The Long Nights of Enrique Iglesias

He's the best-selling Spanish music artist in the world, with 40 million albums. And that number is about to go up. Enrique Iglesias's new record, "Insomniac," features a catchy mix of ballads, rock and pop—the song to download is the single  "Do You Know (the Ping Pong Song)." Iglesias is on tour now, but he's stopping in Germany this Saturday to take part in Live Earth, Al Gore's series of concerts aimed at bringing attention to global warming, with acts that include Madonna, Duran Duran, Paul McCartney, The Police and Kelly Clarkson. Iglesias spoke to NEWSWEEK's Ramin Setoodeh.

NEWSWEEK: Why is your name album called "Insomniac"?
Enrique Iglesias: I've always had insomnia, since I was a kid. I'm a nervous person, so it takes me a long time to go to sleep. It sucks. I think it's genetic. My mom has it. I remember growing up with my dad, he'd never go to sleep until 5 o'clock in the morning.

Do you sleep in a lot?
The ironic thing about me is that I love daylight. I love waking up and going to the beach if I have the day off. I hate it when it's raining, it depresses me. But I can't fall asleep with any noise or light.

What do you do when you can't sleep—do you write songs?
I write songs. Or I pop a few sleeping pills.

Aren't they bad for you?
Oh, man. I take them every day. Obviously, it's better to sleep without a sleeping pill, but when you're touring, what the hell do you do?

You're not afraid of getting addicted?
They say Ambien, for example, is not a narcotic, it's not addictive. If you think it's addictive, it's in your mind. I feel like I've overused the drug so much, I'm immune to it. The worst is when you take a sleeping pill, you double up on it, and you still can't sleep. I pull all-nighters all the time. Like last week I was doing "Regis and Kelly." I got to New York City at 11 o'clock. By the time I went to bed, it was 12:30. I look at the clock: 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30. I'm supposed to be up at 5:30. You think, I'm going to pull an all-nighter. The next day, I have to work 14 hours straight. I'm telling you man, it's the worst. You get so tired you can't even fall asleep from how tired you are.