| Real Name : | Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler | |
| Nickname : | Kike | |
| Born : | May 8, 1975 | |
| Birth Place : | Madrid, Madrid, Spain |
Iglesias started his musical career on Mexican Indie label Fonovisa, which helped turn him into one of the most popular artists in Latin America and in the Latino market in the United States, and the biggest seller of Spanish language albums for a number of years.
Before the turn of the millennium, he made a crossover into the mainstream English language market, signing a unique multi-album deal with Universal Music for an unprecedented $48,000,000, with Universal Music Latino to release his Spanish albums and Interscope to release English albums.
Iglesias has sold over 60 million albums worldwide, has had two Billboard Hot 100 #1s and one #3, and holds the record for producing 20 number 1 Spanish-language singles on the Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks.
Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, the third and final child of singer Julio Iglesias and socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His mother is Filipino and his father is of Galician Spanish and Jewish ancestry. His parents divorced in 1978, and the following year Julio moved to Miami, Florida to continue with his musical career.
In 1985, Enrique Iglesias’ grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga was kidnapped by the terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio Iglesias Jr. were sent to live with their father in Miami. He also lived in Belgrade, Serbia for one year with his mother, who worked as a journalist. As his father’s career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended Gulliver Preparatory School and went on to study business at the University of Miami.
Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father’s former publicist Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name ‘Enrique Martinez’ with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed by a record label called Fonovisa. Dropping out of University, he went to Toronto to record his first album.
Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write “Un Nuovo Giorno”, the lead single from Andrea Bocelli’s first pop album. The song was later translated into English as “First Day of My Life” and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge
