesias Puga, a medical doctor from Ourense who became one of the youngest gynecologists in the country, and María del Rosario de la Cueva y Perignat. His paternal grandparents, Manuela Puga Noguerol and Ulpiano Iglesias Sarria, were of Galician ancestry. His maternal grandparents were José de la Cueva y Orejuela and Dolores de Perignat y Ruiz de Benavides, who was a native of Guayama, Puerto Rico.

The name "Iglesias" translates as "churches". Iglesias says that he is of Jewish ancestry on his maternal side, and that his mother's family name, "de la Cueva", meaning literally "of the cave" and referring to Jewish people in hiding, is a common Jewish name.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.