enrique iglesias

Enrique Iglesias (born Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler on May 8, 1975, in Madrid, Spain) is a Miami-based singer and multi-million-album seller.

Iglesias is the son of the famous Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and the Filipino-mestizo, Filipina socialite and Hola! magazine journalist, Isabel Preysler.

Early life

Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, the son of a Filipina-mestiza, and is one eighth Tagalog. After the widely publicized kidnapping of his grandfather in Spain, Iglesias moved to Miami, Florida in 1983, at the age of 8. While in Miami, Iglesias enjoyed the luxury of being the son of a billionaire, but later he developed a taste for simpler things, a fact that would later surface in his concerts, where he appeared in plain clothes, including white cotton shirts.

At the University of Miami

Iglesias first performed in show business while in high school, in the musical Hello Dolly. While attending the University of Miami, he was auditioned by his future manager, who was impressed. Using the pseudonym Enrique Martínez, the two promoted his demos across various record labels. Months later, Iglesias was signed up by Fonovisa, and then he went to Toronto, Canada, to record his first album in total anonymity.

Life and career

Iglesias' album sales currently total over forty million, making him one of the best-selling Spanish music artists in the world. Iglesias has yet to overtake his father's great sales figures, but has outsold Julio in single-album sales, arguably justifying the label his record company gave him as "best selling Spanish artist in the world". He is the best-selling Spanish-language artist of the last decade. Iglesias has said that if he has children and they wish to follow in his footsteps, he would naturally expect them also to be better than he is.

Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write "Un Nuovo Giorno", the lead single from Andrea Boccelli's first pop album. The song was later translated into English as "First Day Of My Life" and recorded by Melanie Chisholm, the song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and has landed at the number one spot in numerous countries. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK group The Hollies current album. Many times Iglesias has said that should he ever retire that he wants to write and produce songs for other artists.

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.

Iglesias also developed an interest in acting, starring alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the foul-mouthed gun-wielding Lorenzo. He says that he would act again if given small roles that he could fit in between his musical commitments.

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, Beyonce and P!nk, who turn the tables on him in the commercial.

In June of 2000 radio personality Howard Stern received a tape of a supposedly off-key (MP3 of Iglesias singing, Video of Iglesias singing) along to the track "Rhythm Divine". Stern played this humorous clip throughout the week on his radio show insinuating that Iglesias lipsynched and couldn't sing well outside the studio, even suggesting that Iglesias himself did not sing on his albums, comparing him to Milli Vanilli. Iglesias flew straight in to New York to appear on Stern's show, singing acoustic versions of "Rhythm Divine" and "Be With You", after which Stern told Iglesias he had silenced his critics. Iglesias would go on to say that controversy and his appearance on the show was the best promotion he could have.

Personal life

Iglesias is the brother of Chabeli Iglesias and Julio José Iglesias, and the half-brother of Tamara Falcó and Ana Boyer (from his mother's side); and Miguel Alejandro, Rodrigo, Cristina, and Victoria Iglesias (from his father's side).

Iglesias has been linked to rumors of romantic relationships with a number of women: the Miss Universe Alicia Machado; the model/actress and Miami resident Sofia Vergara; the pop singer Christina Aguilera; and the actress Jennifer Love Hewitt. He has reputedly been dating the Russian tennis player and model Anna Kournikova, a Miami resident, for 5 years.

Between albums, Iglesias usually forgoes public appearances, but more recently he has made a number of appearances in the media. He has been a guest on Oprah Winfrey's talk show, surprising one of his fans and spending the day with her. He also appeared at the Premios Juventud and was a musical guest on the final broadcast of Diego Maradona's television show in Argentina.

More recently, Iglesias has also attended various promotional events for the Tommy Hilfiger fragrance called "True Star Men", which he is endorsing. Enrique stars in the commercial for the fragrence itself with the theme song "Ring My Bell" which may be a track on his upcoming album. Iglesias has also appeared on the season finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition singing a song called "Somebody's Me" which may also be on the upcoming album.

Album releases

Enrique Iglesias

In 1995, he released his first album in Spanish. Titled Enrique Iglesias, this was a collection of light rock ballads, including such mega-hits as "Si Tú Te Vas", "Experiencia Religiosa", and others. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment thenfor an album recorded in a language other than English.

