Enrique Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1975 to Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. Iglesias’s musical career is built upon many styles, including Latin pop, reggaeton, American popular music and Spanish flamenco-influenced guitar. He is comfortable with singing in both English and Spanish and has many hits in both languages.
Iglesias has worked hard to stay out of his father’s shadow, who is also an award-winning superstar musician. Though he spent the first few years of life with his mother in Spain, he moved to Miami as a child to live with his father. When he began his music career as a teenager, he did so secretly, using several pseudonyms, including Enrique Martinez. This was done to prevent his father from discovering his career, and so that his first success would not be due to his father’s name. In 1995, he released his first solo album, Enrique Iglesias, under his real name. His initial success came from Latin American and U.S. Latin audiences.
Iglesias’s first English crossover album, Enrique (1999), reached more audiences than he ever had before and helped make him a global superstar. He currently holds the record for the most number-one hits on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs Chart and holds second place for most weeks at number one for his hit “Bailando” (with Descemer Bueno and Gente de Zona). Nicky Jam’s “El Perdón,” featuring Iglesias, holds the number-three slot. Iglesias is also one of the best-selling Latin recording artists in the world and is one of the most streamed and viewed artists on music streaming services and YouTube. On YouTube alone, he has more than fourteen billion views. Iglesias is also a very decorated musician, with six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards and many more. These honors and awards have led many to refer to Iglesias as the “King of Latin Pop.”