The 63-year-old - one of the first Latin singers to break the English music market in the 1960s - is making his return with a concert at the Esplanade on Monday.

Feliciano is eager to to re-ignite his Singapore connection, telling Life! in a telephone interview from his house in Connecticut: 'It's been quite a while.'

The veteran singer, who had played several shows here over the years, adds that he remembers that a long time ago in Singapore, 'you couldn't wear your hair too long'.

The star, who still sports long tresses, then asked: 'Has that changed?'

Yes, Life! assures him. 'Oh, good,' he replies.

Of his previous visits, he says: 'I had a great time, I love the people, I love the mixture of cultures, the Malays and Chinese, I think the Singaporean people are wonderful.'

Feliciano, who has been blind since birth, is one of 11 children. The family moved from Puerto Rico to the United States and settled in New York when he was five.

In the heady 1960s, he started out performing at coffee bars in the city's bohemian capital, Greenwich Village, during the same period that folk legends such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were making their name.

He says of those times: 'I remember them fondly. It was a wonderful time during the 1960s when we all thought we could change the world.'

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!