Enrique Iglesias: 1975—: Singer, Songwriter Biography

Enrique Iglesias: 1975—: Singer, Songwriter.

Enrique Iglesias catapulted to fame in the 1990s, holding a leading place among a new generation of Spanish-speaking pop stars whose music combines romantic ballads, hot Latin dance rhythms, and American rock influences. The son of globally-famous Latin crooner Julio Iglesias, Enrique Iglesias has charted an independent course to his musical career, breaking into the recording industry by using a pseudonym to dispel any notions of riding on his father's coattails. In the course of his brief career, the Spanish-born, American-reared singer with the husky baritone and smoldering good looks has racked up a Grammy award, broken Latin music sales records, landed a role in a Hollywood movie, and evoked the sort of adulation among female fans once associated with a young Frank Sinatra or a hip-swiveling Elvis Presley.

Enrique Iglesias was born on May 8, 1975, in Madrid, Spain, to Julio Iglesias, the legendary singer, and Isabel Preysler, a Philippine-born journalist. Julio Iglesias, who recorded the classic 1984 duet with Willie Nelson "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

When Enrique was four, his parents divorced. For the next five years, Enrique and his older siblings—sister Chabeli and brother Julio Jr., also a singer—lived in Spain with their mother. Then Preysler became concerned that her children were in danger of being kidnapped, so she sent them to Miami to live with their father. Julio, however, was frequently gone on business, leaving the children to the care of the nanny, Elvira Olivares. Enrique later dedicated his first album to Olivares.