Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, NY, on July 24, 1969. After starting out in musical theater as a child, at age 16 she made her film debut in the little-seen My Little Girl, but her career then stalled until she was tapped to become one of the dancing "Fly Girls" on the television sketch comedy series In Living Color.

A recurring role on the TV drama Second Chances followed before Lopez was thrust into the limelight co-starring with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson in the 1995 feature film Money Train. Smaller roles in pictures including My Family/Mi Familia, Jack, and Blood and Wine followed before she landed the title role in 1997's Selena, portraying the slain tejano singer. Co-starring opposite George Clooney in 1998's acclaimed Out of Sight, Lopez (part of a Puerto Rican family) became the highest-paid Latina actress in Hollywood history.

The following summer, she returned to her musical roots with her debut pop album, On the 6, scoring a major hit with the infectious single If You Had My Love. Lopez didn't waste time perfecting a sophomore effort, the appropriately titled J.Lo, which was issued in early 2001. The following year Lopez released J to tha L-O!: The Remixes and This Is Me...Then, which spawned another hit single, Jenny from the Block.

Although her high-profile romance with Ben Affleck created more headlines than her recording career, her follow-up, 2005's Rebirth, -- released just after she married singer Marc Anthony -- was anticipated enough to debut at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart. The Spanish-language album Como Ama una Mujer followed in 2007, peaking at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart while remaining at the top of the Latin chart for seven consecutive weeks. In October of that same year, Lopez put out a more "traditional" pop album, Brave, followed by an accompanying tour. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Though Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel (born Juan Morera and Lladel Vegilla) were around for some time (their debut album, Reyes del Nuevo Milenio, was released in 2000) and gained fans and recognition with records like 2004's De Otra Manera and 2005's Mi Vida: La Pelicula, it wasn't until Pa'l Mundo hit the number one Latin album spot on the Billboard charts that they began to be recognized outside the Spanish-speaking community. That record, which featured guest appearances from reggaeton star Daddy Yankee and Aventura, was released in 2005. Los Vaqueros (2006), a group effort also including affiliates Tony Dize, Gadiel, and Jayko, followed. With their popularity at a fevered pitch in the wake of Pa'l Mundo's long string of high-charting hits, Wisin & Yandel released a variety of material in 2007, including a new studio album (Los Extraterrestres), a remix album (Los Vaqueros: Wild Wild Mixes), a live album (Tomando Control), and a collection of repackaged archival material (2010 Lost Edition). ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi

Whereas many of his Spanish-language contemporaries undertook English-language crossover campaigns at one point or another in their careers, Colombian singer/songwriter/guitarist Juanes won global appeal in his native language exclusively and became perhaps the biggest and most important popular Latin music artist in the world in the early 21st century. After his debut album, Fijate Bien (2000), won him a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Juanes broke through to global success with his second album, Un Día Normal (2002). In the United States alone, the album rode the Billboard Latin chart for two straight years, remaining in the Top Ten for a record-breaking 92 weeks. It also notched charting hit singles (six), Grammy nominations (eight), Grammy Awards (five), and various other accolades. When he returned with his third album, Mi Sangre (2004), Juanes again garnered all kinds of commercial success and critical acclaim. He tirelessly toured in support of the album, and by 2005 he had begun topping the singles chart in non-Spanish-speaking countries such as Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. By the time he returned with his fourth album, La Vida...Es un Ratico (2007), Juanes had such a global presence, Universal chose to release "Me Enamora," the lead single, to media outlets in 77 countries; it became a number one hit in 14 of them, setting the stage for another cycle of commercial success.

Born Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez on August 9, 1972, in Carolina del Príncipe, Antioquia, Colombia, Juanes began to learn how to play guitar at age seven, taught by his father and older brothers. His passion for the instrument led him to learn traditional Latin sounds such as boleros, tangos, and cumbias as well as Colombian folk music styles such as vallenatto and guasca. During his upbringing in Colombia he also became steadily acquainted with the grief endured by his fellow countrymen. In particular, his cousin was executed by kidnappers, and a close friend was killed by gunmen. He also lost his father to cancer, which only furthered his sense of grief.

As a teenager, Juanes and his guitar playing drifted toward heavy metal, influenced greatly by Metallica and other bands of that ilk. This led to his founding of the metal band Ekhymosis, which went on to considerable success, releasing seven albums in ten years (1988-1998) and enjoying a sizable following in Colombia. He eventually chose to depart the band and pursue a solo career. With guitar in hand, he moved to Los Angeles and brought along a cassette demo that got passed along to producer Gustavo Santaolalla, an Argentine transplant. Santaolalla heard promise in the demo, contacted Juanes, and ultimately signed him to his record label, Surco.

