Julio Iglesias

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Julio Iglesias used to get busy — incredibly busy — in Las Vegas. Now he brings the kids.

When he would play the old Caesars Palace showroom in the 1980s, "I used to make love before the concert, in the middle of the concert and after the concert."

Before and after — of course. But the middle?

"That was the audience. Two thousand people at the same time!"

He laughs, as he does frequently, for the 65-year-old Spaniard is quite the kidder. It’s hard to say if he’s serious about all that sex, though almost any old story you find about him on the Internet will address the oft-cited number of 3,000 partners.

"My sex life is complete. I make love three times a year, and it’s perfect for me," Iglesias says, kidding again, one hopes.

Whatever happened then was then, and this is now. At one point in a brief phone chat, the singer holds the phone aside to say what sounds very much like, "Where you going? Pee-pee?"

These days, the former Casanova travels with longtime partner Miranda Rijnsburger and their family: a 2-year-old boy, 8-year-old twin girls, and two other sons ages 9 and 11. (He also has three grown children, including pop star Enrique Iglesias.)

"They will be in Las Vegas with me, by the way," he says of his shows at the Las Vegas Hilton today and Saturday. "It is a place to bring the kids and have fun."

Yes, he agrees, "Life has changed a lot. For the best always. The passion is still there. I love what’s happened to my life. I’m so grateful for everything that’s happened."

Then and now, most of the romantic crooner’s audience lies in the Spanish-speaking world. But in 1984, two English-language duets cracked the U.S. Top 20: "All Of You" with Diana Ross, and "To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before" with Willie Nelson, which has been a gift to impressionists ever since.

In 1986, Iglesias began his annual visits to Caesars Palace, where his opening-act comedians included Roseanne Barr, Brad Garrett and Rita Rudner. They learned the hard way that only about a third of each audience spoke English. But the dates pointed to the future of Las Vegas entertainment expanding beyond the English-speaking world.

Iglesias says fans bought him a piece of the old Caesars stage, demolished in 2000, which he proudly displays in his office. Now he travels "to the end of the world," with dates this year in Brazil, Spain and Israel. But he and the family take their Gulfstream G550 jet.

"To travel in a train or a bus is a different story," he adds with another laugh. "That’s why I don’t sing for money anymore. No money is enough to pay me to go on the stage. It’s about the passion.

"If I stop to sing today, I die," he says. "Physically maybe, but for sure psychically. No doubt about that, I have still that flame and that passion that moves me."

Turning 65 last September is "nothing compared with 75. And 75 is nothing compared with 85," he says.

He has houses in Miami, Spain and the Dominican Republic resort of Punta Cana. "All the houses are in the sun, so there is no winter for me," he says.

"There will be a winter for me in the next 20 years, but not now."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.