Name: Enrique Iglesias
Born: May 8, 1975
Natinality: Spanish singer
At the dawn of the new millennium, Enrique Iglesias was the best-selling Latin recording artist in the world. The son of multi-million-selling singer Julio Iglesias, Enrique was born in Madrid, Spain, where he lived with his mother, his brother Julio, and his sister Chabeli. In 1982, his mother sent them to live in Miami with their father. While there, Enrique was exposed to three different cultures and musical influences: Hispanic, European, and American.
Enrique Iglesias (born May 8, 1975) is a Spanish singer.He started his musical career with the Mexican indie label Fonovisa, which helped turn him into one of the most popular singers in Latin America and the United States, selling more Spanish language albums than any other singers, during that period of time.
Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, the third and final child of singer Julio Iglesias and socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His mother is Filipino and his father is of Galician Spanish and Jewish ancestry. His parents divorced in 1978 and the following year his father moved to Miami, Florida to continue with his musical career.
Iglesias' own career started when he was still attending Gulliver Private School, a very prestigious school in Miami. He made his singing debut in a production of Hello, Dolly, after which he began practicing his singing without his parents knowing. After a year studying business at the University of Miami, he decided to follow his passion for music. In 1995, he sang in person for his soon-to-be manager, who at Iglesias' insistence of not wanting to use his family name, first shopped his demos as an unknown Central American singer named Enrique Martinez. It wasn't until he earned a record deal with Fonovisa that Enrique told his father and mother of his aspirations. Then he flew to Toronto, where no one knew him and he could concentrate just on music, to record for five months.
In 1985, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga was kidnapped by the terrorist group ETA. Fearing for his grandchildren's safety, Enrique and his brother, Julio Iglesias Jr. were sent to live with their father in Miami. He also lived in Belgrade, Serbia for one year with his mother, who worked as a journalist. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended Gulliver Preparatory School and went on to study business at the University of Miami.
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. Dropping out of University, he went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to record his first album.
That first album, Enrique Iglesias (1995), sold more than a million copies in three months (it earned him his first gold record in Portugal in a mere seven days) and to date has sold more than six million worldwide. The second album, Vivir (1997), enjoyed global sales of more than five million discs and launched his first world tour, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. In a mere three years, Iglesias had sold more than 17 million Spanish-language albums, more than anyone else during that period. (The U.S. was his biggest market.) He also won the 1996 Grammy for Best Latin Performer, 1996's Billboard Artist of the Year, Billboard's Album of the Year for Vivir, two American Music Awards, a World Music Award, eight Premio Lo Nuestro awards, two ACE Performer of the Year awards, and ASCAP prizes for Best Composer of 1996 and 1997, in addition to countless accolades around the world.
With 1998's Cosas del Amor, Iglesias moved to more mature content; his earlier material had been written when he was 17 years old. Then came Enrique, his first Interscope album and first in English. It achieved gold or platinum status in 32 countries and brought his global album sales to a total of more than 23 million. In 2001 he released the follow-up, Escape. Iglesias alternated Spanish- and English-language albums during the next two years, first offering the ballad collection Quiz?s in 2002, then the mainstream English record 7 in 2003. Four years later the single "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" announced the coming of his 2007 album Insomniac.
Since the beginning of his career, the entertainment industry have linked Iglesias to many women, though due to his private life, it is difficult to know which claims are true and which are fabrications. Most notably Iglesias has been linked with Sofia Vergara, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shannon Elizabeth, Samantha Torres and former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado for a brief period.
For several years now he has dated Russian former tennis player, Anna Kournikova, whom he met on the set of his music video Escape, in December 21, 2001. Many reports showed up in 2007 of their splitting. In 2008, after Iglesias made a publicity joke, there were reports of the couple's having been married formerly and now divorced. Iglesias has stated subsequently in interviews that it was simply a joke and that they are still very much together.
Iglesias has publicly stated he suffers from insomnia and that even heavy-duty sleeping aids often do not work for him. In 2003, Iglesias had his trademark facial mole removed.
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