Background

Ethnicity: Enrique's father's family is from Galicia and Andalusia. He also has some Jewish and Puerto Rican ancestry on his mother's side.

Enrique Iglesias was born Enrique Iglesias Preysler in Madrid, Spain, on May 8, 1975. He was the youngest of six siblings, three boys and three girls. His parents, Isabel Preysler and Julio Iglesias, divorced in 1979.

Education

Enrique's parents divorced in 1979. He continued to live in Madrid with his mother, a Philippine-born journalist, until the early 1980s when Preysler received kidnap threats against her children. Reluctantly she sent the youngsters to the United States to live in Miami, Florida, with their superstar father. In Florida, Enrique Iglesias became enamored with water sports, especially windsurfing; he also loved to water ski and scuba dive. By the time he was in his early teens he made regular summer trips to Hawaii where he lived a humble existence in a shack and spent his days windsurfing. Although the circumstances of his childhood kept him physically apart from his parents, the family nonetheless stayed in touch as much as was reasonably possible. His mother remained in Spain, while his father, an international singing idol, was seldom at home. In Miami, the children were raised almost exclusively by a nursemaid, Elvira Olivares, who took the family under her wing and loved the children as her own. Later, when Enrique Iglesias released his first record album, he dedicated the work lovingly to Olivares.

Enrique attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School. When he was grown, according to his parents' wishes, he enrolled at the University of Miami as a business administration student, but his career goal since childhood was to become a singer. Iglesias spent his free time practicing singing with friends and, eventually, made a demo tape and sent it to recording studios. Iglesias, well aware of his father's notoriety in the music industry, sent the audition tapes under the name of Enrique Martinez, in order to ensure that he would be assessed on his own merit rather than on the basis of his famous father's reputation. When executives at Fonovisa Records heard Iglesias's audition tape in 1994, they signed him to a contract to record three albums. He subsequently abandoned his studies at the university, to his father's dismay, and it was only after the deal was finalized that Julio Iglesias learned of his son's impending career as a recording artist. The younger Iglesias was nonetheless gratified in the knowledge that he secured the contract on his own initiative.

Career

Iglesias began writing songs and playing music in a friend's garage but enrolled in the University of Miami to study business administration. In 1994, his sophomore year, he dropped out of college to pursue his musical aspirations, keeping the news a secret from his parents.

Iglesias contacted Fernan Martinez, a music industry acquaintance, who, upon hearing the young singer perform, urged him to make a demo tape. Iglesias used the pseudonym of Enrique Martinez to keep his identity as Julio's son a secret. For the next few months, Fernan Martinez sent the tape to various labels but was unable to drum up any interest.

Finally, Fonovisa Records, a small Los Angeles independent known primarily as a regional Mexican imprint, expressed an interest. Guillermo Santiso, Fonovisa's president/CEO in Billboard, also reportedly liked the enclosed photograph of the handsome singer. Upon being informed of Iglesias's true identity, Santiso signed him to a three-album deal worth $1 million and won financial support from Fonovisa's parent company, Mexican media giant Televisa, for a massive promotional campaign. The first batch of radio spots identified the young singer only as Enrique to keep his identity as Julio's son under wraps. A promotional blitz followed, with Iglesias granting hundreds of interviews in both English and Spanish.

All the money and hard work paid off. Iglesias's first album - the Spanish-language Enrique Iglesias released in September of 1995 eventually sold almost five million copies worldwide, according to Rock on the Net. The album was certified gold, then platinum. In January of 1997, Iglesias released his follow-up album, Vivir (Living), which scored two top 10 singles on the Billboard charts. In January of 1998, according to Rock on the Net, he was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist but lost out to his father.

