Enrique Iglesias - Early Life

Early Life

Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain, and is the third and youngest child of singer Julio Iglesias and socialite and magazine journalist Isabel Preysler. His mother is a Filipino and his father is of Spanish ancestry from Galicia and Andalusia.His parents' marriage was annulled in 1979.

In 1986, Iglesias' grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque terrorist group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother, Julio Iglesias, Jr., were sent to live with their father in Miami. He also lived in Belgrade, Serbia, for one year with his mother. As his father's career kept him on the road, the young Iglesias was raised by the family nanny. He attended the prestigious Gulliver Preparatory School, where he made his singing debut in a production of Hello, Dolly!. Although his mother is ethnically Filipino, Enrique does not speak Tagalog. Iglesias is fluent in Spanish and English, the latter influencing and making a regular appearance in his songs. Iglesias later went on to study business at the University of Miami.

Iglesias did not want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and did not want his famous surname to help advance his career. He borrowed money from his family nanny and he recorded a demo cassette tape which consisted of a Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist, Fernan Martinez, the two promoted the songs under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown singer from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed the Mexican label Fonovisa. After dropping out of college, he traveled to Toronto to record his first album.