Luis Enrique Mejía López (born September 28, 1962) is a Nicaraguan-American singer-songwriter and musician. He is known as "El Príncipe de la Salsa" (''The Prince of Salsa''). A

grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-award-winning artist, he has released over 20 albums and achieved widespread success, including his single " Yo No Sé Mañana" which was awarded a

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

for "Best Tropical Song". With nearly 30 years in the music industry, he has accomplished several gold and platinum albums. During his peak he also performed as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and provided percussion for many other artists including

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

, Foreigner,

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born 7 June 1957) is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 28 Latin Grammy Awards, three Grammy Awards, ...

Chayanne Elmer Figueroa Arce, better known under the stage name Chayanne, (born June 28, 1968) is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 albums and sold over 15 million records worldwide, making him one of ...

and others. He also worked in other genres such as merengue and pop.

Early life and education

Luis Enrique was born in the small town of Somoto,

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, to a family of musical artists. He is the son of Francisco Luis Mejia Godoy, and nephew of Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy and Carlos Mejia Godoy. His brother, Ramon Mejia, better known as "Perrozompopo" is also a Latin Grammy nominated artist for Best Alternative Music Album. At the age of 15 he moved to the United States in 1978 with his mother, and attended La Serna High School in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and is part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier ...

. His enrollment in a music class in high school was his only formal training.

Career

Luis Enrique began his career in the late 1980s and achieved success then and in the 1990s. He was one of the leading pioneers that led to the salsa romántica movement in the 1980s. Enrique has received two Grammy Award-nomination for " Best Tropical Latin Performance" for album ''Luces del Alma'' and his song "Amiga". He performed and recorded with salsa romántica group Sensation 85, which also included La Palabra and Nestor Torres. On May 19, 2009, his album ''Ciclos'' was nominated for numerous

s, his biggest breakthrough in over a decade. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album and also contained the hit single " Yo No Sé Mañana". He hosted the first season of ''

Objetivo Fama ''Objetivo Fama'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''OF'', Spanish for ''Target: Fame'') is a Puerto Rican singing talent contest that aired for over six years on WLII-DT, WLII, the Univision outlet in Puerto Rico; and on UniMás, Telefutura in the main ...

'' in 2004, a Puerto Rican singing competition show. He won two Latin Grammys and the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album in 2010. In 2015 he was a judge on La Voz Peru for its third season.

Personal life

He mentioned in an interview with ''Billboard'' that his top five favorite salsa singers are

Ruben Blades Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

Johnny Pacheco Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New ...

, Louie Ramirez, and Oscar D'Leon. He currently resides in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He has one son, Luca Enrique Mejia. He released an autobiography in 2017 titled "Autobiografía".

Awards and nominations

" Yo No Sé Mañana" received a

for "Best Tropical Song" and a nomination for Song of the Year. The song was nominated at the 2010

Lo Nuestro Awards The Lo Nuestro Awards or Premios Lo Nuestro (Spanish language, Spanish for "Ours") is a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music (genre), Latin music, presented by TelevisaUnivision, and is carried by its Univision network in ...

for Tropical Song of the Year. The song was awarded a Billboard Latin Music award for "Tropical Airplay – Song of the Year". The

are awarded annually by American network

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

. Luis Enrique received one award in 1989. , - , rowspan="4" scope="row", 1989 , scope="row", Himself , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa New Artist of the Year , , - , scope="row", Himself , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa Male Artist of the Year , , - , scope="row", '' Amor y Alegría'' , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa Album of the Year , , - , scope="row", "Tu No Le Amas, Le Temes" , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa Song of the Year , , - , rowspan="3" scope="row", 1990 , scope="row", Himself , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa Male Artist of the Year , , - , scope="row", '' Mi Mundo'' , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa Album of the Year , , - , scope="row", "Lo Que Pasó Entre Tu y Yo... Pasó" , scope="row", Tropical/Salsa Song of the Year , , -

Discography

Studio albums *''Amor de Media Noche'' (1987) *'' Amor y Alegría'' (1988) *'' Mi Mundo'' (1989) *'' Luces del Alma'' (1990) *'' Una Historia Diferente'' (1991) *'' Dilema'' (1993) *''

Luis Enrique Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playin ...

'' (1994) *''Genesis'' (1996) *''Timbalaye'' (1999) *''Evolución'' (2000) *''Transparente'' (2002) *''Dentro Y Fuera'' (2007) *'' Ciclos'' (2009) *''Soy y Seré'' (2011) *''Jukebox: Primera Edición'' (2014) *''Tiempo Al Tiempo'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enrique, Luis 1962 births Living people People from Madriz Department Nicaraguan musicians Nicaraguan male musicians Nicaraguan composers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers Grammy Award winners Latin Grammy Award winners Latin music songwriters Salsa musicians Sony Discos artists Top Stop Music artists