In 2000 Juanes and Santaolalla began work on what would become Fijate Bien, and the singer/songwriter/guitarist partnered also with manager Fernan Martinez, a fellow Colombian who had previously stood beside Enrique Iglesias during that artist's rise to international fame. With everything in place for Juanes, Surco, in association with Universal Music Latino, released Fijate Bien on October 17, 2000. The album sold very well in Colombia, where it spent ten weeks at number one, but it was slow to catch on elsewhere, spinning off a few modest hits: the title track, "Nada," and "Podemos Hacernos Dano." It was a pleasant surprise then when it was announced in July 2001 that Juanes had received a whopping seven Latin Grammy nominations. Such recognition brought a lot of international attention to Fijate Bien, especially once Juanes won three Grammys, including Best New Artist. He also performed at the ceremony.

Immediately following his Grammy wins, Juanes returned to Santaolalla's Surco studio in Los Angeles, bringing with him demos for over 40 new songs that would become the basis of Un Día Normal. He completed work on the album in February 2002 and the lead single, "A Dios Le Pido," was sent to radio stations throughout the U.S. and Latin America in April. The God-addressing song became an anthem in much of Latin America, a sort of prayer for peace throughout that often troubled part of the world. It went on to top the charts in 12 countries on three continents, and spent 47 consecutive weeks on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart, a large percentage of those weeks spent firmly lodged in the Top Five. It also spent more than four straight months atop the Colombian chart, breaking a record formerly held by countrymate Shakira.

Surco/Universal unveiled Un Día Normal on May 21, 2002, and it lived up to the promise of its lead single and its predecessor, becoming perhaps the most successful Latin album ever released to date. The album was much brighter than Fijate Bien (Juanes himself described Un Día Normal as the dawn that followed the night of its predecessor), and it spun off numerous hit singles, most notably a duet ballad with Nelly Furtado, "Fotografia," which the duo would go on to perform at the following Latin Grammy ceremony. Un Día Normal sold millions of copies worldwide, spending 92 weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart. Its accolades are far too many to list, as seemingly the entire world seemed to celebrate Juanes throughout the remainder of 2002 and into the following year. He toured the world and set all kinds of attendance records, performed at all kinds of ceremonies and telecasts, and inspired gushing praise from critics (from The New York Times: "Juanes is a figure like Bono or Sting: an idealistic songwriter who never forgets how to entertain").

Following the whirlwind of Un Día Normal, Juanes once again headed straight to the studio, in May 2004, to begin work on what would become Mi Sangre. The lead single, "Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor," hit radio on August 12, 2004, bumped up to prevent unauthorized leaks, and the album hit streets on September 28. Critics generally loved Mi Sangre, legions of fans bought it, and Juanes promoted it nonstop, once again mounting a mammoth tour (over 200 dates) and performing at all kinds of telecasts, in-stores, and ceremonies. All the while he again swept up one award after another (including France's highest cultural honor, L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) and tallied up yet more chart-topping hits (including "La Camisa Negra," which was a number one hit across western Europe, in addition to the Americas). Though his chart-topping was confined to the Latin market in the United States, Juanes was recognized for his global outreach, as Time magazine counted him among its list of "the 100 most influential people in the world today."

La Vida...Es un Ratico (2007), the fourth album by Juanes, was globally anticipated and proved an immediate hit. The album's lead single, "Me Enamora," had already hit number one in 14 countries by the time of the album's release, including seven consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Latin chart in the United States. In Colombia, physical copies of La Vida...Es un Ratico were reportedly sold out within the first day of release. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

When the Southern-flavored party rap called crunk took over urban radio in 2004, Miami rapper Pitbull decided it was time to seek stardom. The way Pitbull sees it, "crunk ain't nothin' but bass music slowed down." Miami bass music, that is, the kind Pitbull grew up on. His parents were first-generation Cuban immigrants who didn't let their son forget about his culture. They required him to memorize the works of Cuban poet José Martí, and Pitbull understood the power of words right away. Southern acts like Poison Clan and Luther Campbell were early influences, but as he grew, the young rapper got turned on to the G-funk sound of the West Coast and the New York City point of view Nas brought to the game.

Pitbull got involved in the game himself when he started appearing on Miami mixtapes. A meeting with Irv Gotti resulted in nothing, but soon Luther Campbell called on the rapper to appear on his "Lollipop" single. It brought Pitbull to the attention of the Diaz Brothers management team, who introduced the rapper to the king of crunk, Lil Jon. A Pitbull freestyle landed on Lil Jon's platinum-selling Kings of Crunk album in 2002, and the rapper's "Oye" track appeared on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack in 2003. Ready to take it all the way to the top, Pitbull unleashed his debut full-length, M.I.A.M.I., in 2004 on the TVT label, with the Lil Jon-produced single "Culo" leading the way.

