Madrid:
Julio Iglesias is once again taping his greatest hits.
The international launch of the new album, which is expected next March, could collect around 46 songs and would have another version in Portuguese with about half that number.
"I think I sang very badly in the first 20 or 25 years of my career," Iglesias said.
"Like tennis players who play better at 27 than at 17, I've learned to sing a little bit in the last 15 years of my life."
"And covering all that distance, if Elvis were 65-years-old and they gave him the chance to redo 40 or 50 songs on which he didn't like how he sounded, he'd do it," Iglesias said.
Iglesias has begun the work of remixing and "contemporising" 46 iconic songs from his huge discography, which comprises 38 albums.
"I divorced Sony two years ago and (now) I've gone back and remarried her," Iglesias joked.
"I told them of the intention I had to re-record all my songs, which - counting all the languages - must be about 140, and they thought: 'What does this madman want to do?'"
It was a marriage that was at first broken and then resumed after the company chiefs saw what the artist was doing and "fell in love with the project", Iglesias said.
"But we sleep in separate beds," the crooner said.
This is the second "marriage" for Iglesias recently, given that in August he married his long-time girlfriend Miranda Rijnsburger after their ongoing relationship of more than two decades and five children together.
"We never expected so much. It was like we were married since we decided to live together deeply and have children, and since she didn't seem to take much interest when I proposed it to her, I thought that it wasn't very important," Iglesias said.
"But the children suddenly are getting older and are beginning to ask questions," according to the singer, for whom "this was just the formalisation of a relationship that was already emotionally made official many years ago".
Once the album of his greatest hits is edited, the Madrid-native is not ruling out starting a long tour through the US and Latin America.
In response to the question whether the tour will pass through Spain, Iglesias said: "If they invite me, but you have to have an album that's working well."
The production of more than half the project is being overseen by Ramon Arcusa, a member of the Duo Dinamico, with whom between 1978 and 1996 he taped legendary songs such as "Hey", "La vida sigue igual" and "Soy un truhan, soy un senor".
In all, the best internationally known Spanish singer of all time has sold over 250 million records and has won more than 2,600 gold and platinum records, as well as a Grammy for best Latino singer.
The Madrid native, at present, is in southern Spain on vacation.
Asked where he likes to live best, Spain or the US, Iglesias was quite clear: "On the stages", where he plans to return in a few days for concerts scheduled on the other side of the Mediterranean, as he continues to record the songs of his new collection.
The international launch of the new album, which is expected next March, could collect around 46 songs and would have another version in Portuguese with about half that number.
"I think I sang very badly in the first 20 or 25 years of my career," Iglesias said.
"Like tennis players who play better at 27 than at 17, I've learned to sing a little bit in the last 15 years of my life."
"And covering all that distance, if Elvis were 65-years-old and they gave him the chance to redo 40 or 50 songs on which he didn't like how he sounded, he'd do it," Iglesias said.
Iglesias has begun the work of remixing and "contemporising" 46 iconic songs from his huge discography, which comprises 38 albums.
"I divorced Sony two years ago and (now) I've gone back and remarried her," Iglesias joked.
"I told them of the intention I had to re-record all my songs, which - counting all the languages - must be about 140, and they thought: 'What does this madman want to do?'"
It was a marriage that was at first broken and then resumed after the company chiefs saw what the artist was doing and "fell in love with the project", Iglesias said.
"But we sleep in separate beds," the crooner said.
This is the second "marriage" for Iglesias recently, given that in August he married his long-time girlfriend Miranda Rijnsburger after their ongoing relationship of more than two decades and five children together.
"We never expected so much. It was like we were married since we decided to live together deeply and have children, and since she didn't seem to take much interest when I proposed it to her, I thought that it wasn't very important," Iglesias said.
"But the children suddenly are getting older and are beginning to ask questions," according to the singer, for whom "this was just the formalisation of a relationship that was already emotionally made official many years ago".
Once the album of his greatest hits is edited, the Madrid-native is not ruling out starting a long tour through the US and Latin America.
In response to the question whether the tour will pass through Spain, Iglesias said: "If they invite me, but you have to have an album that's working well."
The production of more than half the project is being overseen by Ramon Arcusa, a member of the Duo Dinamico, with whom between 1978 and 1996 he taped legendary songs such as "Hey", "La vida sigue igual" and "Soy un truhan, soy un senor".
In all, the best internationally known Spanish singer of all time has sold over 250 million records and has won more than 2,600 gold and platinum records, as well as a Grammy for best Latino singer.
The Madrid native, at present, is in southern Spain on vacation.
Asked where he likes to live best, Spain or the US, Iglesias was quite clear: "On the stages", where he plans to return in a few days for concerts scheduled on the other side of the Mediterranean, as he continues to record the songs of his new collection.
