Raphael celebrates 60 years of career with series

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Raphael “El Divo de Linares” believes he has something in common with his father, who was a construction worker.

“I am a builder of things, especially of illusions, in front of the public,” said the Spanish star in a recent interview via video call from Miami regarding the premiere of his documentary bioseries “Raphaelismo”, which debuts on Thursday on the streaming service. ViX+.

In the series, directed by Charlie Arnaiz and Alberto Ortega, interviewees such as Alaska, Andrés Calamaro, Carlos Rivera and Enrique Bunbury, as well as close collaborators and relatives of Raphael help create a mosaic of this artist who celebrates 60 years of uninterrupted career.

“I’m still holding on,” said Raphael modestly, who will perform this weekend in a couple of concerts at the National Auditorium in Mexico City as part of his Tour 6.0 that will also take him to Guadalajara and Monterrey.






FILE – Spanish singer and actor Raphael poses during a session in Madrid, Spain, on April 16, 2019. Raphael celebrates 60 years of career with the documentary series “Raphaelismo” that debuts on October 6, 2022 on the streaming service ViX+.




The night before the interview, Raphael received the Billboard Artistic Career Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards gala, where he performed a medley of his greatest hits accompanied by the band CNCO and Spanish singer Pablo López, as well as premiere their song “Of so many people”.

“It was a great night!”, He highlighted, paraphrasing his emblematic song “Mi gran noche”. “The song is beautiful… It means more or less that I belong to so many people, from all the parties,” she added about “From so many people.”

During the talk, Raphael allowed himself to be talked about, something that reflects the words he dedicates to the public at the beginning of the bioseries: “For me, the past does not exist, but I think the time has come to look into the eyes of the person I was.”

“I think it was time, because there are things you do in life, that at another time is not your time, and I felt that it was the moment, if I was going to do it, that was the moment”, he elaborated on what prompted him to review those years in his own words and supported by the people who have known him best.

Upon meeting again with the Raphael of the past, who made world famous songs like “I am that one”, “How I love you” and “When you are not here”, something that surprised him the most was the decision, the impulse that led him from being a tailor’s assistant to appearing with great success at the Olympia Theater in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Zarzuela Theater in Madrid.







RAPHAELISM

FILE – Spanish singer Rafael Martos, known as Raphael, poses as he arrives at a press conference to promote the tour of Mexico for his album “Sinphonico” in Mexico City on February 9, 2016. Raphael celebrates 60 years of career with the documentary series “Raphaelismo” that debuts on October 6, 2022 on the ViX+ streaming service.




“I never doubt, or little, I am a person who makes a decision and carries it out, maybe he doesn’t get it in six months or a year, but he ends up getting it,” said Raphael.

Her perseverance and hard work, as well as her admiration for Édith Piaf, are evident in the documentary. For Raphael, his interest in the great French singer, being a male performer, is not unusual.

“I find it very logical that a man is more attracted to a woman, in this case a singer,” he said.

“Piaf was unique in everything, she was such a strong personality on stage, I have never seen such a true artist. Because you don’t have to make too many gestures to be a true artist either, the more you hold back, the more artist you are, and Piaf was a master at that,” she added.

Raphael had been hired to accompany Piaf in Valencia, but the diva died a month before they met. Her debut in Mexico, at the legendary El Patio nightclub, was also marked by Piaf, since the French singer had performed there years before.

“In other words, Piaf’s story with me has been like a chase through time, until we shared the stage of El Patio,” said Raphael.

Honestly, the musician and actor, born in Jaén on May 5, 1943 and whose real name is Miguel Rafael Martos Sánchez, shows in the same way the complicated moments of his career, especially after a season of concerts in Las Vegas at where he had traveled with his mother.

“They were very painful because I insisted that my mother accompany me and I could not have chosen a worse place than to take a lady whose son is an artist, who is going to be singing all day and they are not going to see more than the time to go to sleep,” he said.

His mother was locked up for the months of Raphael’s season in Las Vegas, which the singer described as a “martyrdom” for both.

“I got sick in the head and from there in Las Vegas, from all that trauma that I had, I went to Washington to sing and I fainted on stage, from the pressure that I had, it is not a city that is artistically appealing, for Partying and messing around, yes, but not for a serious artist”, he sentenced.

Something that is clear is that Raphael, with theatrical performances and powerful voice, has always been ahead of his time and is a pioneer of queer culture, in which men can let themselves be a little more feminine and at the same time have a family. and wife like the journalist Natalia Figueroa with whom he has been married since 1972 and had their children Jacobo, Alejandra and Manuel. How did he do it, how did he live it?

“Perhaps giving normality to everything,” he replied. “Although I may have a reputation for being strident in singing, I am the most normal person you can come across on the street.”

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Raphael celebrates 60 years of career with series