When he first moved to the U.S. in the early ’80s, Julio Iglesias Jr. barely spoke English and often felt out of place in school. Emigrating from Madrid, Spain—along with his older sister Chabeli and younger brother Enrique—to Miami, Florida, as a child was a culture shock. He found respite, however, in the radio, which was constantly playing.
Videos by American Songwriter
Singing along to the rotating playlist of songs as he was driven to and from school helped him learn English and left a musical mark on the young artist, especially one song that was always on repeat: Benny Mardones’ “Into the Night.”
“This song was always on,” Iglesias Jr. tells American Songwriter of the 1980 pop-rock hit. “There was not one day that it wasn’t playing.”
Prior to his death in 2020 after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease, Mardones re-recorded his hit with Iglesias Jr. Their duet of “Into the Night” became one of 10 reinterpretations of classic pop songs spanning more than 50 years on Iglesias Jr.’s new album, Under the Covers.
[RELATED: Julio Iglesias Jr. Releases New Single “Into The Night,” Announces New Album]
Written by Mardones and Robert Tepper, the song was inspired by a family the singer once befriended who had fallen on hard times. The opening lyric—She’s just 16 years old / Leave her alone they said—which was controversial when it was first released, was changed by Iglesias Jr. with Mardones’ blessing to, She had beauty like none.
“To revisit this song and the memories I have with it means so much, and to sing alongside Benny Mardones himself on this song is so special,” Iglesias Jr. says. “The fact that I grew up listening to these songs, and now I get a chance to record them and be part of this record, it’s honestly a dream come true.”
Another song that was stamped in Iglesias Jr.’s memory from this time was George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.” Originally written around a complicated, innocent romance Michael once found himself in the middle of as a teen, “Careless Whisper,” co-written with his then Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley went to No. 1 in 20 countries.
Long after those early school rides, “Careless Whisper” continued leaving a deeper imprint on Iglesias Jr. throughout his life. It resurfaced again in 2006 when his father, Julio Iglesias Sr., recorded the song for his own album of covers, Romantic Classics.
“I grew up loving ‘Careless Whisper,’” shares Iglesias Jr., who shares his father’s love for timeless ballads. He says he wanted to bring a feminine touch to the pop classic and transformed the song into a duet with Jewel. “My dad also recorded this song, so it’s one of those songs that I have in my heart. It’s just one of those songs that everybody knows, that everybody remembers, and it always brings back some great memories.”
Recording Michael’s hit, which has also been covered by dozens of artists, including Gloria Gaynor, Barry Manilow, and even Bananarama, was also a blast from Iglesias Jr.’s past—to the 1990s.
“I remember during the ’90s when I was going to university in California and Jewel was just putting out hit after hit,” he recalls, “so the fact that she was on board to do this duet with me was another dream come true.”
Coincidentally, R&B singer Brian McKnight also covered “Careless Whisper” in 2011 (and previously in 2004 with Kenny G) and appears on Iglesias Jr.’s closing cover on Under the Covers. McKnight lends his voice to the jazz and swing-filled medley of Stevie Wonder’s hits “Overjoyed,” “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” and “Isn’t She Lovely.”
“I knew we needed a Stevie Wonder cover on this record, but when we looked at his repertoire, we realized it was impossible to choose just one song,” Iglesias Jr. said in a statement on his website. “We ended up taking these three songs and turning it into a beautiful medley, and who better to sing it with me than Brian McKnight?”
Navigating more big band and jazz-inspired arrangements around each track, Iglesias Jr. also added a surprising duet with Fred Fairbrass of Right Said Fred for a slow-tempo version of the duo’s 1992 hit, “I’m Too Sexy.”
Throughout Under the Covers, Iglesias Jr. puts his own spin on songs. From his decelerated sultrier croon on Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” and the 1971 Marvin Gaye classic “What’s Going On,” along with a samba-stylized version of Tears for Fears’ 1985 synth-pop favorite “Everybody Wants To Rule the World,” to the calypso beats around Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 hit “Heaven Is A Place On Earth,” he makes each cover his own.
One of the more difficult tracks for Iglesias Jr. to tackle was a more recent single: Ed Sheeran’s 2017 hit, “Shape of You.”
“That’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever sung in my life,” reveals Iglesias Jr. “That was a tough song to sing because the beats and the timing have to be so perfect. It was a tough vocal for me.”
