When we spoke to Julio Iglesias last year, he said that the worst about being the most famous singer living in Marbella is that he didn’t have time to do everything he wanted. “So when they ask if I’m coming back to Singapore, I say, yes – tomorrow!” he added. “Because for me, it’s a question of passion, not money. I need to sing. If I don’t sing, I’d die earlier – I would be dead already. So, please, tell the people of Singapore to invite me there to sing.”

Well, someone heard his plea and invited the man to come over here to sing, and he will be appearing on April 27. And here’s what the Guinness World Record holder had to say.

HELLO, MR IGLESIAS. THANKS FOR TAKING OUR CALL. Thank you so much for being so patient. I’m sorry for yesterday, that you had to wait 24 hours to do this, so thank you.

I HOPE THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY? Yes, yes. We are fine. We can’t wait to go over to Singapore.

IT’S BEEN QUITE A TOUR FOR YOU: RUSSIA, DUBAI, CHINA… The passion has always been there in my soul. And I wouldn’t be able to be a singer without that passion. I mean, I am 69 years old and, you know, I was in Dubai, before that I was in Moscow, and I will be in China and Singapore, so music is so much a part of my life. So when I go to Singapore, I will feel the same passion that I always have had for music. I don’t have age on the stage. I will only feel my age when I go to my room in the hotel. But on stage, I’m 25 years old!

SPEAKING OF CHINA, YOU WERE AWARDED A COUPLE OF AWARDS BY ONE OF THEIR BRIGHTEST PIANISTS, LANG LANG. I’m very grateful to the Chinese people. I cannot believe it. When they told me that I was the most popular foreign artiste in China’s history, it looks like I’m very old. It looks like the years have gone by very fast. The first time I was in China was in the 70s, and I used to go around on bicycles. And now the changes are amazing. And Lang Lang, who is giving me the award, he’s a young kid, but he’s an amazing artiste.

BUT YOU’VE WON SO MANY AWARDS; DO THEY MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU THESE DAYS? The best award that I have is that I’m alive. In every sense of the word. In my mind, in my heart, in my emotions. I have good days and bad days and that’s an incredible award. For me to go onstage or in the studio and get creative, that’s an amazing situation to be in. And would like to think that awards … it’s about the people who give me that award. I have to be grateful because it’s given by them, from the hearts of the people, and they have given me such a privileged life.

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU’RE STILL SO POPULAR? If I knew why, I’d probably have more popularity. It’s nothing you can know. I played Russia for example, in 1973 during the height of communism and I’ve been back 20 times in my life … but if you asked me right now, what is the biggest privilege in the life of an artiste, not just me, but any artiste, I would say it’s to come back to play in the places I’ve been before.

So when I come back to Singapore, it shows that the people are interested in me, and I am interested in them. It’s not like performing in Singapore is a new thing in my life, I’ve performed there maybe six or seven times, but as a visitor I’ve been there 30 or 40 times. I’ve seen Singapore growing up in the past 40 years. I used to live in Hong Kong, in the 70s, passing by Singapore so many times and the changes are amazing. It’s one of the most modern places in the world; it’s so clean, so very well done. I’m not just saying this – it’s true. Whenever I pass through the airport, it looks like a hotel, not an airport!

WE SPOKE TO YOUR FRIEND NANA MOUSKOURI RECENTLY AND SHE WAS TELLING US HOW SHE COULDN’T RESIST COMING BACK TO SINGING EVEN THOUGH SHE’D OFFICIALLY RETIRED. DO YOU EVER FEEL YOU NEED A BREAK? No, no break for me. No way! You know, I’m a close friend of Nana. And I was sure, a few years ago, when she came to me and said she’d quit singing, that it would not last. I laughed. And then next thing you know, she’s doing all this, and I said, “Nana, you told me you would never be back.” An artiste never leaves. Never. If I take a break, it’s because I’m dead. So don’t wish for me to take a break.