Soon Pitbull was making guest appearances on tracks by everyone from the Ying Yang Twins to Elephant Man. The 2005 compilation Money Is Still a Major Issue collected the best of these collaborations along with some remixes and unreleased tracks. In 2006 the single "Bojangles" prepared fans for his next album, El Mariel. As the album landed on the shelves it was announced that his next effort would be entirely in Spanish and titled The Boatlift. When the end product arrived in 2007, it was an album mostly English, introduced by the single "Go Girl." Two years later he released Rebelution, an album filled with slick club cuts. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide

The most commercially successful Spanish singer of all time, Alejandro Sanz earned a reputation as an industrious hitmaker in his native country during the 1990s, and by the decade's end, he'd expanded his fan base internationally as he broadened his style beyond romantic ballads and began collaborating with fellow Latin superstars, most memorably Shakira. A talented songwriter with handsome looks, Sanz proved immensely popular even with his debut album, Viviendo de Prisa (1991), which was a number one hit in Spain. It wasn't until several albums later, Más (1997), that he was able to break into the international market, however, thanks to a key hit single, "Corazón Partío," that transcended his core female audience. He began focusing on the Americas during the early 2000s, beginning with MTV Unplugged (2001), which was recorded in Miami and subsequently released as an album intended to showcase the highlights of his back catalog as well as a newly written single, "Y Sólo Se Me Ocurre Amarte." He then retreated to his studio to record his most broadly appealing album yet, No Es Lo Mismo (2003), which found him breaking away from audience expectations and exploring his own musical interests. He did much the same on his next album, El Tren de los Momentos (2006), which was highlighted by "Te Lo Agradezco, Pero No," a passionate duet with Shakira, whom he'd collaborated with the previous year on her massive Grammy-winning hit "La Tortura." Even as Sanz broadened his style over the years, he never ventured far from his strength: romantic songs, generally ballads, tinged with flamenco and sung wholeheartedly with his distinct voice.

Born in Madrid, Spain, on December 18, 1968, Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro was the youngest son of María Pizarro and Jesús Sánchez, both of whom are Andalusians. His father played guitar professionally and was a significant influence on Alejandro, who learned to play guitar as a boy. As a teenager, Sanz performed at local venues and eventually became acquainted with Miguel Angel Arenas, a music industry maven perhaps best known at the time for his association with Mecano, a successful Spanish pop/rock group of the 1980s. Arenas helped Sanz find work in the recording industry, and the young performer initially signed a contract with the Spanish label Hispavox, which issued Los Chulos Son Pa' Cuidarlos (1989), an album that was met with indifference upon its release and is now a curious collector's item. Sanz was billed as Alejandro Magno on the album. Remaining aligned with Arenas, Sanz subsequently moved to WEA Latina, where he began recording music under his present billing. His early albums -- Viviendo de Prisa (1991), Si Tu Me Miras (1993), Basico (1993), and 3 (1995) -- were loaded with hit singles and consequently were all successful, each reaching platinum status many times over in Spain. Comprised largely of romantic songs, these early albums connected well with sentimental listeners, particularly women, who tended to be as taken aback by the music as they were by Sanz's handsome looks. "La Fuerza del Corazón," from 3, was his first major hit to have an international reach, opening a door to greener pastures.

The stage was now set for the breakthrough success of Más (1997), which boasted "Corazón Partío," a hit so big it changed the course of Sanz's career. Driven by the across-the-board appeal of "Corazón Partío," as well as additional singles "Y, ¿Si Fuera Ella?," "Amiga Mía," "Aquello Que Me Diste," and "Siempre Es de Noche," Más became the most successful Spanish pop record ever, selling millions worldwide. El Alma al Aire (2000) was a comparable commercial success, selling well internationally. However, the album wasn't as solid as its predecessor and accordingly spawned fewer hits: "Cuando Nadie Me Ve," "Quisiera Ser...," and "El Alma el Aire," each of which was a big hit nonetheless. By this point, Sanz had garnered a sizable following across the Atlantic, and his next recording, MTV Unplugged (2001), was a clear effort to further his growing popularity in the Americas. The intimate concert performance featured a newly written single, "Y Sólo Se Me Ocurre Amarte," which became a hit, as did "Aprendiz," a song written by Sanz previously recorded by Malú in 1998. MTV Unplugged moreover showcased the bounty of career highlights Sanz now had to his credit, as one hit after another was performed during the concert.

When Sanz returned to the studio to begin recording his next album, No Es Lo Mismo (2003), he decided to broaden his musical style to reflect his own interests. The album is harder-hitting and more street-savvy than past ones, even including a bit of rap and touches of electronica. The romantic songs are still front and center, granted, but Sanz wrote an album that is far from generic, illustrating his growing reluctance to cater to the expectations of his audience (for the first time, he co-produced the album himself). Though bolder than before, No Es Lo Mismo was yet another international smash success, reaching number 128 on the all-inclusive Billboard 200 album chart -- a notably high ranking for a Latin pop album circa 2003 -- and generating several hits, none bigger than the title track, which broke the Top Five on the Hot Latin Tracks chart (the first time Sanz did so since 1998) and was licensed by Coca-Cola for a promotional campaign in Latin America. Furthermore, No El Lo Mismo won a Latin Grammy in 2003 for Best Latin Pop Album, and Warner Music Latina issued a special CD/DVD edition of the album the following year in commemoration of Sanz's Latin American tour. In 2004, Warner also released a pair of greatest-hits compilations, Grandes Éxitos 91_96 and Grandes Éxitos 97_04, as well as a three-disc package, Grandes Éxitos 91_04, that includes a disc of rarities.

