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Co-writing
his songs has been an important milestone for Iglesias, and
his talent in that arena is one of those elements greatly
underestimated.
"When
I was first signed by Universal I felt I could write in English
but I hadn't done it yet. I thought I needed help so I told
them, 'Find me songs.' But they couldn't find enough that
I liked--I'm the one who found 'Bailamos.' It was the same
with Escape: I said, 'Send me songs.' But I didn't dig any
of them. Finding a hit song is really difficult. I think for
a great career you have to depend on yourself. Thank God I
write or else I wouldn't know what I'd do. I'd be completely
screwed." He laughs. "With Seven, they stopped sending
me songs." With Escape, Iglesias boldly returned to his
'80s arena rock influences just as the Latin music explosion
he had instigated a few years earlier subsided. The balladeer
showed he could rock. Now Seven takes his evolution one step
further. "Those '80s roots still show but they're not
as obvious. I think this is a more complete album. It's actually
not as polished vocally, some of the vocals are one takes
and from the demos. But that just makes it more real for me."
On
an even more practical note, the songs on Seven expand his
catalog in English. "The last tour was the best yet.
Because Escape had so many upbeat songs, like Seven does,
instead of just ballads, there was a different edge and it
was so much fun to be stage. But in Europe, outside of Spain
obviously, you can't sing every song in Spanish. It doesn't
work. Now I have a lot more songs people can sing along with."
At
the end of the Escape tour, an exhausted Iglesias did promotion
for Quizas but no concerts. In fact, though Quizas was released
in 2002, the entire album had been written before Escape.
"It's the only one I've kept in the closet. I don't like
to do that because the world changes, music changes and I
change." There will likely be many English-speaking fans
who don't even know there was an album after Escape (Quizas
was issued on Universal Music Latino). That's one reason Iglesias
decided to name his new album Seven: "A lot of people
probably don't realize this is already my seventh album. They
think I've only done two or three."
Iglesias
has been conquering expectations all along, from shopping
his first demos under a pseudonym to his Spanish-language
triumphs which blazed the trail for others to follow to being
one of the few pop artists in any language who co-writes most
of his songs to escaping musical borders by rocking out.
Born
May 8, 1975, in Madrid, Spain, Enrique grew up immersed in
three cultures--Latin, European and American--as the third
child of international singer Julio Iglesias and Philippines-born
ex-model Isabel Preysler. His parents divorced when he was
three years old and, when he was 8, following the kidnapping
of his paternal grandfather in a ransom attempt, his mother
sent him, brother Julio Jose and sister Chabeli to live with
Julio in Miami. With his father often on tour, Enrique was
entrusted to his nanny, Elvira Olivares. Yet, says Enrique,
"My parents did a good job. It's not as if anyone can
do a 'Behind The Music' on me." He was not raised in
a show business environment. Other than spending summers in
Spain with his mother, he appeared to be a typical Miami teen
interested in sports. (Another reason his new album is titled
Seven is that it was his uniform number playing soccer as
a youngster.) He admits he couldn't even get a date for his
junior prom. But what his family did not know was that Enrique
was secretly writing songs and dreaming of stardom: "This
is the only thing I know how to do, the only thing I really
love."
After
a year studying business at the University of Miami, he decided
to follow his passion. In 1995, he sang in person for his
soon-to-be manager, who at Iglesias' insistence first shopped
his demos as an unknown Central American singer named Enrique
Martinez. It wasn't until he earned a record deal with Fonovisa
that he told his father and mother of his aspirations. Then
he flew to Toronto, where no one knew him and he could concentrate
just on music, to record for five months.
His
debut, Enrique Iglesias, sold more than a million copies in
its first three months on store shelves (he earned his first
gold record in Portugal in a scant seven days). To date, the
album has sold more than seven million units worldwide. He
followed in 1997 with Vivir, which broke into the U.S. pop
Top 40 and has enjoyed global sales of more than five million
discs. The album also launched his first world tour, a critically
acclaimed road trip of 78 venues, including 50,000+ seat stadiums,
in 16 countries (19 arenas in the U.S.). His second world
tour, with more than 80 performances in support of Cosas Del
Amor (1998), was the first ever sponsored by McDonald's.
