Julio Iglesias

2013 saw Julio Iglesias entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for a second time, being named the biggest selling Latin music artist in the world. The stats are impressive; 300 million records worldwide, in 14 languages. In fact, Iglesias is in the top ten of all time artists for sales. Yet I expect for an entire generation now, his son is far more famous.

Iglesias was last in the UK top ten in 1988, a year before Enrique's first hit. Even for those that grew up in the eighties, Julio Iglesias was somewhat of an elder statesmen but having now turned 70, it is a good time to look back at the reasons for those extraordinary sales stats.

1 The Collection is billed as an assembly of Iglesias's love songs and it is littered with cover versions, performed in that smooth Latin vocal that has made him so popular. Although there is a charm to his style, there is also a feeling of medallion man which dates some of the music here, but his number one from 1981, Begin the Beguine shimmers and sparkles, just like those well looked after teeth on the front cover.

Not all the cover versions work in his style. While Patsy Cline's Crazy is a laid back delight, the likes of Always On My Mind and And Crazy In Love sound a little too cheesy. The range of guest stars underlines his global influence, with appearances from artists as diverse as Willie Nelson and Frank Sinatra to Sting and All4One (remember them?!). Of those, the sublime Fragile with Sting is a stand-out.

Iglesias is unlikely to win over any new fans at this stage of his career but for those that have dipped in and out over the last few decades, this is a splendid re-introduction. With many of the tracks remastered there is also enough here for his loyal fanbase.