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The biggest Latino crossover music stars of all time
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The biggest Latino crossover music stars of all time

Very few people are capable of reaching the top of the Latin music charts. Even fewer are able to take that success and build on it, using it to propel themselves into mainstream acceptance. These 12 artists were able to do the improbable!

 
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Prince Royce

Prince Royce
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A household name for fans of bachata and tropical, Prince Royce crossed over in 2014 with the release of "Double Vision," his fourth studio album and the first that wast mostly in English. The first single off of that record, "Stuck On A Feeling," featured rap legend Snoop Dogg and made it into the Billboard Top 100. 

 
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Romeo Santos

Romeo Santos
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Despite not having an English-language record out yet, the bachata don has most definitely crossed over into the mainstream. For proof, look no further than "Promises," his 2011 collaboration with Usher. 

 
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Pitbull

Pitbull
John Parra/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

Before he broke through in a very big way, and before he became Mr. Worldwide, Pitbull was growing his Latino audience base. He even had a show on Latino-oriented network mun2. 

 
Christina Aguilera
Steve Jennings/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

Christina Aguilera is the only artist on this list that successfully crossed over to Latin music. Her 1999 self-titled debut album sold millions of copies worldwide thanks to "Genie In a Bottle" and "What A Girl Wants." She followed it up in 2000 with "Mi Reflejo," which contained Spanish versions of her hit songs along with original music. 

 
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Nelly Furtado

Nelly Furtado
GV Cruz/WireImage/Getty Images

Another musician who did the reverse crossover. Nelly Furtado first broke through in 2000 with her surprise juggernaut "Whoa, Nelly!." In 2009, she released "Mi Plan," which won her a Latin Grammy. Since then, Furtado has collaborated with some of the biggest names in Latin music, including Juanes and Calle 13. 

 
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Gloria Estefan

Gloria Estefan
L. Cohen/WireImage/Getty Images

You can't talk about Latin crossovers without mentioning the Queen of them. Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine had been making records since 1977, but it wasn't until 1985's "Primitive Love" that they broke through. Hits like "Conga" and "Bad Boy" helped propel Gloria Estefan into mainstream stardom. 

 
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Selena

Selena
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images

It's not an exaggeration to say that the 90s wave of Latin crossovers wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the massive void left by the untimely death of Selena Quintanilla in March 1995.  Before she was killed by the president of her fan club, the Queen of Tejano was well on her way to be the next big diva. "Dreaming Of You" — which would have been her first English record, had she completed it — topped the Billboard 200 when it was released posthumously in August 1995, and would go on to sell five million records worldwide. 

 
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Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment New York

J. Lo is a crossover star insofar that her big break came after she got the leading role in "Selena," the 1997 biopic about the slain Tejano queen. Two years later, Lopez would release her debut album, "On The 6," which helped her become one of the most important pop artists of the last two decades. 

 
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Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony
Noam Galai/Getty Images

English-speaking audiences became familiar with Marc Anthony, who holds the Guinness world record for "Most year-end best-selling albums in the tropical albums' chart by a solo artist," when he released "I Need To Know" in 1999. The song was the first single from his self-titled album and would go on to earn Anthony a Grammy nomination for "Best Male Pop Performance." 

 
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Enrique Iglesias

Enrique Iglesias
Samir Hussein/Getty Images for MTV

Much like his own father, international icon Julio Iglesias, Enrique Iglesias began his global dominion by topping the Latin charts. In 1999, Will Smith invited the Spanish artist to contribute a track to the soundtrack for his upcoming film, "Wild Wild West." The song in question was "Bailamos," which would go on to top the Billboard Hot 100. 

 
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Shakira

Shakira
Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Long before massive hits like "Whenever, Wherever," and "Hips Don't Lie," the Colombian songstress was already a star in her own right thanks in large part to 1996's "Piez Descalzos" and 1998's "Donde Estan Los Ladrones." The success of these two Spanish language albums made the Colombian singer-songwriter Latin music's answer to Alanis Morissette

 
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Ricky Martin

Ricky Martin
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Ricky Martin was meant to be a star. The Puerto Rican singer began his career as a member of boy band Menudo in the mid 1980s. In the early 90s, Martin went solo and dominated the Latin charts. In 1999, he unleashed "Living La Vida Loca" on the world and became so famous even your grandmother knew who he was. 

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