Enrique Iglesias

• 1. A Name He Tried To Hide

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  Enrique Iglesias once went to great lengths to hide the most famous surname in Spanish pop. He was a young man in Miami holding a demo cassette with one Spanish song and two English songs. He had borrowed the money to make it from his family's nanny. His father, the singer Julio Iglesias, was not supposed to find out. The tape would carry a stage name and an invented past instead. Today Enrique Iglesias is counted among the best-selling Latin music artists, with estimated sales of over 100 million albums worldwide. How does someone who wanted no help from a famous name become the holder of chart records that others still chase? What did it take to move from Spanish-language stardom into English-language pop? And why would a man still writing hits decide to title his latest albums Final?

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• 2. Madrid To Miami

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  Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler was born in Madrid on the 8th of May 1975, the third and youngest child in his family. His mother, Isabel Preysler, was a Spanish-Filipina socialite and magazine journalist. His older siblings were Chábeli and Julio Jr. The family had a Hollywood link as well, because one of his mother's aunts was the actress Neile Adams, the first wife of Steve McQueen.

  Iglesias later learned that he was born with situs inversus. In this rare congenital condition, major organs such as the heart sit on the opposite side of the body from where they normally belong.

  In December 1981, the armed Basque group ETA kidnapped his grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga. For safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father in Miami. A nanny named Elvira Olivares did most of the raising there. Enrique later dedicated his first album to her.

  Gulliver Preparatory School, a private high school in Miami, is where he first became interested in writing songs. He then enrolled at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and studied business. He dropped out after a single year. The label that first signed him would turn out to be neither Spanish nor American, but Mexican.

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• 3. The Fonovisa Years

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  Fernán Martínez, a former publicist for Julio Iglesias, helped Enrique promote his demo under the name Enrique Martínez. The backstory was that the singer came from Guatemala. The Mexican label Fonovisa signed him, and he moved temporarily to Canada to record.

  On the 21st of November 1995 he released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads that included "Si Tú Te Vas" and "Experiencia Religiosa". The album sold half a million copies in its first week, which was rare then for a record not in English. It also went Gold in Portugal that same week. One million copies followed within three months, and it reached Platinum status in the United States.

  The song "Por Amarte" found its way into the Televisa telenovela Marisol, with the lyric changed to name the heroine. The album also came out in Italian and Portuguese editions, with most songs sung in those languages. Five singles were released, and the album still holds the record for the most number-one singles on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart. It won him the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance.

  In 1997 came Vivir, which lifted his sales to the level of popular English-language musicians that year. It included "Solo en Ti", a Spanish version of the Yazoo song "Only You". Its single "Miente" topped the Hot Latin Songs chart. Iglesias was nominated alongside his father and Luis Miguel in the first-ever American Music Award category for Favorite Latin Artist. His father won, and Enrique performed "Lluvia Cae" at the ceremony.

  That summer he insisted on playing large stadiums for his first tour. His band included sidemen who had worked for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. The tour began in Odessa, Texas, and played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. It included three consecutive nights at the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City. In Argentina he played two nights at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, each with over 50,000 people.

  Cosas del Amor followed in 1998 with a more mature sound. Its singles "Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidaré" both topped the Hot Latin Songs chart. The world tour of over 80 shows was the first concert tour ever sponsored by McDonald's. He won the American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist for the second time, this time beating Ricky Martin and Chayanne. "Nunca Te Olvidaré" also became the theme song of a Spanish soap opera of the same name. Iglesias guest-starred in its finale and sang the song live.

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• 4. Crossing Over

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  In March 1999, the actor Will Smith attended an Iglesias concert and afterward asked him to contribute a song to the soundtrack of Wild Wild West. The result, "Bailamos", became an international hit and reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It arrived during a surge of interest in Latin pop, driven by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and soon Shakira.

  Several mainstream labels wanted to sign him. After weeks of negotiations with Interscope, he agreed to a multi-album deal said to be worth US$68 million. His first full English album, Enrique, took two months to complete. It carried clear Latin influences and included "Rhythm Divine", a duet with Whitney Houston called "Could I Have This Kiss Forever", and a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Sad Eyes".

