He’s grateful for the music’s success … from the underside of his coronary heart.
“Feliz Navidad” is No. 10 on Spotify’s checklist of most-streamed vacation tracks of all time and singer-songwriter José Feliciano — who recorded the hit in simply 10 minutes in 1970 — informed The Put up he by no means imagined it will nonetheless be so standard.
“I never would have dreamed that in a million years,” he stated.
Feliciano, now 79, credit the catchy tune’s lasting enchantment to its simplicity and message of unity.
“I think because it’s a simple little song meant to bring people together and bring them joy. We actually need that more than ever,” he stated.
The Puerto Rican native, who grew up together with his 10 brothers in Spanish Harlem and the Bronx, stated the music was partly impressed by the Boogie Down.
“‘Feliz Navidad’ brought me back to my Christmases at home as a little boy in Puerto Rico and then later in New York and the Bronx being one of those places where we lived until I moved to California. That’s where I ultimately recorded our Christmas LP,” he stated.
Feliciano, who was born blind, stated he’s undecided if the entire multitudes of followers of his Christmas traditional are conscious of his incapacity.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter, I don’t think … probably not,” he stated.
“I don’t particularly sound blind, I don’t think.”
He taught himself the guitar, and as an adolescent took classical guitar classes at Lighthouse for the Blind, which was on East 59th Road in Midtown.
“I wanted to play guitar and I wanted to play it well,” stated Feliciano, who received his begin performing in Greenwich Village.
“I wanted to be an artist but I never would have dreamt of this road that God had planned for me.”
Vacation season or not, Feliciano will get requests to belt the tune out in public.
“Anytime of year I’m asked to sing it,” he stated.
When requested the place he’s heard the music around the globe, he stated, “My gosh, not to be smart but where might I haven’t heard it?”
“But seriously, all throughout Europe, South Africa, Japan, Korea, Turkey, China, Israel, the islands of the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, all over, really. Pretty much everywhere I guess,” Feliciano stated, including he’s visited greater than 100 international locations.
“What can I say, I’ve been blessed.”