In
a mere three years, Enrique had sold more than 13 million
albums, becoming the biggest-selling Spanish-language artist
in the world. The U.S. was his biggest market: Enrique Iglesias
and Vivir are each RIAA-certified platinum, with Cosas Del
Amor gold and nearing platinum. Each also charted at #1 on
the Latin charts for several weeks. The singles "Si Tu
Te Vas," "Por Amarte," "Experiencia Religiosa,"
"Trapecista," "No Llores Por Mi," "Enamorado
Por Primera Vez," "Solo En Ti," "Miente,"
"Esperanza" and "Nunca Te Olvidare" went
#1 Latin in the U.S. (and #1 in 18 other countries too). In
total, Enrique has charted 16 #1 songs on the Billboard Latin
chart, more than any other artist in history.
Each
album was also Grammy nominated for Best Latin Pop Performance,
winning once for Enrique Iglesias. He was honored as 1996's
Billboard Artist of the Year and won Billboard's Album of
the Year for Vivir, four American Music Awards, several World
Music Award, eight Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, two ACE Performer
of the Year Awards, and ASCAP songwriter awards in both 1996
and 1997.
In
1999, the European version of "Bailamos" ("We
Dance") quickly became the most-requested radio track
in the largest U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, New York,
Miami and Dallas. Will Smith caught an Iglesias show in L.A.
and asked him to contribute it to the soundtrack for Wild
Wild West. That summer, "Bailamos" hit #1 pop and
#1 Latin--and Iglesias won another ASCAP award.
Then
came Enrique, his first Interscope album and first in English.
He had now recorded in four languages--Spanish, Portuguese,
Italian and English. In the U.S., the album soared to Top
40 pop and #1 Latin, and went platinum. After being seen by
hundreds of millions during the 2000 Super Bowl halftime extravaganza,
Iglesias followed with another world tour. In the summer,
"Be With You" ("Solo Me Importas Tu")
hit #1 pop for three weeks, #2 Latin and #1 Dance as well.
Enrique
sold more than four million copies outside the U.S., a spectacular
success in countries as diverse as Canada (quadruple platinum),
Germany (platinum) and Taiwan (gold). The album, which also
included the Top 30 pop "Rhythm Divine" (aka the
#1 Latin "Ritmo Total") and a duet with Whitney
Houston ("Could I Have This Kiss Forever," also
on her 2000 Greatest Hits album), achieved gold or platinum
status in 32 countries. A truly international artist, he was
named both Favorite Latino Artist at the 2000 Blockbuster
Entertainment Awards and Male International Artist of the
Year at the CCTV-MTV Music Honors in Beijing, China.
From
Escape, "Hero" hit #3 pop and #1 Adult Contemporary
(its Spanish version "Heroe" was #1 Latin). Its
music video starring Iglesias with tennis pin-up Anna Kournikova
was one of the year's most popular. The album's "Escapar"
peaked at #2 Latin and an "Escape Remixes" maxi-single
shot to #1 Dance. Escape cemented Enrique's status as a superstar
in Europe. Escape and "Hero" were simultaneously
the #1 album and single on the U.K. charts...the first time
since ABBA that the same artist had occupied both slots at
the same time. Quizas followed, topping the Latin charts and
even crossing over to the pop side at #12 (the highest ever
position for a Spanish album in the U.S.) Its title track
was yet another Latin #1 as were "Para Que La Vida"
and "Mentiroso." The album won him the 2003 Latin
Grammy for Best Pop Album.
Though
the music business is currently in the doldrums, Iglesias
says it's just the right time for Seven. "That's when
you can sound different and catch the public's attention.
When my first album came out, there was nothing interesting
happening in Latin music and in Mexico the business was in
trouble because the peso had dropped 50 percent in value.
Then boom, my album sounded so different, it suddenly created
a trend. I do believe that times like this can be good for
artists willing to be different."
Enrique
Iglesias may not be underestimated for long.
"I
think that will start to fade with Seven. What won't change
is always striving for that great song and that great album.
That's the challenge, that's the fun, and that's what will
always drive me."
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