Iglesias released his third album, Cosas Del Amor (Things of Love), in 1998. Newsmakers reported that Iglesias was the only artist to simultaneously top the Hot 100 Dance/Club Play, Hot Latin Tracks, and Latin 50 album charts in 1998. In a mere three years, Iglesias had sold more than 17 million Spanish-language albums, more than anyone else during that period, according to allmusic.com. The United States was his biggest market. In summer 1999, Iglesias scored a pop radio hit with "Bailamos" - translated as "We Dance" - a hypnotic dance song featured in the film Wild, Wild West starring Will Smith. The song hit number one on the top 40 charts for three weeks in September of 1999. As Iglesias's records topped the charts, many of the studios that had rejected the singer early in his career tried to woo him. BMG and Warner ardently courted Iglesias, but the young artist chose Universal Music Group/Interscope Records instead. In 1999, Iglesias left Fonovisa for a six-album with Interscope worth an estimated $44 million, according to Billboard.

In November of 1999, Iglesias released Enrique, his first album in English and his first with Interscope Records. Like many artists with a cross-cultural appeal, Iglesias included Spanish-language versions of a few of his songs on the album. Enrique brought the singer's global sales to more than 23 million, according to allmusic.com. Several singles from the album joined "Bailamos" on the charts: "Rhythm Divine," "Be With You," "Could I Have This Kiss Forever," and "Sad Eyes." Enrique achieved gold or platinum status in an extraordinary 32 countries.

Iglesias's second English-language album, Escape, released in September of 2001, marked a musical departure from his earlier work. Escape featured more of an American arena-rock influence, showing the singer's affection for ballads by such 1980s groups as Journey and Foreigner.

In a move unusual by industry standards, Iglesias decided to release a ballad, "Hero," rather than an up-tempo song as the first single from Escape. "Hero," which was written as a love song, hit the airwaves in September of 2001, captured the imagination of a nation grappling with the terrorist attacks of September 11th. In response to the September 11th tragedy, some radio stations reportedly played "Hero," with news clips and excerpts of a speech by President George W. Bush's talking over it. On September 21, 2001, Iglesias performed "Hero," on America: A Tribute to Heroes, a two-hour star-studded telecast to raise money for the United Way's September 11 fund.

Critics, however, gave both "Hero" and "Escape" mixed reviews. Nevertheless, Iglesias's popularity remained strong. He had the clout to attract such high-profile actresses as Jennifer Love Hewitt and Shannon Elizabeth and tennis star Anna Kournikova to roles in his music videos.

Iglesias also had the star power to land a role in the 2002 movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the third installment in Robert Rodriguez's story of El Mariachi, a wandering guitar playing vigilante, starring Antonio Banderas. In the movie, Iglesias plays one of three mariachis involved in a plot to rescue the president of Mexico.

Music, however, remained his primary passion. He toured tirelessly, often appearing in a different city daily. During one concert tour, a rotating crane reportedly carried Iglesias in a circular motion 40 feet above the crowd.

After releasing two albums in English, Iglesias decided to return to Spanish-language songs. In September 2002, he released the Spanish-language album "Quizás," which is Iglesias's most successful album ever recorded in Spanish. The album was recorded not in Latin American style, which is more usual for Americans, but in Spanish. But this did not prevent the album songs from becoming popular in the United States, for example, the song "Para Qué La Vida" was played a million times on the air of United States radio stations. In addition to this track, two more singles "Mentiroso" and "Quizás" were released.

The single "Mentiroso" was not released in Spain. Instead, the radio station received a cover version of the song of the Spanish group "Nasha Pop" - the track "La Chica De Ayer." The video for the title track was the first video in Spanish to be nominated for an American Music Awards. Enrique also performed songs in Spanish in national American shows, such as "Good Morning America!". In support of the album, Iglesias embarked on a Don't Turn Off The Light Tour in America.

In 2003, Enrique released his seventh album, simply calling it "7," while his father Julio Iglesias released his seventy-seventh album. Critics all over the world rated Enrique's new creation at 3 points, and Julio's album became one of the most successful. Enrique co-produced his seventh album with best friend Jimmy Iovine. Two singles "Not In Love" and "Addicted" from the album were released.

