Enrique Iglesias biography

This article is about the singer
. For the
Uruguayan economist, see Enrique V. Iglesias.
For the self titled albums, see Enrique (album)
and Enrique Iglesias (album) .
This name uses Spanish naming customs ; the
first or paternal family name is Iglesias and
the second or maternal family name is
Preysler.
Enrique Iglesias
Iglesias performing in August 2011
Background information
Birth



name
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler
Born May 8, 1975 (age 39)
[1]
Madrid, Spain
[2]
Origin Miami , Florida,US
Instru
ments
Vocals, guitar
Labels Fonovisa, Interscope , Universal Music
Latin , Universal Republic , Republic
Websit
e

www.enriqueiglesias.com
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (English /ɛn
ˈr iː k eɪ ɪ ˈɡ l ɛs i əs/ ; Spanish pronunciation: [en
ˈrike iˈɣlesjas] , born May 8, 1975), simply
known as Enrique Iglesias , is a Spanish
singer -songwriter , actor, and record producer.
Iglesias started his career in the mid-1990s on
an American Spanish Language record label
Fonovisa which helped turn him into one of the
biggest stars in Latin America and the
Hispanic Market in the United States becoming
the biggest seller of Spanish-language albums
of that decade. By the turn of the millennium
he made a successful crossover into the
mainstream market and signed a multi-album
deal with Universal Music Group for an
unprecedented US $48,000,000 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 Records. In late 2012,
Republic Records was revived after eleven
years of being dormant, shuttering Universal
Republic Records and taking all the artists
from that label to Republic Records, including
Iglesias.
Iglesias has sold more than 75 million records
worldwide, making him one of the best selling
Spanish language artists of all time. [3] He has
had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles,
including two number-ones, and holds the
record for producing 25 number-one Spanish-
language singles on the Billboard 's Hot Latin
Tracks . He has also had 13 number-one songs
on Billboard' s Dance charts, more than any
other single male artist. [4] Altogether, Iglesias
has amassed more than 70 number-one
rankings on the various Billboard charts.[5]
Billboard has called him The King of Latin
Pop and The King of Dance .
Early life
Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the
third and youngest child of singer Julio Iglesias
and socialite and magazine journalist Isabel
Preysler . Isabel Preysler's aunt is Neile Adams ,
first wife of Steve McQueen, making Iglesias
second cousins with Steven R. McQueen. [6] He
was raised with two older siblings: Chabeli
Iglesias and Julio Iglesias, Jr. . His mother is
Filipina[7] and his father is of Spanish ancestry
from Galicia and Andalusia . His father also
claims to have Jewish and Puerto Rican
ancestry on his mother's side. [8][9] [10][11]
His parents were divorced in 1979.
At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed
with their mother, [12] but 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. [13] There, they were brought
up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to
whom he later dedicated his first album. [12]
[14] He also lived in Belgrade , Serbia, for one
year with his mother. [15] 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! .[16] Although his
mother is ethnically Filipino, Enrique does not
speak Tagalog. [17] Iglesias is fluent in Spanish
and English, the latter influencing and making
a regular appearance in his songs. Iglesias
later went on to study business at the
University of Miami .[18]
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, Fernán Martínez, the two promoted
the songs under the stage name 'Enrique
Martínez' with the backstory of being an
unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was
signed on to the Mexican label Fonovisa. After
dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto
to record his first album. [19]
Music career
1995–1996: 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.[16]
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.
1997–1998: Vivir and Cosas del Amor
Iglesias with Ronald McDonald in
1999, his Cosas del Amor tour
was sponsored by McDonald's.
In 1997, Iglesias' stardom 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.
Insisting on playing stadiums for his first
concert tour, that summer, Iglesias, backed by
sidemen for Elton John , Bruce Springsteen and
Billy Joel , played to sold-out audiences in
sixteen countries. Beginning in Odessa , Texas
the tour went on to three consecutive nights in
Mexico's Plaza de Toros, two consecutive
nights at Monterrey 's Auditorio Coca Cola and
two at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires,
Argentina to over 130,000 people as well as 19
arenas in the U.S. [20]
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 Chayanne. 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.
1999–2001: Enrique and Escape
Enrique Iglesias frequently kisses and hugs
his fans on stage.
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 Gloria Estefan , Latino artists and
music had a great surge in popularity in
mainstream music. After attending one of his
concerts in March 1999, 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.
After the success of " Bailamos ", several
mainstream record labels were eager to sign
Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after
weeks of negotiations with Interscope , Iglesias
recorded and released his first full CD in
English, Enrique . The pop album, with some
Latin influences, took two months to complete.
It contained the song " Rhythm Divine", a duet
with Whitney Houston entitled " Could I Have
This Kiss Forever ", and a cover of the Bruce
Springsteen song " Sad Eyes ".
In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl
XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina
Aguilera, Phil Collins , and Toni Braxton . 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". [21]
Iglesias would remark that the controversy
was the best promotion he could have. The
album's single " Be With You " became
Iglesias's second number one single on
Billboard' s Hot 100.
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, faring 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 ".
Iglesias capitalized on the album's success
with his "One-Night Stand World Tour"
consisting of 50 sold-out shows in 16
countries. Including Radio City Music Hall and
three consecutive nights in London's Royal
Albert Hall , the tour ended with a big show at
Stadium National Lia Manoliu in Bucharest,
Romania. The concert launched MTV Romania,
with the video for " Love to See You Cry " being
the first to be shown on the channel.
The second leg of the tour, " Don't Turn Off The
Lights ", was completed in the summer of 2002,
with two sold-out nights in Madison Square
Garden and another two in Mexico's National
Auditorium . The tour finished with a single
show in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San
Juan , Puerto Rico .
2002–2004: Quizás and 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. [22]
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.
2007–2009: Insomniac , 95/08 Exitos and
Greatest Hits
Enrique Iglesias in concert,
June 2008.
Iglesias in an interview on August
29, 2007.
After a two year hiatus 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 ".
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