Initially, he planned to major in business at the University of Miami, but he felt the pull of a musical career, so he borrowed money from Olivares to record a demo tape. He and his two older siblings were sent to live with their father in 1986, where his nanny, Elvira Olivares, played a pivotal role in his parenting. Born in Madrid, Spain on May 8, 1975, Iglesias stayed with his mother, Isabel Preysler, following the 1979 divorce of his parents. Although he'd see the pop Top Ten again - "I Like It," his 2010 duet with Pitbull, went to number four, as did 2011's "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E - he was an institution in Latin music, racking up over 25 number one singles on Billboard's Latin Songs chart, along with 14 number one hits on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart, all while selling over 150 million albums worldwide by the end of the 2010s.Īs the youngest child of Julio Iglesias, Enrique may have been born into Latin music royalty and, consequently, his fame may seem preordained, but that isn't the case.
He scored his first number one on Billboard's Latin charts in 1995, but he soared to crossover stardom at the dawn of the new millennium thanks to the hits "Bailamos" (1999) and "Hero" (2001), a pair of blockbusters that established his ease with modern dance and classic pop balladry, respectively.
There was no bigger star in Latin music in the first part of the 21st century than Enrique Iglesias.