2023-12-10 05:51:37
He is the son of the bricklayer who married the granddaughter of the Count of Romanones, a young woman from the traditional aristocracy. He is the first Hispanic to sing at Madison Square Garden in New York. He is the only singer in Spanish to receive a uranium record, because the gold and platinum ones were too small for him. He is the man who acted in Moscow when Spain did not have diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. He is the one who came back from the dead following a liver transplant. And he is the one who above all dignifies the profession of the artist by remaining active at 80 years old.
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Next March 5, as part of his “Victoria Tour”, the inexhaustible artist returns to Peru to offer a show at the Círculo Militar de Jesús María. It will be a reunion of the Linares divo with the Peruvians and with his own memories of our country, marked by the great friendship he had with the Creole singer-songwriter Chabuca Granda, to whom he even dedicated a song.
“We had a very beautiful friendship. We met in Mexico, then we saw each other in Peru several times. Chabuca Granda did many things for my career. I was lucky to have good songs from her and, in return, I dedicated “Chabuca limeña” to her, a waltz that Manuel Alejandro wrote for her. She was a surprising, incredible, supportive, unique woman. She was a great friend. I always remember her with great affection,” she points out. With that starting point, we spoke with the great Raphael.
─How do you summarize this stage of your life?
I eat fantastic because I receive love from the public in abundance. It excites me to see that I am singing for five generations, when the normal thing is to sing only for your generation. Seeing kids of 15, 20 and 28 years old enjoy my music fills my heart. You have been singing for more than six decades, a milestone that very few performers manage to achieve.
─Would you say that there has been a lot of sacrifice behind each of your achievements?
This is a life of sacrifices. People who think that it is a continuous party are wrong. You have to really like it, you have to be in love with people to be able to give them the best. I had to sacrifice my private life, but since I never did anything wrong, I’m glad I passed that test with merit (laughs).
─You went on stage for the first time when you were three years old, and at 9 you were recognized as the best children’s voice in Europe at the Salzburg Festival, in Austria. You were even able to study on a scholarship thanks to your talent.
They didn’t charge me for school because I was the soloist of the choir, let’s say I paid for it with my work in front of the public at twelve o’clock mass. The voice has given me everything.
─Is Raphael with F different from Raphael with PH?
I separate the person from the artist a lot because I value my private life. When I wore Raphael with PH, my manager congratulated me. He told me that in all countries they would call me that and that only in Andalusia, my homeland, would they continue to call me Rafael. He was wrong, because no one ever called me that once more.
─In your musical repertoire, you have great crown jewels, as you call the songs composed by Manuel Alejandro or José Luis Perales. Is composing a pending topic for you?
No, because if I had wanted to, I would have composed anyway. I don’t want to get into things I didn’t prepare for. I’m picky. I prefer that good people like the ones you mentioned make my songs tailored to me. Now I am working with Pablo López. He is giving me tremendous success.
─About José Luis Perales, this year he said goodbye to the stage with a tour. Did you evaluate that possibility at any stage in your life?
I’m never going to say goodbye. Let it be written. Selfishly, I can’t do it because I would cry all day. I will never leave of my own free will. The public will have to remove me.
─At the age of 60 you faced a liver disease that put you on the brink of death. What changed from there?
A very tremendous and painful time, but with a wonderful ending. It was 21 years ago. They gave me life, and I am living that life now. I was unharmed thanks to finding a donor.
─Did you know who the donor was?
Legally, you cannot know him, but if you are patient and connect the dots, you will come to the conclusion of who saved your life. That happened with me. I found out who it was.
─Are you afraid of death?
I’m not afraid of it because I’ve already been there. I did not like. That’s why I left.
─What would you say was the most difficult decision you had to make?
Although I had to clear many stones along the way, I have not had to make difficult decisions. Now my path is clear.
─You have accumulated at least 82 works from your first album, Raphael (1965), to the most recent “Victoria” (2022). You have more than 300 gold records, almost 50 platinum records and a uranium record for the sale of more than 50 million copies sold. You have traveled the world and have been on the most important stages. What do you need to do in life?
I’m not missing anything. But, it would be nice if the day I decide not to continue, I have gone around the world once more so that that memory remains engraved in my retina.
─In “Victoria”, a concept album, you take a journey of gratitude and talk regarding your achievements as a professional and family success. Do you consider yourself a winning man?
A winner professionally and family-wise. My life has been a victory since I started and now that we are half finishing it, although I deny it, it is an absolute victory for the friends I have, for my wife, my children, the public and the critics.
─A curious question: is it true that the mansion you lived in in Miami belonged to former US President Richard Nixon?
I bought it from former President Nixon’s lawyer. It was a very normal house, except that it had a privileged location on the sea and in the most beautiful area of Miami there is. I only had it for six years. The time my children studied there. Then I returned to Spain.
─What would you say to the new generations of artists, who are starting on that path today?
We must let them work, develop, and have personal successes. You have to wait a few years to see how they are doing, because it is not easy.
─You once commented that in your beginnings, you looked forward to people’s applause. Now, when you go on stage, what do you expect to happen?
That people like it the same as last year and two, fifteen or twenty years ago.
─Does anything remain in you from that child who fell in love with the stage?
The enthusiasm for things is still intact, it never left.
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