If you just put records out and stay home, it doesn’t work.” “If you’re going to France, make sure you do French TV, French radio. “No matter how much technology advances, you can’t expect fans to feel close to you if you don’t go visit them,” Iglesias recalls Grainge saying. Relentless globe-trotting has been par for the course ever since Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge gave Iglesias some important advice in 2001, when Grainge was head of Polydor in the United Kingdom. “People ask me where I go on vacation, and I tell them, ‘Miami, hanging out with my dogs.'” But, he adds, “If I buy a castle in Spain, you’re more than invited.” (“You can tell the coldest countries are just dying for summertime,” he says of the destinations.) Interestingly enough for a guy with such a well-worn passport, Miami is the only place he calls home or owns property.
Shortly thereafter, he’s off to Barbados to film similar material for a Canadian radio station. Iglesias is back home in Miami for the day, but in just 24 hours, he’ll be on another plane to Curaçao to shoot on-air interstitials for German cable network RTL. 1s on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart (a record, more than any other artist), two Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers and 10 albums – the latest of which, the bilingual Sex and Love, is the occasion for his current global trek. Such is a typical day for a guy whose career began in Spanish with his self-titled 1995 debut and has gone on to log 24 No. But the 38-year-old is energized, engaged and eager to talk for the next two hours about the many lessons learned from a decorated career that has spanned half his life. Most stars would have postponed or canceled an interview during such a moment of personal duress. THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE GET THIS WEEK’S ISSUE HERE OR SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD HERE