His song "Por Amarte" was included in Televisa's telenovela Marisol, but with a twist: instead of Por amarte daria 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 Latin charts. The album went on to win Iglesias a Grammy award as Best Latin Artist.

Vivir

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".

After this success, Iglesias embarked on his first concert tour. Insisting on playing large arenas and stadiums, that summer Enrique, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, played to sold-out audiences in sixteen countries. Beginning the tour in Odessa, Texas the tour went on to three consecutive nights in Mexico's Plaza de Toros and two at the Estadio River Plate in Argentina to over a hundred thirty thousand people as well as nineteen arenas in the U.S. The tour is considered by many to be the biggest tour by a Non-English speaking act of that time.

Three singles released from Vivir, "Enamorado por Primera Vez", "Solo en Tí" 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 this time, but did perform the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event.

Cosas del Amor

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 McDonalds.

He won an American Music Award in the category of Favourite 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.

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, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music. Iglesias' contribution to the soundtrack of Will Smith's movie Wild Wild West, "Bailamos" became a No. 1 hit single.

After the success of "Bailamos", several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Enrique. 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 and contained a duet with Whitney Houston called "Could I Have this Kiss Forever" and a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song "Sad Eyes". The album's second single, "Be with You", became his second No. 1.

The final single from the album was the song "You're My #1", re-recorded and released in selected territories as a duet with local acts: Alsou in Russia, Sandy & Junior in Brazil and Valen Hsu in Asia.

Escape

Iglesias followed up in 2001 with the 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 No. 1 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. Upon its release, it displaced Michael Jackson's album, Invincible, from its chart position and soon outsold it. 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 Enrique'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.

Quizás

Returning to his native language, and hot on the heels of his biggest-selling album 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 No. 12 on Billboard's Album Chart, the highest placement of a Spanish-language album on the chart. Quizás sold a million copies in a week, making it the fastest-selling album in Spanish in five years. The three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen No. 1's on the chart. He currently holds the record for the most No. 1 singles on the 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.

The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish-language video to be added to the selection on 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 for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Seven (7)

In 2003 Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called Seven, 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 didn't 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. The latter became a dance hit.

With this album, Iglesias went on his biggest world tour to date. The highly publicised tour started with twelve shows in the United States and continued on to several countries, most of which he'd previously never previously visited playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums in Australia, India, Egypt and Singapore before ending his tour in South Africa.

Discography

Albums

• 1995 Enrique Iglesias - #148 US [Platinum], #1 Top Latin Albums - WW sales: 7 mil.
• 1997 Vivir - #33 US [Platinum], #1 Top Latin Albums - WW sales: 5 mil.
• 1998 Cosas del Amor - #64 US [Gold], #1 Top Latin Albums
• 1999 Enrique #33 US [Platinum] - WW sales 6.5 mil.
• 2001 Escape - #2 USA (3x Platinum), #1 UK [4x Platinum] - WW sales 9 mil.
• 2002 Quizas - #12 USA [2x Platinum], #1 Top Latin Albums
• 2003 Seven (7) - #31 US, #13 UK, #15 Australia [Platinum]

Miscellaneous

• 1998 Bailamos Greatest Hits - #65 US [Gold]*, #1 Top Latin Albums
• 1999 The Best Hits - #175 US [Gold]*, #2 Top Latin Albums

*: All albums listed here were released by Fonovisa after Enrique had left them.

Singles

From Enrique Iglesias

• 1995 "Si tu te vas" #1 Latin (8 Weeks), #21 FR
• 1996 "Experiencia religiosa" #1 Latin (3 Weeks)
• 1996 "Por amarte" #1 Latin (8 Weeks)
• 1996 "No llores por mi" #1 Latin
• 1996 "Trapecista" #1 Latin (5 Weeks)

From Vivir

• 1997 "Enamorado por primera vez" #1 Latin (12 Weeks)
• 1997 "Solo en ti" #1 Latin (10 Weeks)
• 1997 "Al despertar" #11 Latin
• 1997 "Lluvia cae" #3 Latin
• 1997 "Miente" #1 Latin (4 Weeks)
• 1997 "Revolucion" #6 Latin

