At first, Iglesias and his two siblings stayed with their mother, but in December 1981, Iglesias’ grandfather, Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, was kidnapped by the armed Basque group ETA. For their safety, Enrique and his brother Julio were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend at the moment, Venezuelan top model Virginia Sipli, in Miami. There, they were brought up mostly by the nanny, Elvira Olivares, to whom Enrique later dedicated his first album. 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 and later went on to study business at the University of Miami.

On 12 July 1995, Iglesias released Enrique Iglesias, a collection of light rock ballads, including hits such as “Si Tú Te Vas”. This album, along with Iglesias’ next two, was released by the Mexican label Fonovisa. 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.

In 1997, Iglesias’ stardom continued to rise with the release of Vivir (To Live), which put him up with other English-language music superstars in sales for that year. The album also included a cover version of the Yazoo song “Only You”, translated into Spanish as “Solo en Tí”.

In 1998, Iglesias released his third album Cosas del Amor (Things of Love). Taking a more mature musical direction, the album, aided by the popular singles “Esperanza” and “Nunca Te Olvidaré”, both of which topped the Latin singles chart, helped cement his status in the Latin music scene.

By 1999, Iglesias had begun a successful crossover career into the English-language music market. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably Ricky Martin and Gloria Estefan, Latino artists and music had a great surge in popularity in mainstream music. After attending one of his concerts in March 1999, Will Smith asked Iglesias 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.

In 2000, Iglesias performed at the Super Bowl XXXIV halftime show alongside Christina Aguilera and Phil Collins. Shock jock Howard Stern repeatedly played a tape of a supposedly very off-key Iglesias on his radio show and accused him of not being able to sing live. On 8 June 2000, Iglesias sang the song live on Stern’s show with just a guitar accompanying him. After the performance, Stern remarked, “I respect you for coming in here; you really can sing”. Iglesias noted that the recording could have been him, but that it was probably a recording made during a television taping where he was required to lip sync and not sing properly. He would remark that the controversy was the best promotion he could have. The album’s single “Be with You” became Iglesias’ second number-one single on Billboard’s Hot 100.

In 2000, Iglesias co-produced an off Broadway musical called Four Guys Named Jose and Una Mujer Named Maria. In the musical, four Americans of Latin heritage possess a common interest in music and meet and decide to put on a show. 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 has won more than 200 awards from various ceremonies including 23 Billboard Music Awards and 36 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as 8 American Music Awards, 1 Grammy (with 3 times nomination), 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 10 World Music Awards, 6 MTV awards, 19 Premios Lo Nuestro Awards (with 24 times nomination) and 15 Premios Juventud Awards (with 21 times nomination) etc. He has been nominated over 465 times for various awards. He also won an award for Best International Pop Act at the MTV India Awards, as well as being named “King of Latin Pop”. In 2000, he was awarded Most Fashionable Artist at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. In 2001, for the release of his second English studio album Escape, he received awards for Best-Selling Pop Male Artist and European Male Artist at the World Music Awards.

In 2001, Iglesias released his second English-language album Escape. Where most of the Latin crossover acts of the previous year experienced some difficulty matching the record sales of their first English-language albums, Iglesias actually went on to sell even more. The album’s first single, “Hero”, became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and in many other countries. The entire album was co-written by Iglesias.

In late 2001, Enrique Iglesias started a relationship with Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova. In 2008, he was quoted by The Daily Star as having been married to Kournikova but having split. They reportedly split in October 2013 but reconciled. The couple have a son and daughter who are fraternal twins born on 16 December 2017. On 30 January 2020, their third child, a daughter, was born.

In 2002, Iglesias decided to release a fourth Spanish-language album titled Quizás (Perhaps). A more polished musical production than his previous Spanish albums and containing more introspective songs, the album’s title track is a song about the strained relationship Iglesias has with his famous father.

By 2003, Iglesias released his seventh album, which he called 7, the second to be co-written by him. Among its more 1980s-inspired material, it features the song “Roamer”, which he wrote with his friend and longtime guitarist Tony Bruno. The CD also contained the song “Be Yourself”, a song about independence; the chorus talks about how Iglesias’ own parents did not believe he’d ever succeed in his singing career. The first single was the song “Addicted”, and was followed closely by a remix of the song “Not in Love”, featuring Kelis.

In 2003, Iglesias received surgery to remove a circular mole from the right side of his face, citing concerns that over time it could become cancerous.

