Iglesias films for Pepsi Gladiators, the Pepsi music commercial, in Rome.

Although major labels rejected Iglesias in his early days, he went on to become a star of the Latino crossover phenomenon. He topped the charts in 1995 with his self-titled debut album, which sold over a million copies in Latin America and produced five hit singles.

In 1997, his album Vivir won a Grammy. Together, his two albums had grossed global sales in excess of $8 million that year. He also had seven chart-topping singles on Billboard’s Latin Top 50. In 1999, his hit Bailamos, which features in the 1999 Will Smith film Wild Wild West, topped the Billboard Hot 100 and broke into the UK Top 5. His singles Escape and Hero became big hits, the latter topping the UK charts in January 2002.

Photo: Clive Brunskill/ Getty Images for Pepsi

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