Enrique Iglesias |
 Enrique Iglesias, during an interview withMuchMusic. |
Background information |
Birth name | Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler |
Born | May 8, 1975 (age 37) Madrid, Spain |
Genres | Pop, Latin pop, R&B, dance-pop, soft rock, rap |
Occupations | Singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, model |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 1994–present |
Labels | Fonovisa, Interscope, Universal Music Latino, Universal Republic, Polydor |
Website | www.enriqueiglesias.com |
Enrique Iglesias (born
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler; May 8, 1975) is a
Spanish singer, songwriter and occasional actor, popular in both the Latin market and the
Hispanic American market in the United States. He is the son of the famous Spanish singer
Julio Iglesias. Within five years of beginning his musical career in the 1990s, he became the biggest seller of Spanish-language albums of that decade. He made his crossover into the mainstream English language market before the turn of the millennium, signing a 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 Spanish language artists of all time.
[1] He has had five
Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones, and holds the record for producing 22 number-one Spanish-language singles on the
Billboard's
Hot Latin Tracks.
[2] He has also had ten number-one songs on
Billboard's Dance charts, more than any other single male artist. Altogether, Iglesias has amassed 68 number-one songs on the various
Billboard charts.
[3] Billboard has called him
The King of Latin Pop and
The King of Dance.
Billboard also named Enrique the number two Latin artist of the years 1986–2011 (
Luis Miguel taking the first spot).
[4]
[edit]Early life
In 1986, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr.
Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group
ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother,
Julio Iglesias, Jr., were sent to live with their father in Miami.
[10] He also lived in
Belgrade, Serbia, for one year with his mother.
[11] As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious
Gulliver Preparatory School, where he made his singing debut in a production of
Hello, Dolly!.
[12] Iglesias later went on to study business at the
University of Miami.
[13]
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 the Mexican label
Fonovisa. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album.
[14]
[edit]Music career
[edit]1995–96: Enrique Iglesias
On July 12, 1995, Iglesias released
Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such 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, going Gold in
Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months.
[12]
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 Billboard's Latin charts. The album went on to win Iglesias a
Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance.
[edit]1997–99: Vivir and Cosas Del Amor

Iglesias with
Ronald McDonald in 1999, his
Cosas del Amor tour was sponsored by McDonald's.
In 1997, Iglesias' star continued to rise with the release of
Vivir (
To Live), which put him up with other English language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the
Yazoo song "
Only You", translated into Spanish as "Solo en Tí".
Three singles released from
Vivir ("
Enamorado Por Primera Vez", "
Sólo en Ti" and "
Miente") topped the Latin singles chart as well as those in several Spanish-speaking countries. Along with his father and
Luis Miguel, Iglesias was nominated for an
American Music Award in the first-ever awarded category of Favorite Latin Artist. It was said beforehand that the elder Iglesias would walk out if he did not win the award. Iglesias lost out to his father, but did perform the song "
Lluvia Cae" at the event.
In 1998, Iglesias released his third album,
Cosas del Amor (
Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles "
Esperanza" and "
Nunca Te Olvidaré", both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene.
Iglesias did a short tour of smaller venues to accompany the release of the album, with one show being televised from
Acapulco, Mexico. This was followed by a larger world tour of over eighty shows in even bigger venues. The
Cosas del Amor Tour was the first ever concert tour sponsored by
McDonald's.
He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Latin Artist against
Ricky Martin and
Los Tigres del Norte. The song "Nunca te Olvidaré" was also used as the theme music for a Spanish soap opera of the same name and he sang the song himself on the last episode of the series.
[edit]1999–2000: Enrique
By 1999, Iglesias had begun a successful crossover career into the English language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably that of
Ricky Martin and
Selena, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music. After attending one of his concerts
Will Smith asked Iglesias to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie
Wild Wild West, his contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US.
In 2000 Iglesias performed at the
Superbowl halftime show with
Christina Aguilara. Shock jock
Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused the Iglesias of not being able to sing live. On June 8, 2000 Iglesias sang the song live on Stern's show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance Stern remarked "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing".
