Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler is a Spanish songwriter, singer, record producer, actor, and philanthropist famous as a “King of Latin Pop.” The singer is 45 years old and was born on 8 May 1975. He stepped into the industry in mid of 1990 on a Spanish-language record named “Fanovisa Records.”
Enrique’s father, Julio Iglesias, is a well-known name in the singing industry and is counted as one of the most successful Spanish singers. However, Iglesias never wanted to benefit from his family’s name and repo in his career and tried to make it independently. By the year 2000, he emerged as the biggest star in Latin America and successfully crossover into the USA’s mainstream market.
Early Life
The singer was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the youngest of siblings. His father, Julio Iglesias, is a successful Spanish singer, and his mother, Isabel Preysler, is a journalist. The singer grew up with two older siblings, Julio Jr and Chabeli.
The artist was born with a rare congenital condition where some of the body organs are on the opposite side from normal. Initially, Iglesias and his siblings lived with their mother. But later, in December 1981, his grandfather got kidnapped by the armed forces. That was the time when his mother had sent the brothers to his father in Virginia, Miami, where his father was living with his girlfriend.
They were raised mostly by the nanny. Later, he dedicated his first album to his nanny, Elvira Olivares. Father Julio was busy most of the time with his music career; that’s why his nanny was the one who raised him. The school where he studied was the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School. Later, he studied business at the University of Miami.
Iglesias never wanted his father to know about his willingness to get into the music industry. He did not want to use his father’s or family’s surname for starting a career. Enrique borrowed money from his nanny to record his first demo cassette and got his first demo cassette recorded. He recorded one Spanish and two English songs.
After dropping out of college, he was signed by the Fonovisa Records. To record his first-ever album, he traveled from the USA to Toronto, Canada.
Music Career
The artist released his first album, Enrique Iglesias, on 12 July 1995, which was a collection of rock ballads. Along with this, he also released another album with a Mexican label, Fonovisa. Half a million copies of the albums were sold just in the first week after release, and millions of copies of the released album were sold for the next three months.
The singer’s stardom kept rising and again hit the best in 1997 when he released his album Vivir. The album included a cover version of an English song, “Only You,” in a translated version to Spanish as Solo en Ti. Next year he released another album Cosas del Amor (Things of love), with a more mature musical direction by the popular singles NuncaTeOlvidare and Esperenza.
Iglesias had achieved a successful music career by 1999 in the English music market. Credits to other crossover acts, especially Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin. Latino music and artists had great popularity when we talk about mainstream music.
Enrique decided to release his fourth music album in 2002 named Quizas (Perhaps). That was a more polished production than the ones he released earlier in his career. The album’s title track was a song that gave a message of his strained relationship with his father.
On the Billboard 200 chart of albums, the singer’s album ranked on number 12, which was quite a big achievement at that time. Quizas happened to be the fastest-selling Spanish album for almost five years.
Personal Life
Enrique Iglesias got into a relationship with a Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova in 2001. In 2008 the Daily Star quoted him to be married to the tennis player but having a split. Both of them split reportedly, but thankfully they reconciled. The couple has a beautiful daughter and a son, Lucy, and Nicholas, who are twins born on 16 December 2017. Their third child, an adorable daughter, was born on 30 January 2020, named Mary.
The artist lives a healthy lifestyle and loves to play sports, swimming, and surfing. In 2014, he stated in an interview that he does not have a specific routine. He further added that when he’s home, he mostly does push-ups and bench presses. He also said that he goes to the gym for regular exercise. His shows are very active and offer many exercises.
The singer is a Catholic Christian. Although he doesn’t have any health issues, back in 2013, he had taken surgery to remove a circular mole from his face. It was citing concerns that it could become cancerous over time.
Love Life
Enrique and his wife Anna have been together for more than nineteen years. The couple started dating when they met on the set of the album Escape in 2001. They have three children, two twins, a son and a daughter, Lucy, and Nicholas, and a third daughter Mary.
Like most industry couples, Enrique and Anna do not like to talk publicly about their relationship and try not to disclose it for around eighteen years. But now we all know that they are happily married and parents to three beautiful children.
Philanthropy
Enrique participated in the project Download to Donate in 2010. The organization was run by which was initiated by an American organization, Music for Relief. He co-produced a charity album, Download to Donate for Haiti for the Haiti earthquake 2010, with Mike Shinoda, co-vocalist of the band. They both promoted the album at various venues.
The singer requested his followers to donate money in 2013 for the Philippines’ deadly typhoon Haiyan victims. He has supported Habitat for Humanity, City of Hope, Live Earth, Help for Heroes, Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Salvation Army, Save the Children, and other charitable causes for Hunger Relief.
Awards and Achievements
Enrique Iglesias has earned more than 200 awards in his career. That includes 36 Billboard Latin music awards, 23 Billboard music awards, 8 American Music Awards, 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 1 Grammy with three nominations, 6 MTV Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 19 Premios lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 nominations), and the list goes on.
He was awarded as the most fashionable artist in 2000 at the Vogue Fashion Awards.
Enrique Iglesias Net Worth
As of 2021, Enrique Iglesias‘ net worth is estimated to be roughly $100 million. Enrique Iglesias is a songwriter, Spanish singer, actor, and record producer who is widely regarded as the King of Latin Pop.
Conclusion
The singer was born in 1975 and was the youngest of three siblings. He got his early education from the Gulliver Preparatory School and attended his business education at the University of Miami. His father, Julio Iglesias, was a famous name in Spanish music, and his mother, Isabel Preyslar, was a magazine journalist.
But the singer never believed in using the family name for his music career and succeeded on his own. His family nanny raised him, and he dedicated his first song to her. Enrique was into singing, but he is one of the philanthropists and has supported many charity campaigns.