Sanz didn't release the follow-up to No Es Lo Mismo, El Tren de los Momentos, until late 2006, but in the meantime, he was featured in the biggest Latin hit of 2005, Shakira's "La Tortura." He co-wrote the Grammy-winning song and co-starred in its heavily aired pair of videos, which featured the two Latin pop stars in some rather sultry positions. "La Tortura" exposed Sanz to an even greater audience, and when he finally released the lead single to El Tren de los Momentos, "A la Primera Persona," the reception was rapturous. The song was among his biggest hits yet, his first to break into the all-inclusive Hot 100 chart, and El Tren de los Momentos was likewise well received. Stylistically similar to No Es Lo Mismo yet significantly more refined, El Tren de los Momentos is notable for its several superstar features, which include collaborations with Shakira, Juanes, Alex González of Maná, and Residente of Calle 13. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Her enchanting beauty as a child and her ease in front of the lights profiled her as a young music and acting prospect when she took her first steps in show business years ago.

With an immense talent and vivacious green eyes, Belinda Peregrín Schull captivated talent scouts at the first sight of her before the camera. She was not afraid to take risks; her poise was secure and determined. Yet, there was something else to her, a certain "charm." Those who saw her audition for her first novela, didn’t hesitate to predict her future success.

Very few know that this Mexican artist was actually born in Madrid, Spain. Her family, of French-Spanish origin, settled on Aztec ground when she was very young, and there she developed an interest for the arts, for music in particular.

Her big moment arrived with the start of the new millennium, when as an 11-year-old she began her artistic career, after being selected to star on the children’s novela Amigos X Siempre, alongside actor Martín Ricca.

Young audiences identified themselves with her very quickly, which led her to be cast in other shows such as Aventuras en el tiempo and Cómplices al rescate, where she simultaneously portrayed two characters.

Belinda also collaborated on the soundtracks of the shows she starred in, which reached high sales. These performances highlighted her innate gifts for singing and greatly impacted her followers, who in turn motivated music producers, and the artist herself, to work on a solo album.

In 2003, as the final details were fine-tuned to produce her music debut, Belinda, who was only 13 years-old at the time, asked to compose some of the songs that would make up the album’s repertoire.

Her self-titled debut album sold over two million copies worldwide, thanks to the booming success of singles such as "Lo siento," "Ángel," "Boba niña nice," and "Be free."

The tour that followed, Fiesta En La Azotea, exceeded all expectations with an attendance of more than 1.5 million fans to hundreds of shows worldwide.

After wrapping up the tour, she reached the top of the charts on a collaboration with the Mexican group Moderatto on "Muriendo Lento," originally recorded by Timbiriche.

Three years after her debut album, Belinda recorded a second album, Utopía. The work showcased her evident growth as an artist and the evolution of her lyrics and performance skill, as she blended in other rhythms such as Dance, R&B, and even Rock. From this album sprung the hits "Ni Freud ni tu mamá," "Bella traición," and "Luz sin gravedad," plus two other tracks in English.

She received Platinum Record in México for the production; scored the number four spot in the Top 10 Pop Albums of 2006, and released a special edition, entitled Utopía 2, that included new songs, and a DVD with unreleased material recorded during the making of the album.

Keeping up with her own sound, in 2010, Belinda returned reinvented with her new album, Carpe Diem. "This album is different from anything that I have done before, charged with different emotions, that are more realistic and reflective, because I am no stranger to the state of our world, and I believe that people need messages of faith and hope to identify with, and that is what I have done," she explains.

Starting with the lead single, "Egoísta", which testifies to her chameleon-like ease to sing different genres. Featuring urban superstar, Pitbull, she introduces a song that is as "aggressive" as it is "expressive", with urban and electronic beats.

The album includes some songs that can be very "controversial," according to the singer-songwriter. Among them, "Lolita," a satire on girls that is similar to the iconic character from the movie of the same name by Stanley Kubrick, and "Dopamina," which talks about the analogy between the drug by this name, and other types of emotional addictions.

Authentic, full of talent and creativity, Belinda has established herself as a new revelation of Latin American Pop music and a versatile actress with one of the most brilliant and promising careers of her generation lying before her.

