Raphael celebrates his "Victory" over time and the miracle of having "such an unabashedly loyal audience"

Raphael is seen on the "forever and ever" stages 0:50

(CNN Spanish) --

If there is an artist who continues to captivate young audiences despite having been on stage for six decades, that is Raphael.

And it is that, with 79 years, the native of Linares, Spain, feels part of this generation.

"That's why I have such a young audience, because I'm in there too," Raphael told Zona Pop CNN in an interview via Zoom.

"I have not let myself be defeated by time, time cannot beat me."

Precisely the Spanish singer will defy time and surround himself with those young people who are his vitamin during the Billboard Latin Music Awards, which will take place this Thursday at the Watsco Center in Miami.

The Billboard tribute to Raphael

In that ceremony Raphael will receive the Artistic Career Award, a recognition in life for a singer who has filled Spanish-speaking music with hits such as "Mi gran noche", "Como yo te amo", "Yo soy qué", among many others. others.

“It means a lot because it is a very important award and especially at this point in the game of my life.

It is very important, it is highly desired and who knows if this will just be a

to obtain other things that perhaps, with the grace of God, are waiting for me, ”Raphael tells CNN Pop Zone.

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The singer, who is still active on stage and is currently on tour, confesses that having the recognition of his audience after six decades is a miracle.

“I am emotionally touched by several things.

Touched with emotion for my career and touched with emotion for such a loyal audience.

It's that people who haven't experienced it can't imagine that an artist can have such a blatantly loyal audience.

And for so long.

Every time I look at the stalls or upstairs, wherever, there are more and more young people who end up on their feet.

It is that it is a miracle.

This is a miracle.

It's a dream from which one day I'll wake up and you'll see… I'll wake up and I'll be on the ground lying, with a smack!”, she says.

At the Latin Billboards he will perform part of his hits and present “De tantan gente”, part of the new that he produced together with the singer from Malaga Pablo López for his new album, “Victoria”, which will be released on November 18.

In this tribute, Raphael will be accompanied by López, whom he says is the heir to the romantic ballad.

Likewise, Alejandra Guzmán, CNCO and Ángela Aguilar will take the stage to perform a medley of the greatest Spanish hits.

Raphael: “Jack of all trades, master of none”

Raphael doesn't like being called a teacher.

Yes, it is a sign of respect for his career, his music, for what he continues to give to the industry.

But he prefers to be an apprentice.

“You have to look at young people to learn what to do and what not to do as well.

They are showing you the way”, says the singer.

Precisely because of that need to learn and that intergenerational closeness, Raphael recruited Pablo López for “Victoria”.

“He's a fantastic kid and a huge songwriter.

I discovered her six years ago, on my way back from America from a long tour, and I saw it on television with her piano.

He impacted me so much that, look at that moment and I remember perfectly, I said

.

Six years later, I went to see him, I had arranged to meet him and I told him:

, and he told me:

”, she says.

Finding a musical accomplice in López, says Raphael, is a stroke of luck in his life and career.

“It has been luck, a very comparable luck that, although comparisons are always hateful and I don't like to give them, but in this case I think he deserves it, the situation warrants it... Manuel Alejandro is unparalleled, it's for me the most of the most;

José Luis Perales came behind as well.

And now there is Pablo, but without bothering each other.

Because each one is who he is and each one expresses himself as they expressed in those times of each one.

And to put the three of them in agreement, there I am, ”he says, laughing.

How he shaped that “Victory”

Counting Raphael's records is exhausting.

He has more than sixty productions and has sold so much that he is one of the few artists in the world who has a Uranium Disc, a recognition received by those who manage to sell more than 50 million units of the same album.

He shares that distinction with Michael Jackson, Queen, and AC/DC.

And despite so many decades in the ring, and thinking that he already has things clear in the way of working, for "Victoria" Raphael let himself be carried away by the rhythm of Pablo López, one that he says is difficult to carry and not because of how fast , but the opposite.

That was the only note he made of the experience.

“I only told him, but why do you force me to sing a song a day?

But don't you understand that this is nothing to me?” says Raphael.

"No, just one for today," the man from Linares imitates the man from Malaga.

A proposal, he says, to which he replied “Okay, okay, that's your way.

Come on, one... We have already agreed that the next one will be three per day”, he exclaims.

That energy and vitality comes from his intimate encounters with the stage, which he says is what gives him energy.

“I am used to giving concerts.

So, at concerts, I sing 30-odd songs, and then singing one is like giving you an olive.

But well, I understand his mentality... And then he would tell me how your voice is, how wonderful!

It has been a very nice album to make, very nice, very special.

It's not a tatty record.

Not sweet, quite the opposite.

He tells it like it is.

To bread, bread and wine”.

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