Page 38 - Hola_USA

TR EN D I N G
CELEBRITY

I’d learned it all growing up as a child
by his side. Besides, there are things you
need to figure out yourself, even if you
make mistakes.”
He kept his passion a secret from both
his parents, and as a teenager, borrowed
money from his babysitter to make a demo
recording, using an alias so as not to trade
on his father’s name. Recalling his momen-
tous decision to strike out on his own, he
told ¡HOLA!: “I decided to leave my house
to go in search of my dream. I needed to
focus on my goals and what I wanted to
do without any distractions.”
After shooting to mainstream fame in
1999 with “Bailamos,” he’s gone on to
sell over 150 million records, with his
video for “Bailando” scoring a stag-
gering 2.2 billion views on YouTube in
2014. And his relationship with ex-ten-
nis ace and model Anna Kournikova has
made his personal life as headline-gra-
bbing as his music. Though the pair
have been dating since 2001—they met
when she was cast in one of his music
videos—they consistently play coy on the
subject of making it official. “I believe in
marriage, but I don’t think you need to be
married to be happy. I’ve seen blissfully
happy couples who aren’t married, and
I’ve seen married couples who are mise-
rable,” Enrique has remarked.
Buoyed by success, happy-go-lucky
Enrique, 42, takes the media spotlight
and grueling schedules in stride. “I know
people moan about the paparazzi, but I
truly believe they can be avoided if you
are careful where you hang out and which
parties you go to. As for the workload,
sometimes it gets me down, but I’ll go to
sleep crying and wake up smiling and
ready to kick ass!”
And he’ll be doing exactly that when
he struts back on stage this month to con-
tinue his sell-out concert tour with Pitbull,
just another way of thanking his legion of
Since 2001, Iglesias and for- fans. “The least I can do is reward them,”
mer Russian tennis champion explains Enrique. “I learned this from my
Anna Kourni kova have been
in a steady and discreet rela- father, who has always treated his fans
tionship, and are in no rush with the greatest respect and as equals.
to marry. “I believe in mar- There are no two ways about it—you have
riage, but I don’t think we HOLA ARCHIVES; STARTRAKS PHOTO/REX
have to get married to be to spoil your fans because without them,
happy,” said the singer. you’re nothing.”n

REPORTING BY BARRY BYRNE