From Cosas del Amor

• 1998 "Esperanza" #1 Latin (4 Weeks)
• 1998 "Nunca te olvidaré" #1 Latin

From Enrique

• 1999 "Bailamos" #1 U.S., #1 Latin, #1 Spain, #4 UK, #11 Latvia, #6 FR (209,000 copies), #10 Ger
• 1999 "Rhythm Divine" #28 U.S., #1 Latin, #1 Spain, #45 UK, #27 FR, #24 Ger
• 2000 "Be With You" #1 U.S., #4 Spain, #8 Latvia, #43 FR, #20 Ger
• 2000 "Sad Eyes" #14 Latvia, #15 Spain
• 2000 "You Are My Number One" (featuring Alsou) #8 Latvia
• 2000 "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" (with Whitney Houston) #3 UK, #4 Latvia, #16 FR (123,000 copies), #19 Spain, #5 GER (gold)

From Escape

• 2001 "Hero" #3 ¹ U.S., #1 UK, #1 Latin, #1 Spain #4 Latvia, #45 FR, #1 AUS, #3 Ger
• 2002 "Escape" #12 U.S., #3 UK, #2 Latvia, #7 AUS, #6 Ger
• 2002 "Don't Turn Off the Lights" #4 AUS
• 2002 "Love to See You Cry" #12 UK, #9 Latvia, #17, #53 Ger, #61 AUS
• 2002 "Maybe" #12 UK, #6 Latvia, #41 AUS, #62 Ger
• 2003 "To Love a Woman" (Lionel Richie featuring Enrique Iglesias) #19 UK, #20 Latvia, #52 GER

From Quizas

• 2002 "Mentiroso" #1 Latin
• 2002 "La chica de ayer" #1 Spain
• 2003 "Quizas" #1 Latin
• 2003 "Para que la vida" #1 Latin

From Seven

• 2003 "Addicted" #19 U.S., #11 UK, #6 Latvia, # 31 Ger, #43 AUS
• 2004 "Not In Love" (featuring Kelis) #27 U.S., #5 UK, #10 Latvia, #36 FR, #15 AUS, #14 Ger

Awards and Achievements

1996

• Premio Lo Nuestro: Best Interpretation (Si Tú Te Vas)
• Premio Lo Nuestro: Best Composer (Si Tú Te Vas)
• Premio Lo Nuestro: Best New Artist
• Premios Eres: Best Song
• Premios Eres: Best Video
• Premios Eres: Best Launch
• Ace Award: Vocalist of the Year
• Premio TV Novelas: Best Male Vocalist
• Billboard Award: Album of the Year - New Artist
• World Music Award: Hispanic Artist of the Year
• World Music Award: Revelación of the Year

1997

• Grammy: Best Latin Performer
• ASCAP Award: Si Tu Te Vas
• ASCAP Award: No llores Por Mi
• ASCAP Award: Por Amarte
• Billboard Music Award: Album of the Year (Vivir)
• ACE Award: Performer of the Year
• Billboard Music Award: Artist of the Year
• Radio Music Awards : Best Artist Contemporary Format

1998

• Billboard Award: Best Latin Pop Artist

1999

• American Music Award: American Music Award: Favorite Latin Artist

2001

• World Music Award: Best Selling Pop Male Artist
• World Music Award: Best Selling European Pop Artist
• World Music Award: Best Latin Artist
• American Music Award: Favorite Latin Artist

2002

• Premio Onda: Most successful Spanish artist of the last decade.
• American Music Award: Favorite Latin Artist
• National Music Award: Favorite Album (Escape)

2003

• Latin Grammy: Best Male Pop Album (Quizas)

2004

• MTV India Award: Best Male Pop Act International

2005

• Latin Billboard Awards: Latin Dance Club Play Track Of The Year "Not In Love/No Es Amor (Club Remixes)."

See also

• Best selling music artists — World's top-selling music artists chart.
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart

External links

• Enrique Iglesias Official Web Site.
• Official Web Site RSS Feed.
• Enrique Iglesias on Geffen Records.
• Enrique Iglesias profile at NNDB.
• Enrique Iglesias MySpace Site.
• Enrique Iglesias Fan Site.
• Enrique Iglesias live television performance of "Not in Love".
• University of Miami: Famous Alumni.