It took the Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 roughly one year to catch on, after quietly debuting stateside in 2005 on White Lion (a small reggaeton label in partnership with Sony BMG) -- but catch on they certainly did. By the end of the following year, Calle 13 had become the hottest new artist in popular Latin music, garnering Grammy attention as well as widespread critical notices and steadily mounting album sales. Comprised of vocalist Residente (born René Pérez Joglar) and producer Visitante (Eduardo José Cabra Martínez), the duo wasn't a standard reggaeton act, which partly explained why the pair went unnoticed for some time. Reggaeton certainly influenced their music to a degree -- the unmistakable "dem bow" rhythm often anchored their songs, for example, and Residente did rap over the beats as one might expect -- yet Calle 13's material featured elements of other styles as well. Visitante's beats were inventive, incorporating aspects of hip-hop and characteristics of electronica, while Residente's rapping eschewed reggaeton's clichés, showcasing a healthy sense of humor and an almost clownish approach to sarcasm (à la Eminem) -- again, a world apart from the kingly bravado of most reggaeton vocalists, not to mention the obligatory glimmers of misogyny and violence that accompany such streetwise swaggering. All of this, along with several creative and fun-filled videos, made Calle 13 a refreshing alternative to the onslaught of reggaeton overtaking Latin music in 2005. In essence, Residente and Visitante offered a style of reggaeton that was both hip and unique -- one that was OK for women to embrace without a guilty conscience, one that critics (as well as the Grammys) could uphold as trailblazing, and one that was just plain fun.

Pérez and Cabra first met at the tender age of two, when the former's mother married the latter's father. The parents later divorced, yet the stepbrothers remained close over the following years. Their moniker, Calle 13 (meaning "13th Street" en inglés), along with their newly coined aliases, arose from their living situation: since Cabra visited his brother regularly at Pérez's residence (i.e., 13th Street), rather than vice versa, he was the "visitor," whereas Pérez was the "resident." The brothers were always artistic; Residente even went so far as to earn a master's degree in fine arts stateside, while Visitante had studied music formally since age six. They began recording music together in 2004, with the idea of hosting their work on a website, beginning with two demos ("La Tripleta" and "La Aguacatona"). Within a year's time, however, they began shopping for a record label to release their music commercially. White Lion was a logical choice, for it was the home of Tego Calderón, whom the two admired. Elias de León, the owner of White Lion, was forwarded the tape and realized immediately that there was something special about the music. He called Residente, who was working as an architectural draftsman at the time, and the two men met the following day.

White Lion signed Calle 13 soon afterward, and the label financed the duo's first video, for "Se Vale To-To," which Residente shot and edited himself with the help of his cousin at the cost of $14,000. Furthermore, de León hooked up Residente with established reggaeton vocalist Julio Voltio, who was also signed to White Lion, and the two collaborated on the song "Chulín Culín Chunlfy," which became a sizable hit. After generating some buzz on Puerto Rico radio with lead single "Se Vale To-To," White Lion released Calle 13 in November 2005. The album opened well, at number six on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart; however, the sales were heavily Puerto Rican in basis (the self-governing island is a U.S. commonwealth and therefore eligible for Soundscan computation) and subsequently languished until late summer 2006, when a second single, "¡Atrvete Te, Te!," began getting stateside airplay, beginning in Southern California. Another boost came when Nelly Furtado, concurrently riding high on the chart-topping success of "Promiscuous Girl," invited Residente to collaborate with her on a new version of "No Hay Igual" that would be released to Latino markets as a single and video.

The buzz continued to build month by month, partly fueled by the September 2006 announcement that the duo had netted three Latin Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Short-Form Video, and Best Urban Album -- all of which were later won. In addition, there was the announcement of three nominations for MTV Latin America Awards; the duo was invited to perform with Furtado on the awards show, too. In fact, the Furtado affiliation proved quite fortuitous, as MTV also invited Calle 13 to accompany the pop singer for the world premiere of the new MTV Tr3s channel targeting Latinos and acculturated Americans in the age 13-25 demographic. By this point, toward the end of 2006, Calle 13 were the hottest new group in popular Latin music. The duo's year-old debut album had become a Top Ten success, as the pace of its sales grew week by week, and their videos were exceptionally popular Internet streams. All the while, Calle 13 continued to gain recognition in additional Latin markets such as Mexico and Spain.

Residente and Visitante released their second album, Residente o Visitante, in 2007. It garnered a good deal of attention upon its release, dethroning Jennifer Lopez from the number one spot on the Latin album chart. By this point, critics were well attuned to the group, and on another front, MTV Tr3s supported Calle 13 passionately, continuously airing the video for lead single "Tango del Pecado," among other promotional spots. In effect, the release of Residente o Visitante became an event, one that was observed closely by many in the Latin music industry. Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo, Rovi

Don Omar is one of the most loved and recognized Reggaeton singers in Puerto Rico whose his popularity is quickly spreading throughout the current musical landscape along with the increasing popularity of the genre. The singer and songwriter raised in Villa Palmeras, an impoverished neighborhood in Puerto Rico and started composing his first songs and poems at age twelve. His early musical talent was nurtured in the church. A committed preacher for four years, Don Omar spent his time performing for religious musical celebrations. Don Omar left the church due to sentimental disillusionment which he describes in his well known song "Aunque te Fuiste."

After his departure from the church, Don Omar found his niche with Reggaeton. Don Omar's career really received a boost in 2002, when Héctor El Bambino, member of the Héctor y Tito duet, heard his work and gave Don Omar the opportunity to produce for him. It was then when Landrón adopted the name of Don Omar and began to produce for other artists,' such as Las 9 Plagas. He wrote various songs for Tito as a solo artist, and after gaining respect as a songwriter he worked with the Hector and Tito duet on the track "a la Reconquista."