In support of the album, Enrique went on the biggest tour of his career, during which he visited many countries where he had never been before. In 2005, Enrique starred in a commercial for Tommy Hilfiger's new fragrance, True Star Man. At the finale of the show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Enrique presented a new song "Somebody's Me."

On July 12, 2007, the new album Insomniac was released. Enrique returned to the world of show business and delighted his fans with four hits at once. Even before the release of the album, two tracks became hits, and then another one "Tired Of Being Sorry" was released in Europe. The fourth single was the composition "Push" in R'n'B collaboration with Lil Wayne. In early 2008, Touchstone Picture offered to record a solo version of the single "Push" and use it as the soundtrack for the movie Step Up 2: The Streets. Enrique agreed and recorded two more versions of the song - solo and acapella.

Two compilations followed in 2008 - the Latin market-oriented 95/08 Exitos in March, the pop-focused Greatest Hits in November. Released in July 2010, Euphoria was divided between English and Spanish songs and he scored big in both markets: "I Like It," featuring Pitbull, went to four on the Hot 100, the same position achieved by "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)," while "No Me Digas Que No" reached number one on the Latin charts.

Iglesias delivered his next album, Sex and Love, in March 2014. Featuring singles like "I'm a Freak," with Pitbull, and "Bailando," Sex and Love topped the Hot Latin Songs chart and became the singer's third album to crack the Top 10 of the Billboard 200.

In the next few years, Iglesias paid attention to collaboration with other artists, including "El Perdón" with Nicky Jam in 2015 and "Duele el Corazón" with Wisin in 2016. In 2018, Iglesias teamed with Bad Bunny on "El Baño" and rejoined Pitbull for "Move to Miami." In March 2020, it was revealed that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Ricky Martin, starting on September 5, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona. The tour was planned to end on October 30, 2020, in Atlanta.

Achievements

• Enrique Iglesias is one of the most popular Latin music artists. His achievements during his 25-year career include 27 No. 1 hits on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart; the most No. 1s in history; 39 top 10s on the chart, also the most in history; the most No. 1s on Billboard's Latin Airplay chart (31); and the most awards in the history of the Billboard Latin Music Awards (47).
  
  Iglesias' six Spanish-language studio albums have all topped the Top Latin Albums chart. Enrique is also the king of the Latin Pop Airplay chart with a record 24 No. 1 hits. "Bailamos" was his first of two No. 1 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart.
  
  On the Pop Airplay chart, Iglesias has seven top 10 hits. On the Dance Club Songs chart, he holds the record for the No. 1 hits among Latin male acts with 14 leaders. Three of Enrique's full-length sets went into the top 10 of the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, and overall, he's placed 14 releases on the chart.
  
  Iglesias has won more than 200 awards including 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy Award, 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards and 15 Premios Juventud Awards. He has also been nominated over 465 times for various awards.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Desperado

    (The mysterious Mariachi - armed with a guitar case full o...)

    1995
  • Once Upon a Time in Mexico

    (Returning from exile to avenge his slain family, the gun-...)

    2003

• music

  • Sex and Love 2014
  • Euphoria 2010
  • Insomniac 2007
  • 7 2003
  • Quizás 2002
  • Escape 2001
  • Enrique 1999
  • Cosas Del Amor 1998
  • Vivir 1997

Religion

Enrique Iglesias is often photographed wearing a rosary and it is reported that he crosses himself before every performance and often prays.

Politics

Iglesias performed at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. Enrique also admitted later that he wasn't a big fan of Al Gore until he saw Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth.

Iglesias spoke out against Arizona's draconian SB 1070, a controversial piece of legislation allowing Arizona's law enforcement to racially profile Hispanics, apparently assuming they are all illegal immigrants.

Views

In 2010, Iglesias participated in the project Download to Donate. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Three years later, Enrique encouraged people to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. He has also supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes such as Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and hunger relief.

Quotations: "One person cannot change the world. But you can become the world for someone. A warm, bright, and peaceful world. If everyone can be such a world to one person, one will become ten people, and then a hundred. The world will be full of happy people then."