YOU RE-RECORDED AND RE-ARRANGED YOUR HITS FOR YOUR ALBUM. WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY? In the last album, the one question I kept asking myself, when I was listening to the songs that I did 30 or 40 years ago, was: “Oh my god, why did people buy that record, the singing is so bad!”

Maybe I’m crazy, but I think that a crooner can sing better as time goes on, until the end. Of course, you may not have the same high (notes), but you have the passion and you capitalize your brain, your heart and your soul. So what you lose in the high notes, you have a stronger relationship with your emotion and your heart. So when I released the songs that I did for the No 1 album last year, for example, I was releasing that attitude, which I think I missed out on the first time. You know, the results are very important. When I presented the record company with the project, the record company said, “Are you crazy? You already sold 300 million records, why do you want to sing the same songs again that you sold?” They came to the studios and they started to listen. And I think that album became one of the top sellers for the company. I wasn’t all right, but I wasn’t all wrong either.

BUT SURELY YOU DON’T ACTUALLY NEED TO RELEASE MORE MUSIC OR EVEN TOUR ANY MORE, RIGHT? In the sense of my material life, I make much, much more money sitting at a desk with my lawyers and my people and the corporations in a day than in five months on tour. When I travel now, fortunately, I travel in the most comfortable situations with a group of maybe 35 people. And the money they give me is probably just enough for the plane trips. Sometimes, the plane costs more money than what they give me. So I am singing today, only because of my love and my passion for music. There is no other reason. I’m not going around the world because I need the money. What I need, is the eyes of the people, being connected with the people. Imagine that I arrive in Singapore, and I am lawyer, they will not look twice at me. But as a singer, when I go to Singapore, they all say, “Hi Julio, nice to see you again. How are you?” and they hug and kiss me. For free. Haha. So how can I take a break from that?

YOU HAVE A LOVELY FAMILY… They will be with me in Singapore, the kids and my wife. I will have five days in Singapore, so I will be happy to be with them there.

ARE YOU KEEN TO HAVE YOUR KIDS ENTER SHOWBIZ? That’s an easy answer: Life gives - sometimes magically or in a miracle – a gift of music, like to my son Enrique. But I cannot expect all my eight children to be singers, though that would be a dream. Julio sings, though maybe not with the success of Enrique, but he’s a great singer. And I have five new kids – and I would love that they become singers because they would have an incredible life with the knowledge of the universe. And the travel … Just yesterday, I was having dinner with Mrs Clinton, and she said to me, “You’re travelling so much like me, don’t you feel exhausted?”

And I said, “You know, Mrs Clinton, when you left power a few weeks ago, you left power with people in the country saying that you did an incredible job. If I leave my career, I would leave with a lot of love, but I would be forgotten in two weeks or two years. But I know you will come back!”

YOU ALSO DO WORK OUTSIDE OF MUSIC, SUCH AS WITH THE UNITED NATIONS AND HELPING CERTAIN NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS. I tell you, it’s very easy to talk about foundations and changing attitudes. But the fact has to be “made”. It’s not a question of being seen in public once in a while helping out. I’ve been working with the United Nations as a diplomat for 20 years. I was singing with the president of Haiti in concert for the kids of Haiti. But that’s not important because in a way, it’s very easy for me to do that. It’s much harder for someone like a doctor who goes to the middle of Africa and stays there for 30 years serving the people. I haven’t done that. I can do concerts – I have done many benefit concerts – but I don’t stay with them for many years. So my conscience cannot allow me to say, Oh, I’m so incredible guy because I’ve done so much for many people. No way. There are millions of people doing much more for others. I cannot say I’m one of them. I know I should do much more.

WELL, THIS WILL BE THE LAST ONE. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LEGACY TO BE? I don’t think about legacies. When they say in the paper “legacy” or “legend” about me - I think I’m dead already! No way! I don’t think about my legacy, I think about my future. I’m much more alive than ever. I love to be alive. Legacy belongs to people who have passed away. My legacy is to be onstage tomorrow.