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

After a two-year hiatus, Iglesias released his new album Insomniac on 12 June 2007. The album was so named due to it being recorded mainly at night. The record had a more contemporary pop style than that of his previous albums. Its highlights include the songs “Push”, with rapper Lil Wayne, as well as “Ring My Bells” and a cover of Ringside’s “Tired of Being Sorry”.

The album’s first single, “Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)”, was released on 10 April 2007. It was Iglesias’s highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 since “Escape”. The song was also a hit throughout Europe, peaking in the top 10 in many countries. The Spanish version of the song, entitled “Dímelo”, was number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for eleven weeks, becoming his second best performing song on that chart at the time.

On 4 July 2007, Enrique Iglesias became the first Western artist to play a concert in Syria in three decades when he performed for a sold-out crowd of ten thousand in the capital Damascus, and in the same week, he performed on Live Earth in Hamburg.

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. In 2007, he had a guest appearance in the TV comedy Two and a Half Men as a carpenter/handyman.

Iglesias released a Spanish greatest hits album named 95/08 Éxitos on 25 March 2008, which included his seventeen number-one songs on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart plus two new songs. The first single was the song “¿Dónde Están Corazón?”, which was written by Argentine star Coti, and became Iglesias’s eighteenth number-one single on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs. The album debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart and number eighteen on the overall Billboard 200 albums chart. It was Iglesias’s second Spanish album to debut in the top 20 of the Billboard 200 (Quizás debuted at number twelve in 2002). The album was certified double Platinum (Latin field) in the U.S. and in some Latin American countries.

Iglesias was the winner of two World Music Awards in the categories of “World’s Best Selling Latin Performer” and “World’s Best Selling Spanish Artist” at the ceremony held in Monaco on 9 November 2008.

On 5 July 2010, Iglesias released his ninth studio album Euphoria, his first work to be released under his new label Universal Republic. The album is Iglesias’s first bilingual album, with seven original English songs and six original Spanish songs. It won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Album, the Billboard Latin Awards for Latin Album of the Year and Latin Pop Album of the Year, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Iglesias worked with three producers whom he had collaborated with before: RedOne, Mark Taylor, and Carlos Paucar. The album features collaborations with Akon, Usher, Nicole Scherzinger, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ludacris, DJ Frank E, Pitbull, Juan Luis Guerra, and his third song together with Wisin & Yandel. In a joint venture with Universal Latino, Iglesias released different singles in both English and Spanish simultaneously to different formats.

The first English single from the album, “I Like It”, which features the rapper Pitbull, was released on 3 May 2010 in the U.S. and became a success, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also featured in the MTV reality series Jersey Shore. “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. The song debuted at number eight and number twenty-five on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, respectively. It became his twenty-fifth top ten single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and after four weeks of its release date, it became his twenty-first No.1 song on this chart. In January 2011, the album’s third English single, “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)” broke into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No. 4. The song was released only for digital download in the United States but was featured on some editions of Euphoria in Europe and some Asian areas. The song became Iglesias’ first number one on the U.S. Pop Songs and Radio Songs airplay charts. A remix version of the album track “Dirty Dancer” 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. 1 dance singles. Further, “Ayer” served as the album’s third Spanish single and seventh single overall. The Euphoria Tour took Iglesias across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European countries. One of the tour’s legs took him to Australia, while fellow artist Pitbull joined him as an opening act. Prince Royce also served as opening act during the tour’s second leg across North America.

Iglesias has collaborated with songwriter Guy Chambers to write “Un Nuovo Giorno”, the lead single from Andrea Bocelli’s first pop album. The song was later translated into English as “First Day of My Life” and recorded by Spice Girl Melanie C. The song has since gone to become a huge hit throughout Europe, and peaked in the number one spot in numerous countries. Iglesias also co-wrote the single “The Way” for American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken. Four songs co-written by Iglesias appear on the UK band The Hollies’ 2006 album Staying Power. In 2010, Idol Allstars (Swedish Idol Series) released the song “All I Need Is You”, co-written by Iglesias with Andreas Carlsson, Kalle Engström, and Kristian Lundin. He also co-wrote Jennifer Lopez’s song “Dance Again”, released in 2012, which reached number-one position in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.

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. He co-produced Download to Donate for Haiti, a charity album for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, with the co-vocalist of the band Mike Shinoda. Both of them promoted the album at various venues, one of them being Larry King Live, where he and Shinoda explained the project.

In August 2011, Iglesias released the single “I Like How It Feels” to radio. This was planned to serve as the lead single from the Euphoria album’s proposed re-issue that never came to fruition, Euphoria Reloaded.