  In 2000 he performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show with Christina Aguilera, Phil Collins and Toni Braxton. Around then, the radio host Howard Stern kept playing a tape of an apparently off-key Iglesias and accusing him of being unable to sing live. On the 8th of June 2000, Iglesias came to New York and sang live and unplugged on Stern's show with only a guitarist. Afterward Stern told him, "I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing."

  Iglesias conceded the tape could have been him. He guessed it came from a television taping where he had been required to lip sync. He later said the controversy was the best promotion he could have had. The album's single "Be with You" became his second number one on the Hot 100.

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• 5. Escape And Beyond

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  In 2001 Iglesias released Escape, his second English-language album. Most Latin crossover acts of the previous year struggled to match the sales of their first English albums. Iglesias sold even more, and Escape was certified Diamond for shipments of over 10 million copies. Its first single, "Hero", reached number one in the United Kingdom and many other countries. He co-wrote the entire album, and it remains his biggest commercial success. A second edition added a new version of his favorite track "Maybe" and a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman".

  The One-Night Stand World Tour brought fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries. It included Radio City Music Hall and three consecutive nights at London's Royal Albert Hall. It ended at the Lia Manoliu Stadium in Bucharest, Romania. That concert launched MTV Romania, whose first music video was "Love to See You Cry".

  In 2002 he returned to Spanish with Quizás, his fourth album in the language. Its title track is about the strained relationship he has with his famous father. The album debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200, then the highest placement for a Spanish-language album. It sold a million copies in a week, the fastest-selling Spanish album in five years. All three of its singles topped the Latin chart, bringing his total to sixteen number ones there. With "Para Qué La Vida", he reached a million spins on US radio, the first Latin act to do so. The album won the Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. His arena tour that summer included two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden and ended in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

  By 2003 he had released the album 7, the second he co-wrote entirely. Its sound leaned on 80s rock and pop. The song "Be Yourself" is about independence, and its chorus recalls how his parents doubted he would ever succeed as a singer. A remix of "Not in Love" with Kelis was a hit in the UK, Australia, Europe and Asia. The Seven World Tour was sponsored by Pepsi, and he appeared in a commercial alongside Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink. It took him to Australia, India, Egypt and Singapore, and it ended in South Africa.

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• 6. Insomniac To Euphoria

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  Insomniac arrived on the 12th of June 2007 after a two-year hiatus. It was named for the fact that Iglesias recorded it mainly at night. The album included his first collaboration with a rapper, "Push" with Lil Wayne. Its first single, "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)", was his highest-charting song on the Hot 100 since "Escape". The Spanish version, "Dímelo", spent eleven weeks at number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart. In France, a version of "Tired of Being Sorry" with the singer Nâdiya was number one for eleven weeks.

  On the 4th of July 2007, he became the first Western artist in three decades to play a concert in Syria. He performed in Damascus for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand. The Insomniac World Tour opened at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg and gave him his first arena tour of the UK, with dates at Wembley Arena. His song "Can You Hear Me" became the official song of the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament. He performed it at the final in Vienna on the 29th of June 2008.

  On the 25th of March 2008 he released the Spanish compilation 95/08 Éxitos. It gathered his seventeen number-one songs from the Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new tracks. One of them, "¿Dónde Están Corazón?", was written by the Argentine star Coti and became his eighteenth number one there. The album debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart. An English-language compilation followed on the 11th of November and debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart. On the 9th of November 2008, the World Music Awards in Monaco named him the world's best-selling Latin performer and best-selling Spanish artist.

  Euphoria came out on the 5th of July 2010, his first release under Universal Republic. It was also his first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish ones. "I Like It", featuring the rapper Pitbull, reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and appeared in the MTV series Jersey Shore. On the Spanish side, "Cuando Me Enamoro" became the theme of a Televisa telenovela of the same name. It gave him his twenty-first number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart.

