What exactly happened when Julio Iglesias met with that tragic car accident? Well, as per In His Eyes: the Julio Iglesias Jr., Story., the young soccer player was away on a holiday at a resort with a group of friends after a particularly good soccer game. After a fun party, Iglesias and his friends found themselves heading back to Madrid. Things took a turn for the worse when they veered off the road after taking a tight turn at more than 100 mph. Luckily, they escaped with a few injuries.

However, the real impact of the accident would not be revealed until much later. While Iglesias assumed that he was fit enough to play professional soccer, he was proven wrong when he found himself struggling. He started experiencing muscular pain that became increasingly hard to ignore. He even had to go through a surgery to relieve recurring pain in his spine. He later remarked that it was a rather tough time for him. He said, “I think it was for me the greatest moment of anguish I have ever experienced.” Iglesias added that he was scared of the future and of the possibility that he’d never achieve anything now that his soccer plans were in jeopardy.

Things got worse before they got better. Iglesias was temporarily paralyzed after the surgery and had to fight to recover. In fact, his doctors thought he would never walk again. To cope with the major setback, he started playing the guitar, distracting himself from his emotional trauma.

While it’s true that Julio Iglesias is talented and blessed in terms of his musical abilities, he had revealed in the past that this hasn’t been an effortless journey for him. He told the Associated Press that he learned the importance of discipline and taking his music seriously if he wanted to truly make a mark on the industry. He said, “Everything was a bigger struggle for me, everything required a bigger effort, so I understood that the sole basis for my future was discipline, and I maintain that discipline today, at 75.” 

His point was simple — it’s not enough to be passionate about something, and pursuing his interests required him to be focused. After he realized soccer was not possible for him, he took a leap of faith and started getting into the music scene, playing in front of strangers and slowly gaining popularity for his charisma and incredible voice. That said, Iglesias didn’t take his talent for granted, despite becoming very successful, making sure that he worked hard to stay relevant.

Even though Julio Iglesias and his family were privileged and enjoyed many luxuries, they weren’t able to escape tragedy. For example, in the early 1980s, Iglesias had to live through one of the worst times in his life. According to People, his dad was kidnapped by terrorists, which was an incredibly traumatic experience for everyone in the family. Reflecting on the terrible incident, the singer later said, “He was kept for a month in a little room with no lights, and every day they told him they would kill him the next day.”

What did the kidnappers want? Money, of course. Iglesias decided to comply with the kidnappers’ demands in order to save his dad. However, cops were able to save his father before Iglesias came through with the ransom. The singer once mentioned that the incident really scarred his dad. He said that his father had become extra cautious and struggled with crippling fear for two long years after he was kidnapped. This also had an impact on the rest of the family. According to Biography, one of Iglesias’ sons, Enrique, was taken to Miami after the kidnapping to ensure that he was safe and away from anything that could potentially harm him.

Julio Iglesias is human and hasn’t shied away from expressing his vulnerabilities. According to a piece by SFGate, one of the things that the singer has often been afraid of is not working or having something to do. He was pretty clear about it when he said, “If you stop work, you start to die. It’s important for me never to stop. I am so grateful for the things life gives me.”

In another piece by People that was written in 1988, it was apparent that Iglesias was scared that he’d stop being famous someday. It was a possibility that he simply wasn’t comfortable with. He did his best to avoid that from happening and toured as much as he could, using a jet to be many places in a short period. He said, “The biggest problem in my job is that you get afraid to lose it. One day you are a winner, but the next, no matter how big of a star you are, you can be a loser.”

For Julio Iglesias, it has always been crucial to acknowledge that he is grateful for everything he’s received in life. According to the Associated Press, whenever he looked back on his life and everything he learned, he couldn’t help but feel humbled. He said, “In fact, my life has been a miracle.” 

He has also been a bit of a perfectionist. When he was asked about his regrets, he said that he wished he’d made better use of his time and focused even more on perfecting his skills as a musician. He said, “Had I known when I was 20 that I was going to be a musician, I would have taken to the piano, I would have taken the guitar more seriously, I would have perfected my knowledge of music.”

Everything said and done, Iglesias didn’t hold back while reflecting on his life. He said that his life was like a novel, considering everything that he’d gone though — from his brush with professional soccer to paralysis, music, and superstardom. He also said something rather powerful when he spoke the importance of loved ones in his life. “I was nobody. And I’m still nobody because deep down we are all nobodies. Deep down it’s the people that make us somebody.”