Luis Fonsi

In 1998, Fonsi recorded his debut album, Comenzaré (I Will Begin). The record peaked at number 11 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart and contained the singles "Si Tú Quisieras," "Perdóname," "Dime Como," and "Me Iré".[9] Comenzaré became a hit in Puerto Rico and across Latin America, with Fonsi doing well in markets like Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Venezuela. His 2000 follow-up, Eterno, was even more successful. Around this time, Fonsi also recorded a duet with Christina Aguilera for her 2000 Spanish-language album, Mi Reflejo. On May 1, 2000, Fonsi performed at the Great Jubilee Concert for a Debt-Free World, an outdoor concert in Rome, attended by Pope John Paul II. That same year, Ednita Nazario won a Latin Grammy Award for a song composed by Fonsi. He also performed, with other artists, at the White House in honor of the victims of the September 11 attacks.

In 2002, Fonsi was the opening act for Britney Spears' Dream Within a Dream Tour in the US and Mexico. In the same year he debuted his English album "Fight The Feeling" trying to do a crossover with the first single "Secret" featuring Joey Fatone in the video. In 2003, Luis Fonsi performed to billions of viewers across the globe at Miss World 2003 in China.

His fifth CD, Abrazar la vida, sold very well, which opened new markets in Europe. "¿Quién Te Dijo Eso?" reached number one on the Billboard Latin charts. During his time in the studio for the next album, Fonsi recorded "Amazing", a duet with Spice Girl Emma Bunton for her 2004 album Free Me. His sixth CD, Paso a Paso, debuted at number one and sent him into international markets. "Nada Es Para Siempre" also reached number one on the music charts, and was a nominee for the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2006, he contributed to El Piruli, a tribute album honoring Víctor Yturbe, singing a classic bolero, "Historia de un Amor."

In 2007, Luis Fonsi was selected to be part of the jury of the new version of the Latino boy band Menudo.[10] The band would be a fusion of urban, pop and rock music in English and Spanish to produce several albums with the label of Sony BMG Epic Records. Several auditions were held in different cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, New York, among others. Fonsi was a part of the Dallas competition where along the side of radio announcer Daniel Luna they chose various contestants and in their pickings, rising star JC Gonzalez was 1 of the 25 selected.

His seventh CD, Palabras del Silencio, debuted and stayed in the number one position for many weeks. Luis Fonsi entered the US Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in September 2008 with his song "No Me Doy por Vencido", debuting at number 98 and peaking at number 92. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart, one of his biggest hits to date. "No Me Doy por Vencido" became Billboard's "Latin Pop Song of the Decade," and spent 21 weeks at number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart.

In November 2009, Luis Fonsi was awarded a Latin Grammy Award for "Song of the Year" for his composition "Aquí Estoy Yo".[11]

On December 11, 2009, Fonsi performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, honoring recipient President Barack Obama.[12]

In 2011, Fonsi released the album Tierra Firme, and went on tour to promote it throughout Latin America.[13]

On July 9, 2011, Billboard named Fonsi "Leader of Latin Music's New Generation".[14]

In 2014, Fonsi released his album 8, a reference to his eighth career album. He then did a tour named "Somos Uno" in 2014–15. He also mentioned that acting would be on his career path and that he wouldn't mind acting with Mexican actors and actresses.

In January 2017, "Despacito" featuring Daddy Yankee was promoted and released. On April 5, 2018, the music video reached five billion views on YouTube, with the song becoming number one in nearly every Latin Billboard chart, and the most viewed video in the world. In April 2017, the song was given an English remix featuring Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The remix featuring Bieber reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending May 27, 2017, becoming both Fonsi and Yankee's first number one on the chart, and Bieber's fifth. Bieber promoted the remix at one of his shows in Puerto Rico, inviting Fonsi onto stage to perform the duet with him. The song remained number one for 16 consecutive weeks, tying One Sweet Day, by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men as the longest reigning top song in the chart's history.

On August 15 2017, Fonsi was named the tourism ambassador of Puerto Rico[15]

In November 2017, he released the song "Échame la Culpa", featuring Demi Lovato, which debuted at number three on the Hot Latin chart.[16] The song won Song of the Year at the Latin American Music Awards of 2018 and received one nomination for Best Latin at the MTV Video Music Awards.[17][18] As of 2018 the song sold more than 1 million copies worldwide.

In June 2018, Fonsi released the single "Calypso", with Stefflon Don.[19] The song peaked at number 11 on the Hot Latin chart. On November 2, 2018, he collaborated on the track "Baby" by Clean Bandit from their second studio album.[20] The song peaked at number 13 of Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs and at number 15 of UK Singles Chart.

In October 2018, he collaborated with Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti for the song "Per le strade una canzone", from the album Vita ce n'è.[21]

On January 13, 2019, the singer joined with Wisin, Alejandra Guzmán and Carlos Vives as coaches of the first Spanish season of La Voz by Telemundo.[22]

After five years since "8", on February 1, 2019 his 10th studio album "Vida" was released. The track list contains "Despacito (Remix) ", "Échame la Culpa" and "Sola".[23] The album topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums and Spanish album chart, and entered at number 18 of the Billboard 200.[24][25]

In 2019, Fonsi performed "Right Where I'm Supposed to Be" as the Official Song of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne Hussain Al Jassmi, Assala Nasri and Tamer Hosny.[26]

On July 26, 2019, Luis Fonsi performed at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.[27] He sang his songs including his worldwide hit "Despacito" at the ceremony.[28]

The Swiss Music Awards are presented the Press Play Association in conjunction with Media Control Switzerland to national and international musicians in over ten categories.[51]