  A later English single with Ludacris and DJ Frank E also reached number four on the Hot 100. It became his first number one on the US Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix of "Dirty Dancer" with Usher and Lil Wayne became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper. That tied him with Prince and Michael Jackson for the most such number ones by a male artist. The album won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

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• 7. Bailando And Final

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  On the 31st of May 2013, Iglesias played the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco, where more than 120,000 fans broke the festival's attendance record. His tenth studio album, Sex and Love, followed on the 14th of March 2014. It included a duet with Kylie Minogue called "Beautiful" and guest appearances by Flo Rida, Jennifer Lopez and others.

  Its breakout was "Bailando", featuring Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona. The song became his 25th number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and stayed there for 41 consecutive weeks. That broke the previous record of 25 weeks, held by Shakira, until "Despacito" surpassed it in 2017. A Spanglish version with Sean Paul peaked at number twelve on the Hot 100. It was the highest-charting Spanish song since the Macarena in 1996. The Spanish video was YouTube's second most-watched music video of 2014 and the first Spanish-language video to reach a billion views. "Bailando" won three Latin Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year.

  Sex and Love was the seventh most-streamed album on Spotify worldwide in 2014, and "Bailando" was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. He was called the King of 2014, and Billboard named him "The Crowd Pleaser" of that year. In 2015 he left Universal Music after more than a decade and signed with Sony.

  The hits kept coming under the new label. "El Perdón", a reggaeton collaboration with Nicky Jam, topped charts in several countries. "Duele el Corazón" with Wisin was his first Sony single in 2016. In 2018 he released "El Baño" with Bad Bunny. "Me Pasé", with Farruko, arrived on the 1st of July 2021 and topped the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart.

  By the numbers, he has five Billboard Hot 100 top-five singles, two of them number ones. He holds the record for number-one songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart, with 27. He also has 14 number ones on Billboard's dance charts, more than any other male artist.

  He described the album project Final as his last albums, released in two volumes. Final (Vol. 1) came out on the 17th of September 2021 and has over 3 billion audio streams. It was certified 6× Platinum in the Latin category in the US. That year he toured with Ricky Martin, with twenty-six arena dates originally planned for a year earlier but postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Final (Vol. 2) followed on the 29th of March 2024, mixing pop, bachata, reggaeton, cumbia and dembow. It included a duet with Belinda and a track with El Alfa. The Trilogy Tour with Martin and Pitbull then added a second leg of fourteen dates because of popular demand.

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• 8. Beyond The Studio

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  Once Upon a Time in Mexico, directed by Robert Rodriguez, cast Iglesias as the well-spoken, gun-wielding Lorenzo. He appeared alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Johnny Depp. In 2007 he played a handyman on Two and a Half Men. He also guest-starred on How I Met Your Mother as Gael, a guitar-playing Argentinean surfer and love interest of Robin. In a 2004 Pepsi ad he played an evil Roman emperor, and he has also appeared in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos and Viceroy watches. In 2000 he co-produced an off-Broadway musical, Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria.

  Since 2001 Iglesias has been in a relationship with the Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. They have fraternal twins, a boy and a girl born in 2017, a daughter born in 2020 and a son born in 2025. They live in Miami. In 2003 he had surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, because of concerns it could become cancerous over time.

  In 2010 he co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the earthquake that struck that year. He made it with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park through that band's organization, Music for Relief. In 2013 he urged his followers to donate through the American Red Cross to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. In 2015 he partnered with Save the Children on a heart T-shirt campaign. The design came from a heart he drew on his bloodstained shirt after injuring his hand with a drone at a concert in Tijuana. Roughly $11-12 from each shirt went to children's programs in Mexico.

  His pen has also worked for other singers. With the songwriter Guy Chambers he wrote "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Bocelli's first pop album, Andrea. It was later recorded in English as "First Day of My Life" by Melanie C and reached number one in numerous countries. He co-wrote "The Way" for Clay Aiken and four songs on the 2006 Hollies album Staying Power. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez's "Dance Again", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in 2012. Even with Final behind him, he has insisted the writing will go on: "I'm never going to stop writing songs because I love writing songs, but I'm going to do it in a different way."

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