He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa were he released three Spanish albums Enrique Iglesias, Vivir and Cosas del Amor becoming the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade.

He signed a multi-album deal with Universal Music Group for US$68 million with Interscope Records releasing a string of hit English albums such as Enrique, Escape, 7 and Insomniac.

After graduating from high school he attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, where he studied business but dropped out after a year to pursue a recording career.

[35] In 1997, Iglesias's stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which elevated him to the levels of popular English-language musicians (in sales) that year.

Thanks to other successful Latin crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and soon thereafter Shakira, Spanish-language and Latino musicians experienced a great surge in popularity amongst the public.

[43] Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a (supposedly) very off-key Iglesias on his radio show, accusing him of "not being able" to sing live.

A second edition of the album was released internationally and contained a new version of one of Iglesias's favorite tracks, "Maybe", as well as a duet with Lionel Richie called "To Love a Woman".

[48] Iglesias capitalized on the album's success with his "One-Night Stand World Tour" consisting of fifty sold-out shows in sixteen countries.

The "Don't Turn Off the Lights" tour was completed in the summer of 2002, with two sold-out nights in Madison Square Garden and another two in Mexico's National Auditorium.

In Europe, the second single was "Tired of Being Sorry", which performed well in many countries; he recorded a version of the song with French singer Nâdiya, which was number one in France for eleven weeks.

The record's second single, "Lloro Por Ti", also reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and had an official remix featuring Wisin & Yandel.

Beginning in Laredo, Texas, and ending at the Izod Center in New Jersey, he was accompanied through most of the tour with bachata band Aventura, who also performed "Lloro Por Ti" with him at the 2008 Premios Juventud.

"Cuando Me Enamoro" was released as the lead Spanish single from the album, and became the theme song of the Mexican telenovela of the same title, produced by Televisa.

In January 2011, the album's third English single, "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)" featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No.

[69] A remix version of the album track "Dirty Dancer" with Usher and Lil Wayne was released as the fourth English single and became his ninth Hot Dance Club Play chart topper, tying with Prince and Michael Jackson as the male with the most No.

He would perform the track alongside Tonight (I'm Lovin' You) and I Like It and the 2011 American Music Awards and the Dallas Cowboys vs Miami Dolphins Thanksgiving halftime show along Ludacris and Pitbull.

Later that year he returned to India in October 2012 to perform another series of shows called Tri-City tour in Pune, Delhi, and Bangalore playing to sold-out arenas and stadiums.

This was followed by El Perdedor, a duet with Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis and was the theme to the telenovela Lo que la vida me robó.

[81] In addition to the previously stated collaborations, the album featured guest appearances by Flo Rida, Yandel, Juan Magan, Jennifer Lopez, and Gente de Zona.

In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit "El Perdón" which topped the charts in several countries and has over 1.3 billion views on YouTube.

1), which included his string of hits from 2015 on wards as well as new tracks such as the singles "Pendejo", and "Te Fuiste" which featured Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers.

The album has over 3 billion audio streams and was certified 6× Platinum (Latin category) in the US[92] Also in 2021, Iglesias embarked on a co-headline tour with Ricky Martin.

The tour consisted of twenty-six arena dates across North America and featured Colombian pop star Sebastian Yatra as the opening act.

On 29 September 2023, Iglesias returned to Latin and Spanish radio stations with the song "Asi Es La Vida" the first single from Final Vol.

The show contained many references and allusions to many classic and contemporary Latin and pop songs by the likes of Carmen Miranda, Selena, Ritchie Valens, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, and Iglesias himself.

Iglesias starred alongside Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Johnny Depp in the Robert Rodriguez film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which he played the well-spoken gun-wielding Lorenzo.

[103] Iglesias also played the part of an evil Roman emperor in a Pepsi ad in 2004,[104] as well as appearing in commercials for Tommy Hilfiger, Doritos, and Viceroy watches.

[111] In 2010, Iglesias was included in the project Download to Donate, run by Music for Relief, an organization started by American rock band Linkin Park.

[112] In 2013, Iglesias urged his followers to donate money through the American Red Cross to help the victims of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

[116][117] Iglesias has supported City of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, Help for Heroes, Live Earth, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics, Save the Children, The Salvation Army, and charitable causes like Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation[118] and hunger relief.