Even if he didn’t write the songs on Under the Covers, Iglesias Jr.’s connection to each one of them runs deep and helped him feel liberated in his interpretations. Billy Joel’s 1977 The Stranger hit “Just The Way You Are” was another lifelong favorite that the singer knew inside and out. “It’s my favorite song in the world or a top three songs that I grew up listening to,” says Iglesias Jr. “Billy Joel has always been one of my favorite entertainers in the world, and one of my favorite singers and songwriters.”
Produced by Rudy Pérez, whose credits include Beyoncé, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Lopez, and Christina Aguilera, and recorded in Miami Beach, where Iglesias Jr. splits his time when he’s not in California, Under the Coversis also the singer’s first English-language album since his 1999 debut, Under My Eyesand his first release followingPor la Mitad (In the Middle) in 2008.
Regardless of the original genre of the songs, all the songs on Under the Covers—the album title reflecting both the heavier selection of love songs and ballads and the fact that it’s a collection of covers—were arranged around a more big band sound. “We wanted to have a lot of musicians and a great sound where my voice could be heard clearly,” says Iglesias Jr. “We definitely wanted to do something that was special, something that’s big band but different with a horn session without losing the essence of the song. I think we achieved it, and I love the way each song has a special sound to it. It doesn’t take the essence from the song, which is something that was very important to us.”
For the last decade, Iglesias Jr. has been performing many of his songs within a big band setting. In October 2022, Iglesias Jr. posthumously inducted Spanish composer and clarinetist José María Lacalle into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame during the LA MUSA Awards and also performed “Quando Quando Quando” backed by a 35-piece orchestra in honor of inductee Tony Renis, who wrote the 1962 Italian pop hit.
“I choose my repertoire and make the band play the songs in a way where the vocal is super important,” he says of his live performances. “This is definitely the way I want to go. This is the vibe and production that I want to continue right now in my life.”
Finding it difficult to choose 10 songs from the 200 choices he and Pérez compiled for Under the Covers, Iglesias Jr. is far from finished revisiting songs from his past. He says he would like to eventually cover Michael Jackson, Madonna’s 1983 hit “Borderline,” and even some of his father’s songs like “Nathalie” and “Don Quichotte,” among others.
“It will be great to do a volume two, volume three, volume four of this album because it was a hard process to choose 10 songs out of so many,” he says. “I would love to also do a record with all of my dad’s Spanish songs—but all the oldies.”
For Iglesias Jr., who turned 50 in February, reimagining some of his father’s songs as well as some of his own is something he wants to explore next. “I’ve been singing for the last 20 or more years of my life, and now that I’m going to get a chance to tour with these great songs, I would love to take some of my old stuff and perform them live in this way.”
First performing on stage with his father as a child, Iglesias Jr. has recorded in Spanish and English. He has also recorded in Portuguese and French throughout his career, something he wants to continue with his new music. “I want to record in Spanish, and in French, and more,” he says, adding that he would even put the big band and jazz spin on some of the original songs that he’s written.
“I would like to take some of my songs that were recorded in 2003 on my Spanish record Tercera Dimensión and see if some of these songs fit in this way,” he says. “I still play a lot of these old songs, and would like to redo them in this style.”
Iglesias Jr. is also open to something more stripped back, whether covers, revamped versions of some of his older songs, or something new. “When shows are local or they’re smaller, I do a lot of acoustic performances with a percussionist, guitarist, saxophonist, and me, so I would love to do an unplugged type of record with these types of songs,” he says. “It makes a big difference because you can hear the song in its beginning stages.”
In between thinking up the next volumes of covers and performing again, Iglesias Jr. has also been writing new material with Pérez. “I’m more of a writer than a musician,” says Iglesias Jr. “I need a person that plays guitar, that plays keyboards for me to really get inspired to write some lyrics. It all depends on the melody that I hear when that musician is playing. The music inspires the lyrics for me.”
Thinking back to his second album, Tercera Dimensión, as one of the most fertile times of songwriting for him, Iglesias Jr. admits that these days lyrics don’t always come so easy.
“I wrote the most songs in my life in 2003,” he shares. “When I wrote that record, I was in a writing mood, and it was so inspiring. I don’t know what it was. Lyrics just came out so easy, and now it’s a little bit harder for me. Now, I need to concentrate more than I did back then.”
Lyrics are beginning to come back again, and Iglesias Jr. has been re-inspired by the songs he’s written and those he returned to on Under the Covers.
“You never know when you’re going to get that feeling again,” says Iglesias Jr. “It’s when everything just clicks. You start writing, and it all comes so easy.”
All Photos by Jesus Cordero
