Enrique Iglesias

Early life & family

Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler, was born on May 8, 1975 in Madrid, Spain. He was the third and final child of singer Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler, Filipina host and journalist. He has a sister Chabeli Iglesias, and a brother Julio Iglesias Jr., Julio and Isabel divorced in 1978 and the following year Julio moved to Miami, Florida to further his musical career.

In 1983 Enrique along with his brother were sent by their mother to live with their father in the US following the kidnapping of their grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga because Isabel feared her sons might suffer a similar fate as her father-in-law. Enrique graduated from the Gulliver Preparatory School in 1993. He went on to the University of Miami where he studied business but he dropped out in order to pursue a career in music. Enrique did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career, so when he was shopping around his demo to the record companies he went by the name of Enrique Martinez using his first name and the last name of his manager Fernan Martinez. He also did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. Enrique was signed by a then small Indy record label called Fonovisa. He went to Toronto, Canada for six months while recording his first album.

Isabel has remarried twice and has two daughters one from each marriage (Tamara Falcó and Ana Boyer). Julio has lived with Miranda Rijnsburger for almost twenty years their union has produced five children, Miguel Alejandro, Rodrigo, Cristina, Victoria and Guillermo Iglesias.

Career

Enrique Iglesias (1995)

Main article: Enrique Iglesias

On July 12,1995 Iglesias released his first album titled Enrique Iglesias, 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 then for 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 for Best Latin Pop Performance.



Vivir (1997)

Main article: 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".

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, two consecutive nights at Monterrey's Auditorio Coca Cola and two at the Estadio River Plate in Argentina to over a hundred and 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.[1]

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 this time, but did perform the song "Lluvia Cae" at the event.



Cosas del Amor (1998)

Main article: 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 McDonald's.

He won an American Music Award in the category of Favorite 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 (1999)

Main article: 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 number one hit single. The song's success was helped by its having two videos, one based around the film and the other set in a nightclub defining Enrique's image for years to come clad in tight shirt and black leather trousers. He was going out with Christina 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 third single, "Be With You", became his second number one.

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 (2001)

Main article: 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 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, fairing 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 (2002)

Main article: 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 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 five years. The three singles released from the album all ended up topping the Latin chart, giving Iglesias a total of sixteen 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.[2]

The video to the song "Quizás" was the first Spanish language music 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 Award for Best Pop Vocal Album.



7 (2003)

Main article: 7

In 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 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.

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.

In 2003 Enrique Iglesias started in Once Upon a Time in Mexico playing the role as Lorenzo the one that carried a flame thrower which looks like a guitar case.


More:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_Iglesias