"Bailamos" reached number one not just on Billboard's Latin charts but also the Hot 100 as it entered the Top Ten in countries all around the world. The hit that brought Iglesias fame and helped turn Enrique into a platinum hit was "Bailamos," a song originally released on a limited-edition version of Cosas del Amor and reworked for the soundtrack of Will Smith's comedy-adventure Wild Wild West.
Iglesias released one more album on Fonovisa - 1998's Cosas del Amor - before making the leap to Interscope Records.nnInterscope helped Iglesias cross into the pop mainstream via the 1999 album Enrique. Arriving in 1997, Vivir consolidated his success, snagging him the 1996 Grammy for Best Latin Performer along with a host of Billboard awards, all paving the way for his first headlining international tour. A hit right out of the box, Enrique Iglesias shifted a million copies within its first three months. The tape landed the singer a deal with Fonovisa Records, who convinced him to return to his birth name.nnDropping out of school, Enrique Iglesias headed to Toronto to record the album that became his eponymous 1995 debut. He took steps to distance himself from his father, shopping the demo under the name "Enrique Martinez," borrowing the surname from Fernan Martinez, who previously worked as a publicist for Julio Iglesias. Initially, Enrique Iglesias 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 - 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 chart, all while selling over 140 million albums worldwide in just over the first two decades of his career.nnAs 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 crossover 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.