Ricky Martin is a singer from Puerto Rico. The artist ruled the world of Latin and American pop music in the 1990s. After joining the Latin pop group Menudo as a young man, he gave up his career as a solo artist.
He released a couple of albums in Spanish before he was selected for the song "La Copa de la Vida" (The Cup of Life) as the official track of the 1998 FIFA World Cup and later performed it at the 41st Grammy Awards.
However, it was his super hit "Livin' la Vida Loca" that brought him worldwide recognition and made him an international superstar.
As a forerunner of Latin pop, he successfully brought the genre onto the global map and gave way to other popular Latin artists such as Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez in the English speaking market. In addition to Spanish, he also recorded English-language albums, which further enhanced his fame.
Namely - "Medio Vivir", "Sound Loaded", "Vuelve", "Me Amaras", "La Historia" and "Musica + Alma + Sexo". To date, he has been credited with selling over 70 million albums worldwide, in addition to worldwide concerts and numerous music awards.
Early life and Ricky Martin's Menudo
Enrique José Martin Morales IV was born on December 24, 1971 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Martin began appearing in commercials on local television around the age of six. He auditioned three times for the youth singing group Menudo before finally landing in 1984.
During his five years with Menudo, Martin toured all over the world, performing songs in several languages. In 1989, he reached the age of 18 and returned to Puerto Rico long enough to finish high school before moving to New York to pursue a solo acting and singing career.
The first songs and albums of the singer Ricky Martin
While Martin actively pursued his acting career, he also recorded and released albums and performed live. He became famous in his native Puerto Rico and among the Hispanic community at large.
A debut solo album, Ricky Martin, was released in 1988 by Sony Latin, followed by a second effort, Me Amaras, in 1989. His third album, A Medio Vivir, was released in 1997, the same year that he voiced the Spanish-language version of the Disney animated character "Hercules".
His next project, Vuelve, released in 1998, included the hit "La Copa de la Vida" ("The Cup of Life"), which Martin performed at the 1998 FIFA World Cup football tournament in France as part of a demonstration broadcast. There were up to 2 billion people from all over the world.
At the Grammy Awards in February 1999, Martin, already a pop sensation in the world, performed an amazing performance on the hit "La Copa de la Vida" at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. Just before receiving the award for Best Latin Pop Performance for Vuelve.
Ricky Martin - 'Livin' La Vida Loca' turned out to be a big success
It all started with that star-studded Grammy party where the singer showed off his phenomenal success with his first English single, "Livin' La Vida Loca". His album Ricky Martin debuted at number 1 on the Billboard chart. Martin also featured on the cover of Time magazine and was assisted in bringing a growing Latin cultural influence to mainstream American pop music.
In addition to the popular success of his debut English album and single, Martin was nominated in four categories at the Grammy Awards held in February 2000.
Although it lost in all four categories - veteran male pop artist Sting (Best Pop Album, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance) and Santana, the band led by resurgent guitarist Carlos Santana ("Song of the Year", "Record of the Year") - Martin gave another hot live performance a year after his triumphant Grammy debut.
'She Bangs'
In November 2000, Martin released Sound Loaded, Ricky Martin's highly anticipated follow-up album. His hit "She Bangs" earned Martin another Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
After Sound Loaded, Martin continued to write music in Spanish and English. His greatest hits in Spanish were collected on La Historia (2001).
This was followed two years later by Almas del Silencio, which contained new material in Spanish. The album Life (2005) was his first English-language album since 2000.
The album is quite good, reaching the top 10 of the Billboard album charts. Martin, however, has not been very successful in regaining the same level of popularity that he achieved with his previous albums.
Ricky Martin acting career
When Martin traveled to Mexico to appear in a stage musical, the gig led to a role as a singer in the 1992 Spanish-language telenovela, Alcanzar una Estrella, or Reach for the Star. The show proved so popular that he reprized the role in the film version of the series.
In 1993, Martin moved to Los Angeles, where he made his American television debut on the NBC comedy series Getting By. In 1995, he starred in the ABC daytime soap opera, General, and in 1996 starred in the Broadway production of Les Miserables.
Recent projects
Martin published his autobiography "I'm" in 2010, which quickly became a bestseller. Around this time, he also teamed up with Joss Stone for the duet "The Best Thing About Me Is You", which turned out to be a minor hit. Martin soon released a new album of songs, mostly in Spanish, Música + Alma + Sexo (2011), which climbed almost to the top of the pop charts and became his last No. 1 entry in the Latin charts.
In 2012, Martin made a guest appearance on the musical series Glee. In April, he also returned to Broadway for a revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical Evita. He played the role of Che, who helps tell the story of Eva Peron, one of Argentina's most legendary figures and the wife of leader Juan Peron.
Martin starred in FX's 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' which premiered in January 2018. Martin played Versace's longtime associate Antonio D'Amico, who was there the day Versace was killed.
Personal life
Martin is the father of two twin boys, Matteo and Valentino, born in 2008 by a surrogate mother. He once shied away from his personal life, but revealed all the cards in 2010 on his website. He wrote: “I can proudly say that I am a happy homosexual. I'm very lucky to be who I am." Martin explained that his decision to go public with his sexuality was partly inspired by his sons.
During an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres talk show in November 2016, Martin announced his engagement to Jwan Yosef, an artist who was born in Syria and raised in Sweden. In January 2018, Martin confirmed that they had quietly married, with a big reception expected in the following months.
He is considered an activist for many reasons. The singer founded the Ricky Martin Foundation in 2000 as a child advocacy organization. The group runs the People for Children project, which fights against child exploitation. In 2006, Martin spoke in support of United Nations efforts to improve the rights of children around the world before the U.S. Committee on Foreign Relations.
Martin, through his foundation, also supports the efforts of other charities. He has received numerous awards for his philanthropic work, including the 2005 International Humanitarian Award from the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