"Be who you are, not who the world wants you to be."

"It was good, it was bad. But it was real, and that's all you have."

"If permanent happiness comes with someone, I'd leave everything."

"I wouldn't change anything. I've made mistakes, but thanks to those mistakes, I've learned."

"We all feel love, and that might sound kind of corny, but I really feel that's what joins musicians together around the world."

"The one thing about music is that there are no rules."

"I'm a good person, but with many defects."

"I know it sounds corny, but when you follow your dreams, it happens. And if it's music, take it seriously."

"The power of music in Spanish is so strong that I couldn't stay away from it any longer."

"Actually, I never tell for whom my songs are written. It's a kind of superstition! I started writing songs for not having the courage to say certain things in people's faces and started to put these feelings on paper... Over the years, became a mania and then I never talk about for whom they are made."

"Love is one of my main inspirations."

"If you can't, can't be yourself, what are you living for? If you can't, can't be yourself, you're gonna lose it all."

"A bet is a bet and I always keep my word in the bet what I do."

"I want to clarify it: I'm not against marriage, marriage is great if you want to get married. A lot of my friends are happily married. I don't think walking down the aisle and [having] a legal document can make a difference. That doesn't mean you love someone more or you respect them more - you can be with someone perfectly well without being married."

"I'm not a heartthrob. I hate that word."

"The one thing I've learned in the last ten years is that successful artists don't get paid to write and sing songs, they get paid for the psychological roller coaster they're going to have to ride. That's the hard work."

"I believe in the institution of loyalty and love, to stay with someone in good and hard times. I don't think a piece of paper or anything else can force you to do that. For many people getting married is super important, for me, the important thing is finding someone."

"My inspiration are woman, friendship, and loneliness."

"I'm a terrible dancer! I dance like a guy who is trying to dance."

"I don't like being lied to, so I only lie about the stupid things. White lies, basically."

"I prefer love over sex."

"It's the one thing we can all relate to no matter what religion, what color, what nationality: we can all relate to sex and love."

Personality

Enrique is very approachable. Sometimes, he can be moody. He considers himself very sincere and clumsy.

Iglesias believes in UFOs. His favorite colors are gray, white and black. His motto is "Try to live happy every day."

Physical Characteristics: Enrique is 186.7 cm (6 ft 1.5 in) tall and weighs 78 kg (172 lb). He has brown eyes and black hair.

Iglesias was born with a rare condition - situs inversus where some of the body's major organs are situated on the opposite side of the body from normal.

Interests

• swimming in the ocean

• Politicians

  Al Gore

• Writers

  Malcolm Gladwell, Ernest Hemmingway

• Artists

  Marilyn Monroe, Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins

• Sport & Clubs

  football, surfing, Real Madrid

• Athletes

  Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso

• Music & Bands

  The Police, Dire Straits

Connections

Since 2001, Enrique Iglesias has had a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. They split in 2013 but later reconciled. The couple has a son Nicholas and a daughter Lucy, fraternal twins, born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their daughter Mary was born.

Father:

Julio Iglesias

(born 23 September 1943)

Julio Iglesias is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer.

Mother:

Isabel Preysler

(born 18 February 1951)

Isabel Preysler is a Filipina socialite and television host.

Son:

Nicholas Iglesias

(born 16 December 2017)

Daughter:

Lucy Iglesias

(born 16 December 2017)

Daughter:

Mary Iglesias

(born 30 January 2020)

Sister:

Chabeli Iglesias

(born 3 September 1971)

Chabeli Iglesias is a Spanish-Filipino journalist and socialite.

Brother:

Julio Iglesias Jr.

(born 25 February 1973)

Julio Iglesias Jr. is a Spanish-Filipino singer.

Partner:

Anna Kournikova

(born 7 June 1981)

Anna Kournikova is a Russian former professional tennis player and American television personality.

References

• Enrique Iglesias's Instagram
• Enrique Iglesias's Twitter
• Enrique Iglesias's Facebook
• Enrique Iglesias's Official Website