Don Omar has collaborated with such acts as MVP Grayskull (Te estas calentando); the Godfather (Dejala) and Da'Flex, among others and is a solo star in his own right. Although he is often charged with promoting sex and violence through his lyrics, it is his sensitivity to the emotions behind his reality that sets him apart from other Reggaeton artists. Don Omar's star is rising and he is one of the most influential players elevating Reggaeton to mainstream status and recognition. His current hit "Reggaeton Latino" his contribution to Chosen Few -- El Documental soundtrack is quickly becoming the anthem for Reggaeton as it gains mainstream acceptance.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Enrique Iglesias was the best-selling Latin recording artist in the world. The son of multi-million-selling singer Julio Iglesias, Enrique was born in Madrid, Spain, where he lived with his mother, his brother Julio, and his sister Chabeli. In 1982, his mother sent them to live in Miami with their father. While there, Enrique was exposed to three different cultures and musical influences: Hispanic, European, and American.

Iglesias' own career started when he was still attending Gulliver Private School, a very prestigious school in Miami. He made his singing debut in a production of Hello, Dolly, after which he began practicing his singing without his parents knowing. After a year studying business at the University of Miami, he decided to follow his passion for music. In 1995, he sang in person for his soon-to-be manager, who at Iglesias' insistence of not wanting to use his family name, first shopped his demos as an unknown Central American singer named Enrique Martinez. It wasn't until he earned a record deal with Fonovisa that Enrique told his father and mother of his aspirations. Then he flew to Toronto, where no one knew him and he could concentrate just on music, to record for five months.

That first album, Enrique Iglesias (1995), sold more than a million copies in three months (it earned him his first gold record in Portugal in a mere seven days) and to date has sold more than six million worldwide. The second album, Vivir (1997), enjoyed global sales of more than five million discs and launched his first world tour, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. In a mere three years, Iglesias had sold more than 17 million Spanish-language albums, more than anyone else during that period. (The U.S. was his biggest market.) He also won the 1996 Grammy for Best Latin Performer, 1996's Billboard Artist of the Year, Billboard's Album of the Year for Vivir, two American Music Awards, a World Music Award, eight Premio Lo Nuestro awards, two ACE Performer of the Year awards, and ASCAP prizes for Best Composer of 1996 and 1997, in addition to countless accolades around the world.

With 1998's Cosas del Amor, Iglesias moved to more mature content; his earlier material had been written when he was 17 years old. Then came Enrique, his first Interscope album and first in English. It achieved gold or platinum status in 32 countries and brought his global album sales to a total of more than 23 million. In 2001 he released the follow-up, Escape. Iglesias alternated Spanish- and English-language albums during the next two years, first offering the ballad collection Quizás in 2002, then the mainstream English record 7 in 2003. Four years later the single "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" announced the coming of his 2007 album Insomniac. ~ Ed Nimmervoll, All Music Guide

Often hailed as "the Mexican Madonna," Gloria Trevi was not only one of the most daring and cutting-edge Latin stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s; she may very well be the most controversial figure in the history of Latin pop and rock en español. In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the Mexican singer's name was repeatedly dragged through the mud because of a major sex-related scandal; Mexican law enforcement officials accused Trevi and manager/ex-husband Sergio Andrade of sexually abusing and imprisoning adolescent girls -- and in the Latin American media, the Trevi/Andrade scandal has been as huge a story as the O.J. Simpson trial was in the United States in the mid-‘90s (minus the racial element). Regrettably, the abundance of sordid, disturbing headlines surrounding Trevi and Andrade have often overshadowed the importance of her sometimes socio-political music, which could be quite challenging and provocative.

Trevi was born Gloria de los Angeles Treviño on February 15, 1970 in Monterrey, Mexico, an industrial city in the northern part of the country. The singer had a rough childhood; she was quite poor, and her parents (both of whom allegedly mistreated her) divorced when she was ten. But none of those things discouraged Trevi from becoming seriously interested in the arts. As a pre-teen, she studied ballet and learned to play the piano; eventually, she learned to play the drums as well. Trevi was not only interested in Latin music; she was seriously into American and British rock and listened to Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Deep Purple, Pat Benatar, and Janis Joplin (among others) extensively. Against her mother's wishes, Trevi left home when she was only 12 and moved from Monterrey to Mexico City to pursue a career in the arts. At first, life in Mexico City was a struggle for Trevi, who survived by doing everything from singing on the streets for money to selling tacos; she also taught aerobics for awhile. But her career started to take off when, in 1984, a 14-year-old Trevi met producer Sergio Andrade, who was about 28 at the time, and went on to become her manager and mentor as well as her husband. After briefly singing with the all-female group Boquitas Pintadas in the mid-‘80s, Trevi became a full-time solo artist and, with Andrade's help, recorded her debut solo album, Que Hago Aqui?, in 1989. Released on an independent Mexican label, that album and its lead single "Dr. Psiquiatra" (which made it to number one on the Latin charts) were a smash -- and in 1990, Trevi landed a deal with RCA/BMG's Latin division. By 1993, she had sold more than five million albums overall. The Mexican Madonna was selling out large venues all over Latin America, where she embraced mostly Spanish-language material but also performed covers of songs by Zeppelin, the Doors, and other English-speaking rockers on-stage. Between her albums, live performances, and racy pin-up calendars (which sold millions of copies), someone who had been dirt poor as a child had become one of Mexico's wealthiest, most affluent and famous women.

