 | | At the dawn of the new millennium, Enrique Iglesias was the best-selling Latin recording artist in the world. |
 | | When the Southern-flavored party rap called crunk took over urban radio in 2004, Miami rapper Pitbull decided it was time to seek stardom. |
 | | Actress/singer Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 24, 1969; after starting out in musical theater as a child, she made her film debut at age 16 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. |
 | | Don Omar became one of reggaeton's first international superstars, thanks to his early-2000s work with Luny Tunes but even more so thanks to "Reggaeton Latino," his 2005 anthem that became one of the style's first genuine crossover hits. |
 | | A leader in the parade of Mickey Mouse Club veterans who stormed pop at the turn of the millennium, Christina Aguilera was the sexy, brassy diva of the bunch -- the Rolling Stones to Britney Spears’ Beatles, as it were. |
 | | A New York-based Dominican boy band with roots deep in bachata? If that sounds unlikely, well, Aventura have managed to cope with it. |
 | | Like Martika, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Rahsaan Patterson, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson got her first major break as a youngster on the television program Kids Incorporated. |
 | | Daddy Yankee did more than anyone to establish reggaeton as a marketable music style during the early 21st century. |
 | | Prince Royce is a bachata singer from New York with an urban style who broke into the Latin pop mainstream in 2010 with a bilingual version of "Stand by Me. |
 | | Glamorously gaudy, a self-made post-modern diva stitched together from elements of Madonna, David Bowie, and Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga was the first true millennial superstar. |
 | | The Black Eyed Peas transcended hip-hop to become one of the most commercially successful pop groups of the 2000s. |
 | | 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. |
 | | More than any other single artist, Britney Spears was the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s. |
 | | Before she discovered she could write songs, Gwen Stefani was looking forward to a life of marriage, children, and white picket fences. |
 | | A former Christian artist, Katy Perry rebranded herself as a larger-than-life pop star and rose to prominence during the summer of 2008. |
 | | Founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995, the Pussycat Dolls began as a burlesque dance revue based in Los Angeles, spawned a second revue in Las Vegas, grew into an A-list phenomena with a revolving cast of guest celebrities, and eventually became a recording act with a number one dance hit. |
 | | Ricky Martin was one of the biggest teen idols in Latin America during the '90s and a major figure in American pop music by the end of the decade. |
 | | Latin rock superstars Maná got their start in the Mexican city of Guadalajara in 1986 when singer Fher Olvero, guitarist Ulises Calleros, brother and bassist Juan Diego Calleros, and Cuban-Colombian drummer Alex González joined together, initially signing with Polygram. |
 | | Mexican trio Camila made a strong entrance onto the Spanish-speaking pop/rock scene in the summer of 2006. |
 | | Although initially viewed as another face in the late-'90s crowd of teen pop acts, Pink (professionally known as P!nk) quickly transcended and outgrew that label with her combination of pop songcraft and powerhouse, rock-influenced vocals. |
 | | Rihanna established her dance-pop credentials in summer 2005 with her debut smash hit, "Pon de Replay," and continued to demonstrate hit potential in subsequent years (e. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Romeo Santos is a bilingual bachata singer/songwriter who rose to fame in the 2000s as the lead vocalist of world-renowned boy band Aventura prior to embarking on a chart-topping solo career in 2011. |
 | | Unlike many kids who grow up dreaming of stardom, singer Paulina Rubio didn't have to wait for adulthood to get her first taste of fame. |
 | | Chino & Nacho are a Venezuelan reggaeton duo with a romantic, tropical style who made their album debut nationally in 2008 and later scored an international chart-topping smash hit with "Mi Niña Bonita" in 2010. |
 | | A brash and driven pop singer/songwriter, Ke$ha (Kesha Rose Sebert) was born in Los Angeles but moved at the age of four to Nashville, where her mother -- a longtime songwriter -- had inked a publishing deal. |
 | | A multi-talented artist, Marc Anthony (born Marco Antonio Muñiz) has balanced an acting career with a musical career. |
 | | When Nelly Furtado appeared with her neo-hippie, multiculti debut, Whoa, Nelly!, in 2001, a dance-diva makeover seemed like an impossibility, but the singer/songwriter revived and sustained her career with the sexually charged Loose in 2006, in the process consolidating her position as one of the most unpredictable artists of her decade. |
