It might surprise some people to know that a member of the world's best-selling classical crossover group of all time can be so likeable and down-to-earth. But Carlos Marín is certainly that, unafraid to be proud of all the success he and his bandmates have achieved and extremely grateful for it.
Now 53, and embarking on Il Divo’s 10th album and tour, plus a successful solo career, Carlos is at the age to take stock and reflect. The Madrileño started singing when he was just six, beginning a life-long passion for music.
"Since I was a little boy I was always singing. I did my first solo record when I was eight. I was born in Germany - I'm Spanish but my parents went over there and so I recorded my first solo record in Holland. I came back to Spain when I was 13 years old and since then I was always involved in music. I did musical theatre, I did opera, I did pop music... I was also doing a lot of TV so I've always been involved in music since I was a little boy."
A child protégé then? The music industry is peppered with such young starters in showbusiness and we hear horror stories of the emotional damage they suffer (and inflict) later in life, Michael Jackson and Luis Miguel to name just a few. Did Carlos feel the pressure of being a commercial artist at such a young age?
"Not at all," he insists. "Because, since I was a child I always loved music; I always loved to sing because that was one of my passions. I've seen photos when I was a child and I was always with my guitar or at the piano, because I learned piano when I was very little. I remember that I was always singing 'O Sole Mio' and those operatic-style songs, and the first record I did when I was eight years old were of those songs. And there wasn't any pressure because it was something that I loved. I had time to play with my friends but yeah, I was always involved in music."
When Carlos and I spoke, I had recently finished watching series three of Luis Miguel: The Series, which tells the life story of the Mexican singer, Latin America’s biggest selling artist of the nineties and one of the best voices of all time. I wondered whether the Il Divo member found any similarities between his life and that of 'El Sol.'
"It is [similar] in a way," says Carlos, who is a couple of years older than Luis Miguel, "and it's quite interesting because when I was 14 years old I won a singing prize in pop music - and I remember that in one part of the series, Luis Miguel’s uncle was looking for some singers in Spain and I was one of the singers! He was telling me I needed to go to Mexico and sing with Luis Miguel, or whatever, and in the end my father said no. He felt there was something strange...I mean the record company that the father of Luis Miguel had wasn't true. So it was quite interesting when I was watching also this TV series because I could see myself in that moment that if I'd gone to Mexico at that time, maybe who knows what would have happened? I'm a very big fan of Luis Miguel - he's one of the best ever Latin singers."
On the pressure Luis Miguel's father placed on his son, Carlos continues…
"I can understand how he [Luis Miguel] feels. He sort of lives in his own bubble right now because he doesn't trust anyone. Obviously his father was the one who pushed him to be number one, but he was pushing too much and just took his money and everything. That wasn't my case because my parents were always helping me, they were always with me and they never pushed me to sing when I was a little child. I mean obviously I was lucky to do the record and everything, but they were always on my side and really helping me, and if I didn't want to do something, they said don't do it. So, I had a really easy childhood even though I was heavily involved in music at that time."
After singing in several musicals and movies in the 1990s Carlos joined Il Divo, never imagining the phenomenal level of success they would go on to have. That success was instant, with the band's self-titled debut album going straight in at number one in the UK Album Charts in 2004, knocking Robbie Williams off the top spot.
"Since then it has been absolutely amazing," he enthuses. "I remember also that it [the debut album] went to number one in the States. We were number one, 50 Cent was number two and Mariah Carey was number three! Since then it has been something like a movie - the tour with Barbara Streisand, singing with Celine Dion, singing with so many singers...with Barbara Streisand I remember we were singing in Madison Square Garden and there were so many famous people."
Carlos continues in an almost child-like reverie of his experiences...
"Once we were resting and someone knocked on the door and I opened the door and there was Hillary Clinton. She wanted to have a photo with us because she was a big fan of Il Divo. So we did the photo with Hillary Clinton, then Bill Clinton came to us also saying, 'Hey guys, I should do a tour with you, I've been playing the saxophone!' That was a really fun thing at the time. We have seen so many things, so many artists, so many actors...I've found myself sitting next to Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ben Stiller... so it has been - and still is - an amazing time with Il Divo."
Perhaps also, it occurs to me, that being part of a group, and being able to share the joys and pressures with your ‘team mates’ in a band, as opposed to being a solo artist, has taken the pressure off and allowed Carlos to enjoy this incredible journey, which he clearly has and still does…
"It has been quite a long time but it has passed really very quickly, in a way, because we never expected that we would sell so many records at the beginning and that the formula would work until now. And we still have more things to do; we're thinking already what to do for the next record. Every time we release something new we want to surprise our fans."
Now, after two years, the band is back on tour, having stopped in December 2019 in the US due to the pandemic.
“Since then we haven't done anything - only one livestream, that was in America, and now we're going to start, finally, on the 28th November in the Canary Islands. Then we're going to go to the UK, Portugal, Spain, and then next year we're going to be around the world again. So, we are really happy just to be on stage again because that's what we really want: to be close to the audience."
Presumably Carlos, who also enjoys his work as a solo artist (his most recent album, Portrait, came out last year) and producing other artists, has really missed performing live?
"Of course! When you're recording that's really nice but when you are doing a live show, you are close to the audience, you feel their presence, and to have the warmth of the fans that's something that we really love."
On this tour the group will be performing festive classics (their Christmas Collection album in 2005 sold over one million copies in the US alone) along with songs from Il Divo's latest studio release, For Once in My Life: A Celebration of Motown. The singer admits that he and the others were a "little bit sceptical" before recording their Motown tribute album - which includes classic tunes by the likes of Marvin Gaye (whose voice also features), Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5, as well as guest appearances from Smokey Robinson and Boyz II Men (on The Tracks of My Tears and I'll Make Love to You respectively).
"We didn't know if this would really fit our voices...also because we were singing with other singers and of course we needed to sing in the same key that they were doing it in - and then to still have the flavour of Motown, even with our voices. So it was quite a fun thing to do because even though you can still hear Il Divo in the big notes at the end, we tried to do it a little more 'pop' in the middle parts while still trying to have the big endings when we could."
Asked if there's anyone else he would like to pay tribute to musically, Carlos says, "I'm a big fan of Tom Jones, of Queen...But to do a duet, maybe it would be great with Beyoncé - that would be something amazing, I think."
Still in there with the young ones, I think. But of course, Carlos stays in shape by going to the gym when he can and also follows a healthy diet - "because I also want to be able to fit in the clothes after two years of not wearing them," he laughs. "You still need to look good in those Armani suits!"
In contrast to Luis Miguel, who is seen drinking whisky or wine in practically every scene of his series, this protégé doesn't drink or smoke and says he just lives a "normal life" noting, "when you are touring, the only thing that is sometimes very difficult is the jet lag because of those time differences when you go from one place to another.
"Maybe you are in Japan and then after a week you are in America or you are in Spain or you are in Australia... Obviously you need to be smiling when you go to do a TV show and maybe you are so tired that you can't stay awake, but that's the only difficult part.
"But, as I said, when you're on stage and you see the fans clapping, or you see that they're happy - we have so many great fans - then you just forget you are tired or that you are maybe feeling a little bit sick."
And this is where its nice to be part of a team, Carlos adds:
"Sometimes when you're on stage and maybe you don't feel so well, you just look to one of the others and say, 'Hey, just hit this note because I can't'. That's the good thing about being a group, and also the great relationship that we have right now. We're like brothers - we only need to look into each other's eyes and we know what they are feeling."
Il Divo will be appearing at the SSE Arena Wembley on Friday, December 17th. For more information, visit ildivo.com
