Happy Birthday Enrique Iglesias! 6 Things You Didn’t Know About 39-Year-Old Spanish Singer-Songwriter

Enrique Iglesias turns 39 today! Although he might not look the age, the Spanish singer is almost in the 40s' club and he’s celebrating with yet another number one hit. Turns out, Enrique’s song “Bailando” featuring Descember Bueno and Gente de Zona, has reached number one in the Billboard Hot Latin Songs. He holds the record for most songs to ever top the Hot Latin Songs chart with 25, leaving Luis Miguel and Gloria Estefan in second and third place with 16 and 15 songs respectively.

To celebrate Enrique’s birthday, here are some facts that you totally need to know about this singer, who might as well be the most influential Hispanic singer of the era, internationally speaking.

1. Enrique was born in Madrid, Spain to Julio Iglesias, one of the most famous singers in Spain and Latin America, and Isabel Preysler, a socialite, actress and magazine journalist.

2. When Enrique was a teenager, he didn’t want his father to know about his plans for a musical career and didn’t want to be known as Julio Iglesias’ son, so he could make a name for himself. To help advance his career, he recorded a demo cassette tape with Spanish and English songs and promoted them across record labels with the name Enrique Martínez from Guatemala. He was signed with Mexican label Fonovisa, and after dropping out of college, where he was studying business, he recorded his first album in Toronto.

3. On July 12, 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads. The record sold half a million copies in its first week, a rare accomplishment then for an album recorded in a language other than English, going Gold in Portugal within the first week of release, and sold over a million copies in the next three months. The album went on to win Iglesias a Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance.

4. Will Smith helped Enrique Iglesias’ crossover into the Anglo market. After attending one of Enrique’s concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked him to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie Wild Wild West. His contribution "Bailamos" was released as a single and became a number one hit in the US.

5. After the success of "Bailamos," several mainstream record labels were eager to sign Iglesias. Signing a multi-album deal after weeks of negotiations with Interscope, Iglesias recorded and released his first full CD in English, Enrique. The pop album, with some Latin influences, took two months to complete.

6. Enrique Iglesias has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best selling Spanish language artists of all time. Besides holding the record for Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, he has had five Billboard Hot 100 top five singles, including two number-ones. He has also had 13 number-one songs on Billboard's Dance charts, more than any other single male artist.