Even in the early ‘90s -- long before her well-publicized run-in with the law -- Trevi was extremely controversial. The thing that made her so shocking to social conservatives in Mexico and other Latin American countries was her image -- an image as defiantly and blatantly sexual as Prince or Madonna. Like Madonna -- who she has often been compared to -- and Prince, Trevi promoted sexual freedom in a very in-your-face way. Trevi wasn't the only female artist of Mexican descent who was often compared to Madonna in the ‘90s; the late Tejano star Selena (a bilingual Chicana from Texas) was also described as one of Madonna's Mexican counterparts. But Selena, for all her sex appeal, was never as controversial or over the top as Trevi, whose live performances went out of their way to shock, taunt, and offend social conservatives. Trevi's antics included wearing a bandolier of condoms across her bare chest and bringing young male fans on-stage so that she could strip them down to their underwear. But there was more to Trevi than shock value and titillation -- much, much more. Her material often had a decidedly feminist outlook, and she brought a sociopolitical perspective to topics like out-of-wedlock pregnancies, drugs, and abortion. Upsetting social conservatives was exactly what Trevi set out to do; in many respects, she was the Mexican equivalent of a Riot Grrrl. Some Latino journalists have compared her to Irish agitator Sinéad O'Connor -- a very outspoken feminist -- and Trevi was often quoted as saying that she hoped to run for president of Mexico someday. In fact, one of her pin-up calendars depicted her as a nude presidential candidate.

The singer's career was seriously interrupted in the late ‘90s, when Mexican law enforcement officials accused Trevi, manager/ex-husband Andrade, and choreographer/backup singer Maria Raquenel Portillo, aka Mary Boquitas, of corrupting minors, sexual abuse, and kidnapping. The authorities' main witness was singer Karina Yapor, who was only 12 when, in 1996, she left her native Chihuahua to live with Trevi and Andrade in Mexico City. Yapor went to them for musical training, but Mexican officials alleged that Trevi and Portillo (who recorded a solo album for Sony's Latin division in 1995) brought the aspiring singer to Mexico City in order for her to have sex with the much older Andrade. Yapor was only 13 when she became pregnant -- allegedly by Andrade -- and she has since written a book about her experiences with Trevi and Andrade, whom she accused of "horrible physical and psychological abuse." Subsequently, the case against them became even stronger when two other aspiring Mexican singers, Karola de la Cuesta and her sister, Katia de la Cuesta, came forward and made allegations of sexual abuse against Trevi and Andrade. Trevi hired the de la Cuesta sisters as backup singers when they were still adolescents; Mexican police have alleged that Trevi was actually recruiting them for Andrade's sexual pleasure. And in 1999, another teenage singer who Trevi allegedly recruited, Delia Gonzalez, told Mexican television that Andrade forced her to make a pornographic movie in San Diego, CA and that he "raped me for nine months…He would get mad and spit on me, he would strap me, he would lock me in a room." Between Yapor, Gonzalez, the de la Cuesta sisters and Andrade's ex-wife Aline Hernandez (who made many of the same allegations of sexual abuse), Mexican law enforcement felt that the case against Trevi and Andrade was incredibly damning. Once praised by social progressives for encouraging sexual liberation and female empowerment, Trevi found herself being accused of promoting sexual enslavement and female oppression. Nonetheless, Trevi still had her share of die-hard fans who refused to see her as villain; some fans have argued that she was manipulated by Andrade and was very much a victim herself. But Trevi's detractors, including Yapor and Gonzalez, have asserted that she knew exactly what she was doing and was a very willing accomplice in his alleged crimes. The Laredo Morning Times quoted Hernandez (who has often described ex-husband Andrade as a sadistic, controlling misogynist) as saying, "I think Gloria arrived as innocent as the rest of us were. If Gloria contributed to all this, it is because (Andrade) made her ill, turned her, trained her, educated her in his way."