[16] Iglesias would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album's single
Be With You became Iglesias's second #1 single on Billboard's Hot 100.
[edit]2001–02: Escape
In 2001 Iglesias released his second English language album
Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more. The album's first single, "
Hero", became a number one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias.
Escape is his biggest commercial success to date. The singles "
Escape" and "
Don't Turn Off The Lights" became radio staples, fairing well and placing highly or topping various charts both in North America and elsewhere. A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias's favorite tracks, "
Maybe", as well as a duet with
Lionel Richie called "
To Love a Woman".
[edit]2002–04: Quizás & 7
In 2002 Iglesias chose to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album's title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father.
The album debuted at number 12 on the
Billboard 200 albums chart, the highest placement of a Spanish language album on the chart at the time.
Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in 5 years. The three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of 16 number ones on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most number one singles on
Billboard's Latin Chart. His last single from the album, "Para Que la Vida", reached a million spins on U.S. radio, the only Spanish language song to do so.
[17]
The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish language music video to be added to the selection on one of
MTV's popular show
Total Request Live. Iglesias performed the song on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, becoming the first to sing a Spanish song on the show, and opening doors for other artists such as
Ricky Martin,
Juanes and
Jorge Drexler to perform their Spanish material. Iglesias included songs from
Quizás in his "Don't Turn Off the Lights Tour", and the album went on to win a
Latin Grammy Award for
Best Pop Vocal Album.
By 2003 Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called
7, the second to be co-written by Iglesias. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song "Roamer", which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist,
Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song "Be Yourself", a song about independence (the chorus talks about how Iglesias' own parents did not believe he'd ever succeed in his singing career). The first single was the song "
Addicted", and was followed closely by a remix of the song "Not in Love", featuring
Kelis.
With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States ending with Iglesias playing at
Houston Rodeo and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd never previously visited playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt and Singapore before ending his tour in
South Africa.
[edit]2007–08: Insomniac

Iglesias performing on August 29, 2007.
Iglesias released his new album
Insomniac on June 12, 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The album contained a more contemporary pop style than that of previous albums. The album's highlights include "
Push", with rapper
Lil' Wayne, as well as "Ring My Bells", and a cover of
Ringside's "
Tired of Being Sorry".
The first single "
Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)" was released on April 10, 2007. It was the Iglesias's highest charting song on the Hot 100 since "Escape" it was also a hit throughout Europe peaking in the top 10 in many countries and the Spanish version entitled "Dímelo" was #1 on Hot Latin Tracks for 12 weeks becoming his second best performing song on that chart.
Iglesias followed up with the ballad "
Somebody's Me", which was released as a single in the American continent. The song was played extensively on AC radio and peaked high on Billboard's
Hot AC, where the Spanish version also performed well. In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer
Nâdiya which was #1 in France for eleven weeks.
On July 4, Enrique Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of 10,000 in the capital
Damascus and in the same week performed on
Live Earth in
Hamburg.
The Insomniac World Tour was launched at the
Dome in
Johannesburg, South Africa, the same venue he ended his last world Tour and took him to sold out arenas throughout Europe. It was his first arena tour of the UK with him playing venues such as Manchester's
MEN Arena and
Wembley Arena. The tour ended with Iglesias performing at newly opened
L.A. Live. A second leg of the tour has taken him throughout Latin America from Mexico to Argentina.
A solo version of "Push" was added to the soundtrack of the movie
Step Up 2 the Streets. The song was regarded as the third single from the album. A music video was shot which features the film's lead actors. Despite never being officially added to radio the song has charted in several countries and is one of his most highly rated songs amongst fans.
Iglesias's song "
Can You Hear Me" has been chosen as the official song of the
UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament.
[18] He performed the song live at the June 29, 2008 final in Vienna, Austria.
[19] The song featured on a re-issue of the Insomniac album being released in certain countries.
[edit]2008–09: Greatest Hits albums
Iglesias released a Spanish
Greatest Hits album on March 25, 2008 which included his seventeen #1 songs on Hot Latin Tracks chart, plus two new songs. The first single was the song "Dónde Están Corazón", which is written by Argentine star
Coti and became Iglesias's 18th #1 single on
Billboard's Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at #1 on
Billboard's Latin Albums Chart and #18 on the overall
Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias's second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the
Billboard 200 (
Quizás debuted at #12 in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries.