On 25 August 2012, Iglesias unveiled his brand new single, “Finally Found You”, a collaboration with American rapper Sammy Adams. It was released to the US iTunes Store on 25 September 2012. The song was released in UK on 9 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, Iglesias performed at the Z100 Jingle Ball in Miami, and on the iHeartRadio Festival interview session before the show, Iglesias stated he’s working on some new music and – when asked about his time in the studio – he said, “It’s kind of like going fishing, you never know when you’re going to catch a big one.” Continuing on to tell what fans can expect to hear, he said he’s ready to try something new: “I come out with so many albums and I want to make sure that if I come out with an album it sounds new. At least to me.” It was confirmed that Iglesias would be working with Mark Taylor, The Cataracs, and Carlos Paucar for the new album.

On 31 May 2013, Iglesias performed at the Mawazine Festival in Rabat, Morocco. The show broke the highest attendance record as more than 120,000 fans gathered to watch the concert.

On 29 June 2013, Republic Records confirmed that Enrique’s first single from his upcoming album is titled “Turn the Night Up”. The single was released in the middle of July. Iglesias released a special video which featured photos and videos that fans had sent in; fans could also make their own version using media from their personal Facebook albums. The song was released to US Top 40 radio on 22 July 2013. On 18 July 2013, Iglesias uploaded the single’s cover art on his official website.

On 24 August 2013, “Loco” was released on iTunes as the lead Spanish single from the upcoming album. The smooth bachata track features vocals from urban bachata superstar Romeo Santos. The single was released worldwide on 26 August 2013. It became Iglesias’ 24th No. 1 on the Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.

On 17 September 2013, Z100 Radio played Enrique’s third single from the upcoming bilingual studio album. The single, titled “Heart Attack”, was released in October 2013. It officially hit Top 40/Mainstream radio in the U.S. on 1 October 2013.

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. The typhoon struck one month after the Philippines was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which destroyed homes and livelihoods of around 350,000 people.

Iglesias confirmed “I’m a Freak” as the third English single from his tenth studio album. The single features Pitbull and was released in January 2014. Iglesias recorded a song with Kylie Minogue called “Beautiful”, which appears on her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. On 29 January 2014, Iglesias announced the title of his tenth studio album would be Sex and Love. The album was released on 14 March 2014. It features guest vocals from Pitbull, Romeo Santos, Marco Antonio Solís, Flo Rida, Kylie Minogue, Yandel, Jennifer Lopez, Gente de Zona, and India Martínez.

Sex and Love was Spotify’s 7th most-streamed album worldwide in 2014, and “Bailando” was the most-streamed song in both Mexico and Spain. Iglesias was also called the King of 2014, due to his tenth album, Sex and Love, and his hit single “Bailando”. Billboard called him “The Crowd Pleaser” of 2014. After more than a decade with Universal Music, Iglesias left the record label in 2015 and signed on with Sony Music.

Iglesias lives an active lifestyle and loves playing sports, surfing, and swimming in the ocean. In a 2014 interview, he stated: “I actually don’t have a specific routine. I mostly do push-ups and bench presses when I am at home. When I am on the road, I go to the gym to exercise. My shows are very active and provide a lot of cardio exercise.”

Since the release of his last studio album Sex and Love, Iglesias has continued issuing singles either on his own or with other artists. In 2015, he collaborated with Nicky Jam on the reggaeton megahit “El Perdón”. This was followed in 2016 by “Duele el Corazón” with Wisin. On 11 January 2017, Iglesias went to Cuba to film a music video for his song “Súbeme la Radio”, which features Descemer Bueno and Zion y Lennox. The artists filmed several scenes atop a bus in the center of Old Havana and in other areas of the country for the video that was centered around showcasing the liveliness of the Cuban people. The video also tells the love story of Iglesias and a Cuban woman. The video was broadcast internationally on 24 February 2017. The song has over 1.1 billion views on YouTube. 2018 saw the release of four more collaborative singles and in 2019 Iglesias put out the track “Después Que Te Perdí” together with Jon Z.

Enrique filed a lawsuit in a Miami federal court against his former record label for systematically underpaying his streaming royalties. The lawsuit claims that he was only given a 50 percent royalty rate for streaming from Universal Music Group. He sought to inspect Universal’s bookkeeping, according to the suit. His legal team and the artist believe that improper accounting has led to the shortfall of millions of dollars. He is now demanding the court to enforce his streaming rate and force the label to pay lost royalties. In 2018, Enrique made two new songs, one called “El Baño” with Bad Bunny and the other called “Move to Miami” with Pitbull. In March 2020, it was revealed that Iglesias would embark on a tour with Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, starting September 5, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. The tour is planned to end on October 30, 2020 in Atlanta.