The King of Latin Pop?

Enrique Iglesias

Throughout history several entertainers have been considered King or Queen of their particular genre of music. Aretha Franklin is the Queen of Soul. Michael Jackson was considered the King of Pop. Mary J. Blige has been crowned the Queen of Hip Hop. And years ago Whitney Houston stated that her then husband Bobby Brown was the King of R & B. Elvis is still simply considered the King. However, in this year 2012, with so many successful male singers burning up the Latin Music charts, it would seem very difficult to find one artist who occupies the top spot. According to Billboard Magazine that distinction belongs to Enrique Iglesias. In fact, between the years 1986 – 2011 after amassing fifty-five number one hits on the Billboard Charts, Iglesias is considered the number two Latin artist behind Luis Miguel. I took notice last week after hearing that Iglesias, now on his Euphoria World Tour, needed to add several more concert dates in Mexico. Enrique Iglesias has become an extremely world-renowned recording artist of any musical genre. As I have watched him grow as an international star, I am forced to reflect on his father Julio Iglesias‘career. He was well known all around the world releasing seventy-seven albums in fourteen different languages while selling over 300 million records. Julio Iglesias made his mark on the musical world singing romantic ballads. Enrique also has enjoyed success singing romantic ballads, but his success has come at a younger age (he is now thirty-six and started over fifteen years ago). I feel Enrique’s success has come because of a couple of factors. 1) I feel that Latin music has changed overall. Even though my viewpoint may be skewed a bit by living in Miami, it seems Latin music has widened to attract non-Spanish speaking fans paving the way for many crossover opportunities into English markets. Enrique Iglesias has given us a great deal of English songs and albums. 2) Enrique has worked with more Pop artists over the years to reach a younger audience. Moreover, we can now understand Billboard magazine donning Iglesias the King of Latin Pop. How much more famous will Enrique Iglesias become? The future will bring more music, videos, sold out concerts and maybe more Enrique Iglesias fans.