The album's second single "
Lloro Por Ti" had an official remix featuring
Wisin & Yandel which also reached #1. Iglesias did a tour of the US. Beginning in
Laredo, Texas and ending at the
Izod Center in
New Jersey he was accompanied though most of the tour with Bachata band
Aventura who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the Premios Juventud.
Iglesias was a surprise performer at the
Lo Nuestro Awards, opening the show with a medley of "Dónde Están Corazón" and "Dimelo". He also performed at the
Billboard Latin Music Awards, where he received a special award.
After the success of his Spanish
Greatest Hits compilation, Iglesias released a compilation of his English language hits on November 11. The album includes "Can You Hear Me" as well two new songs. The first single is entitled "
Away" featuring
Sean Garrett and was followed by "
Takin' Back My Love" featuring
Ciara.
[20]
The compilation includes English hit songs such as "Bailamos", "Hero", "Be with You", "Not in Love" and "Escape" which have topped various Billboard charts (two of which did so on the Hot 100) as well as songs such as "Rhythm Divine", "Tired of Being Sorry" and "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", which have also topped charts in Europe.
After the successful collaboration with
Nadiya, Iglesias recorded another Ringside cover with her called "Miss You", which featured on a deluxe edition of the album.
The album debuted at #3 on the official
UK Albums Chart and sold over 80,000 copies in its first two weeks of release alone.
Iglesias was the winner of two
World Music Awards in the categories of "World's Best Selling Latin Performer" and "World's Best Selling Spanish Artist", in the ceremony held in Monaco on November 9, 2008.
[edit]2010–present: Euphoria
Earlier in 2010, Iglesias featured in the charity song
We Are the World 25 for Haiti along with 25 other top artists from USA in order to raise funds for the Earthquake hit Haiti area. It was produced by Quincy Jones, and executively produced by Lionel Richie, and Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean. Enrique also recorded the song "It Must Be Love" for the album
Download to Donate for Haiti for the same cause.

Enrique Iglesias performs on stage during MTV Live Georgia at Europe Square on August 2, 2011 in
Batumi,
Georgia.
The first English single from the album, "
I Like It", which features the rapper
Pitbull, was released on May 3, 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching number 4 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
As of January 2011 "
Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)" broke into the top 10 on the Billboard charts reaching no 4.
[24] The song was released only for digital download in the U.S. although was featured on some Editions of "Euphoria" in Europe and some Asian areas. The song has became his first #1 on the US Pop Songs and
Hot 100 airplay Charts.
[25]
A remix version of "
Dirty Dancer" was released and became his ninth Dance Club play chart topper making him the male with the most number-one dance singles. tying with
Prince &
Michael Jackson.
[26][27] "
Ayer" serves as the albums seventh single.
The Euphoria Tour has taken him across the US, Canada UK and Europe. A second which has taken him to Australia will include leg will include fellow artists Pitbull and
Prince Royce and will be across North America. Iglesias was finalizing production for an extension to
Euphoria, titled
Euphoria Reloaded, however due to the poor commercial performance of
I Like How It Feels featuring rapper Pitbull, plans of the rerelease were cut.The song topped the
Billboard Hot Dance-Club Songs,making him the male artist with most number-one dance singles. Iglesias has recently collaborated with
Dev on a song called "
Naked". It was released on
iTunes on December 20, 2011. This song was written by Iglesias.
On May 22, 2012 Iglesias performed at the first Q102 Springle Ball 2012 concert, among the songs he performed were "Tonight I'm Loving You", "Hero", and "I Like It".
[edit]Songwriting, producing, and acting
In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an
off Broadway musical called
Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of
Carmen Miranda,
Selena,
Richie Valens,
Santana,
Ricky Martin and Iglesias himself.
He also guest starred as Gael, an Argentinean guitar playing/surfer/massage therapist love interest of Robin in season 3 of the CBS hit TV show
How I Met Your Mother.
Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in an ambitious TV commercial for
Pepsi, which sponsored his last world tour. He starred alongside
Britney Spears,
Beyoncé and
Pink, who turn the tables on him in the commercial. He's also starred in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos and for Viceroy watches.
[edit]Personal life
Iglesias started dating tennis player
Anna Kournikova in late 2001 (she appeared in his video, "Escape"), and rumors that the couple had secretly married circulated in 2003 and again in 2005. Kournikova herself has consistently refused to directly confirm or deny the status of her personal relationships. But in May 2007, Enrique Iglesias was quoted (incorrectly, as he would clarify later) in the
New York Sun that he had no intention of marrying Kournikova and settling down because they had split up.
[citation needed] The singer would later deny these rumors of "divorce" or simply separation.
[citation needed] In June 2008, Iglesias told the
Daily Star that he had married Kournikova the previous year and that they are currently separated.
[30] In an interview with
Graham Norton in 2010, Kournikova confirmed that she and Iglesias have been together for over eight years but have no plans to marry in the near future.
[citation needed]
Iglesias has admitted to receiving plastic surgery.
[31] On August 20 2003, a plastic surgeon removed a circular mole from the right side of his face.
[edit]Discography
[edit]Filmography
[edit]Awards and nominations
[edit]See also
[edit]References
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias". MTV. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
- ^ According to Universal Music[dead link]
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias brings Latino flavor to Puyallup Fair on Sept. 18". Auburn Reporter.com. 2012-06-18.
- ^ "Top 25 Latin Artists". Billboard Chartbeat. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias". www.IMDb.com.
- ^ "Filipino-Spanish Singer Enrique Iglesias - PinoyMusicChoice | Original Pilipino Music | OPM Hits | Philippines | Tagalog Song | Filipino Pop Culture". PinoyMusicChoice. 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
- ^ "20 International Stars You Didn’t Know Had Filipino Blood | Celebrities". FemaleNetwork.com. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
- ^ Julio Iglesias claims to be partially Jewish
- ^ Blondy, Brian (2009-09-09). "Julio Iglesias charms in Tel Aviv". Jerusalem Post.
- ^ Levin, Jordan (November 23, 1997). "He Never Sang for His Father". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
- ^ "Enrique kao dijete živio u Beogradu, a sada bi upoznavao Beograđanke – Showbiz – XMag – Index.hr". www.index.hr. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
- ^ a b Nimmervoll, Ed. "Enrique Iglesias - Biography".Allmusic. Retrieved March 27, 2012.
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias". Retrieved October 1, 2009.
- ^ Khatib, Salma (2004-04-23). "Seven Up!". Screen Weekly. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias begins his worldwide tour Vivir". Ondanet. 2008-05-31.
- ^ Editor, Contributing (2000-06-08). "Enrique Iglesias Proves He Really Can Sing - Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV.com". Vh1.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ "Enrique Sets Billboard Record". Geffen. 2008-05-31.
- ^ "Iglesias to Star at UEFA Euro 2008". UEFA Euro 2008. 2008-05-22.
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias to Sing to Soccer Fans". A Socialite's Life. 2008-05-20.
- ^ "New Song and Greatest Hits!". Enriqueiglesias.com. 2008-09-05.
- ^ Levine, Nick (2010-01-15). "Enrique announces new album details". Digitalspy. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ Cuando Me Enamoro top the Latin Songs BillboardRetrieved 2010-06-02
- ^ "Enrique – U.S Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- ^ Music – News – Katy Perry regains US singles chart lead. Digital Spy (2011-01-07). Retrieved on 2011-03-24.
- ^ Enrique Iglesias Scores First Pop Songs No. 1 – Chart Beat. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-24.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Chart Beat: Best Of 2010: Part 3 – Chart Beat. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias Announce Summer Tour". Billboard. 2012-04-30.
- ^ "Events - Enrique Iglesias".
- ^ "Iglesias: 'Anna and I were married'". Digital Spy.
- ^ "Iglesias: 'Enrique Iglesias removes trademark mole. Doctors said it might lead to cancer'". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "Enrique Iglesias Profile". Celebhistory.com. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
[edit]External links