Enrique Iglesias (born Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler; May 8, 1975) is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias. This helped turn him into one of the most popular artists in Latin America and in the Hispanic American market in the United States, and the biggest seller of Spanish language albums of the 1990s. Before the turn of the millennium, he made a crossover into the mainst
ream English language market, signing a unique multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for an unprecedented US$50,000,000, with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope to release English albums. In 2010, he parted with Interscope and signed with another Universal Music Group label, Universal Republic. Iglesias has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling Latin artists of all time.[1]
Iglesias has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two , and holds the record for producing 22 number 1 Spanish-language singles on the Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks.[2] He has also had nine #1 songs on Billboard's Dance charts, more than any other single male artist. Altogether, Iglesias has amassed 53 #1 hits on the various Billboard charts. He has honorably been named as The King of Latin Pop and The King of Dance according to Billboard. Enrique has been named as the 2nd best Latin artist in the span of 1986-2011 by Billboard only beaten by Luis Miguel.[3] According to whopopular.com, he is the #1 Musician of Spain and 28th Best Musician of the World.[4] Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain,[5] and is the third and youngest child of singer Julio Iglesias and socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His mother is a Filipina [6] and his father is of Spanish ancestry from Galicia.[7][8] His parents' marriage was annulled in 1979. In 1986, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque separatist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother, Julio Iglesias, Jr., were sent to live with their father in Miami.[9] He also lived in Belgrade, Serbia, for one year with his mother.[10] As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended Gulliver Preparatory School[11] and went on to study business at the University of Miami.[12]
Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed by a record label called Fonovisa. After dropping out of college, he went to Toronto to record his first album. In 2003, Iglesias removed a mole from his face.[13]
[edit]Music career
[edit]1995–96: Enrique Iglesias
On July 12,1995 , Iglesias released his first album titled Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including such mega-hits as "Si Tú Te Vas", "Experiencia Religiosa", and others. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English. His song " Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daría mi vida (To love you, I'd give my life), the words were Por amarte Marisol, moriría (To love you, Marisol, I'd die). The CD also yielded Italian and Portuguese editions of the album, with most of the songs translated into those languages. Five singles released from this album, such as "Por Amarte", "No Llores Por Mí", and "Trapecista" topped the Latin charts. The album went on to win Iglesias a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance.
