Enrique Iglesias was born on May 8, 1975 in Spain to Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler. By this time, Enrique already had and older sister and brother, Isabel(Chabeli) and Julio Jose, respectively. Having given familial names to their first two children, Enrique's parents named him after an old friend of Julio, Enrique Bassat.
From the start, Julio spent little time in the company of his family. He is reported to have loved them very much, but his career was more important and came first. With so little time spent at home and Julio's numerous love affairs; it is little wonder that his marriage finally ended. Julio and Isabel obtained an annulment when Enrique was three years old. Less than one year later, Julio moved to Miami and Isabel remarried.
Julio built an elaborate estate in Miami, which was named Indian Creek, and moved in his current love interest, Virginia Sipl. The chidren visited the estate often and had a wonderful time with Virginia, who gave them much love and attention. They saw very little of their father on these visits.
On December 20, 1981, Enrique's grandfather was kidnapped and held for ransom by members of the ETA. After this incident, Enrique's parents became more protective of their children. Three years later, in 1984, Enrique and his siblings went to live with their father. Understandably upset by this transition, the children consoled themselves with the thought that they would be able to spend time with Virginia. Unfortunately, she also became tired of Julio's absences and infedelities and left shortly before the children arrived.
Enrique spent his childhood like many do;going to school, hanging out with friends, and spending time with his family when possible. Most of his time with his mother was spent on the phone and the time with his father was spent in the presence of celebrities.
Around the age of seven, Enrique discovered an outlet for his emotions. He began to write them down, turn them into lyrics. Enrique told no one in his family of his aspirations of becoming a singer and songwriter. He did not wish to be discouraged in any way.
At the age of fifteen, Enrique met two musicians who would become his mentors. He met them as he passed be the Little Havana restaurant and heard their music. After listening for some time, Enrique gathered his courage and approached the two men, asking that they hear his music and give their opinions.
The two men, Mario Martinelli and Roberto Morales, decided to give Enrique a chance. A few days after they met, the three musicians got together and Martinelli and Roberto listened to Enrique's music. Even though Enrique was untrained, the men found Enrique to be possessed of a magnificant voice and presence. After that, Martinelli and Morales began helping Enrique to achieve his dreams.
Enrique spent much of high school being unobtrusive. He wasn't particularly popular and was just an average student. After graduating, Enrique followed the wishes of his father and attended the University of Miami to study business.
After three years of college, Enrique quit school and took his first step towards acheiving his dream. Enrique placed a call to his father's manager, Fernan Martinez, and enlisted his help. Martinez was more than happy to help after Enrique displayed his great talent. Fernan began to send out Enrique's demo to various record labels using the name Enrique Martinez. Enrique wished to get a record deal based solely on his talent and not by dint of having his father's name.
After several rejections by major labels, Enrique finally recieved an offer from a smaller label, Fonovisa. They offered Enrique one million dollars for three albums. After recieving their offer, Enrique decided to tell Fonovisa his real name. But he still kept one secret. He had yet to tell his family of his burgeoning singing career and chose to wait longer. For this reason, Enrique moved to Toronto, Canada to record his album. |