 | | One of the pioneers of reggaeton, Tito "El Bambino" was half of the trailblazing duo Hector & Tito before he embarked on a solo career of his own, signing with EMI Televisa and debuting in 2006 with Top of the Line. |
 | | |
 | | An electro-rap duo from Los Angeles, CA, LMFAO made their major-label debut in 2008. Comprised of producers, DJs, and clothing designers Redfoo and SkyBlu (the son and grandson, respectively, of Motown impresario Berry Gordy), LMFAO worked the club circuit for years before making their major-label debut in 2008 with the single "I'm in Miami Bitch," a song inspired by their first experience at the Winter Music Conference. |
 | | Justin Timberlake may be the quintessential pop star of the new millennium, a star who jumped from platform to platform on his way to establishing himself as something bigger than a star: he was a self-sustained empire. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Ivy Queen, the undisputed "Queen of Reggaeton," was born Martha Ivelisse Pesante on March 4, 1972, in Afiasco, Puerto Rico. |
 | | By 2004, roughly a decade after she made her recording debut at the age of 18, Laura Pausini had sold over 25 million albums worldwide, quite an impressive feat for someone who'd never really broken into the lucrative English-language market. |
 | | Formed in 2001 in Madrid, Spain, La Quinta Estación first established themselves in Latin America -- particularly Mexico, where their second album, 2004's Flores de Alquiler, spun off numerous hits and set the rock en español outfit on a quick course to international stardom. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Beginning in the late '80s, Chayanne, one of Latin pop's premier heartthrobs, sustained a bountiful hitmaking career as a balladeer and even found time to pursue an acting career on the side. |
 | | Latin pop trio Reik formed in Mexicali, Baja California, in 2003. After recording a demo that yielded the Mexican underground club favorites "Levemente" and "Ahora sin Ti," singer Jesús Alberto Navarro Rosas and guitarist Julio Ramírez Eguía invited backing vocalist/guitarist Gilberto "Bibi" Marin Espinoza to join the lineup in early 2004. |
 | | Blessed with a melodic touch that made them a sensation right out of the gate, Sin Bandera enjoyed enormous acclaim and commercial success with their self-titled debut in 2002 and continued to record superlative romantic Latin pop in the years that followed. |
 | | The winner of Fox TV's first American Idol competition during the summer of 2002, Kelly Clarkson went from an anonymous talent to a nationally known singer in a matter of months, performing for an audience of millions. |
 | | Though both Raul "Alexis" Ortiz and Joel "Fido" Martinez were active in the Puerto Rican reggaeton scene since they were teenagers, they didn't join forces until 2001 on the compilation Desafio. |
 | | Initially molded as a traditional Latin balladeer, one who sings romantic songs with much dramatic flair over sweeping string arrangements, Luis Fonsi enjoyed much success as such, though he began to break steadily from that mold, beginning with Paso a Paso in 2005, and enjoyed even greater success and more critical acclaim as a result. |
 | | Avril Lavigne first appeared in summer 2002, touting an addictive debut single (the spunky pop/rock gem "Complicated") and a skatepunk image that purposely clashed with the polished glamour of mainstream pop. |
 | | Singer/actress Alejandra Guzman was born into a performing family, the daughter of Mexican actress Silvia Pinal and Mexican rock star Enrique Guzman. |
 | | Jordin Sparks may have been the youngest American Idol when she won the title on the reality show's sixth season, but the Glendale, AZ, resident had already packed plenty of accomplishments into 17 years. |
 | | Jose Nieves (RKM) and Kenny Vasquez (Ken-Y) joined forces in 2004 to form the reggaeton duo RKM & Ken-Y. |
 | | After working a string of behind-the-scenes jobs -- including writing songs for Brandy, singing backup for the Sugababes, and impersonating Elvis -- songwriter/producer Bruno Mars put his name on top of the charts in 2009 by co-writing Flo Rida's hit song "Right Round. |
 | | Luny Tunes were reggaeton's first major hitmaking production team, cranking out an assembly line of hit singles, club anthems, and CD mixtapes, all the while collaborating with many of the style's top vocalists. |
 | | Before releasing her debut album in 2009, Selena Gomez began her career as a child actress. Born in 1992, she grew up in Texas and got her first break as a cast member on the kids TV show Barney and Friends. |
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