When prosecutors accused Trevi, Andrade, and Portillo of crimes that were major felonies under Mexican law, they denied all charges and ended up fleeing to Brazil. In early 2000, they were apprehended in Rio de Janeiro, where they vowed to fight extradition back to Mexico. Trevi was being held in a Brazilian federal prison when she became pregnant; at first, she claimed to have been raped by a prison guard, but Trevi subsequently recanted that story when DNA tests proved that Andrade was the father of Angel Gabriel (the baby son she had given birth to). Exactly how Trevi became pregnant with Andrade's son behind bars is unclear; officially, she was denied conjugal visits, although there was speculation that Trevi and Andrade bribed a guard (who arranged for them to have sex). Some Brazilian prison officials have alleged that Trevi became pregnant on purpose through artificial insemination, possibly because she believed that getting pregnant would help her avoid extradition. The Brazilian government wasn't quick to hand the alleged offenders over to the Mexican authorities; in April 2000, a Brazilian federal court ruled that the evidence against them needed to be studied extensively before Brazil could agree to Mexico's extradition request. But in late 2002 -- after almost three years behind bars in Brazil -- Trevi, Andrade, and Portillo finally agreed to quit fighting extradition and returned to Mexico to stand trial. In Mexico, Trevi's return was every bit the media circus that the O.J. Simpson trial had been in the U.S., and some Mexican intellectuals argued that the country's media were paying way too much attention to her case -- often at the expense of serious political and social issues that needed to be addressed. To be sure, the return of Trevi, Andrade, and Portillo was the top story in the Mexican media, just as the Simpson case had been -- and like Simpson, they had a "dream team" of high-priced defense attorneys (at least 12). In late 2002 and 2003, Trevi awaited trail in the Aquiles Serdan prison near Chihuahua. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Ivy Queen, the undisputed "Queen of Reggaeton," was born Martha Ivelisse Pesante on March 4, 1972, in Afiasco, Puerto Rico. She moved with her parents to New York as a child, but the family relocated back to Afiasco while Martha was a teenager, and she finished her public education in Puerto Rico, becoming more and more fascinated and involved with the active underground world of Latin hip-hop. She moved to San Juan at the age of 18, where she met rapper and producer DJ Negro, who helped her earn performing spots at The Noise, a club catering to the emerging reggaeton scene. DJ Negro began producing a series of CDs centered around The Noise, and Martha -- as Ivy Queen -- made her first appearance on the fifth installment of the CD series with a track called "Somos Raperos Pero no Delincuentes." Ivy was growing increasingly tired of the violent and explicit sexual lyrics rampant on the scene, and went out on her own in 1996, releasing a debut album, En Mi Imperio, which was quickly picked up by Sony for distribution in 1997. A second album from Sony, The Original Rude Girl, appeared a year later in 1998, followed by the much anticipated Diva, which was released in 2003 on Real Music. Real appeared a year later on Universal Latino, followed by Flashback on Univision in 2005. Her 2007 album, Sentimiento, reached number four on Billboard's Top Latin Album chart. It was followed three years later by Drama Queen. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi

Born in Mexico City, siblings Jesse and Joy didn't begin seriously writing songs until 2001, when they were 18 and 15, respectively, sitting down together with their father to see what they could produce. With Jesse on guitar, piano, drums, and background vocals and Joy on vocals and guitar, the duo practiced constantly, hard work that paid off when they were signed to a major-label deal with Warner Music Mexico in April 2005. A few months later they made their live debut in front of 100,000 people in their hometown at the bequest of Sin Bandera, the band that was sponsoring the event. More performances, including one opening for James Blunt in May, followed before Jesse & Joy's debut single, "Espacio Sideral," and then their album, Esta Es Mi Vida, which had been recorded in San Diego with producer Kiko Cibrian, came out in the summer of 2006, with a U.S. release coming the next year. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi

Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1972 but raised in nearby Carolina and in Miami, FL, rapper Tego Calderón got the multicultural backbone he'd need to become a star in the genre-mixing world of reggaeton. Growing up with massive Ismael Rivera fans as parents exposed the young Calderón to envelope-pushing Latin pop music, while his father's love of jazz added yet another flavor. Studying percussion set Calderón on the path to creating his own style, one that mixed the rhythmic sounds of salsa, plena, dancehall, and hip-hop. Lyric-wise, he combined hip '60s slang with current slang and tales of barrio life. Calderón made a couple appearances on other Latin rappers' albums before the White Lion label signed him. Issued in 2002, El Abayarde became Calderón's full-length debut. An instant success, El Abayarde sold 50,000 copies during its first month, and Calderón was now an official Latin music superstar.

Returning to Miami led to an increase in the dancehall flavor of his music. This, combined with Calderón's outspoken viewpoint that salsa had become too corporate and too safe, made 2004's El Enemy de los Guasíbiri a punchier, more hectic, more street-level affair. With the reggaeton genre blowing up with New York City's hip-hop tastemakers and spreading its influence further and further, Calderón soon found himself fielding offers from hip-hop producers while landing tracks on numerous street-level mixtapes. His voice ended up on remixes of Usher's "Yeah," Fat Joe's "Lean Back," and N.O.R.E.'s "Oye Mi Canto." Looking to expand beyond reggaeton, Calderón declared his 2006 release The Underdog/El Subestimado "a musical journey through the Afro-Caribbean culture." The album kicked off his relationship with the Warner Brothers imprint Atlantic. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide