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Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), better known by his stage name Ricky Martin, is a Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican pop singer who rose to fame, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991. He has sold almost 70 million albums around the world, charting 21 top-ten hits on the U.S. Latin Charts, eight of which reached number one, and a total of over 30 hit singles. 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. A lead singer of Menudo, Martin was blessed with good looks and a nice voice, which helped him become a Latin music star. He also became an actor, earning praise from the Mexican motion picture industry and starring on the American soap opera General Hospital, where he played Miguel Morez, a bartender who sings on the weekends. Martin was born on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the only child of his mother, Nerieda Morales, who was an accountant; his father Enrique Martin Negroni, was a psychologist. His parents divorced when he was two, and both later remarried, giving Martin three more step-siblings from his father's second marriage. Though no one in his family was connected to show business, Martin was drawn to the spotlight as a child. As a child, he sang in the choir and performed in school plays. When he was six, he began acting in television commercials. Shortly afterward, he took professional singing and acting lessons, which paved the way for his auditions for Menudo. In 1984, when he was 12 years old, he became a member of Menudo. For the next five years, he was the lead singer of the group, helping it to become an international sensation. Once he outgrew Menudo in 1989, he went back home to Puerto Rico, where he completed high school. After graduation, he moved to New York, where he simply relaxed for several months. At the age of 12, Martin auditioned to become a member of the band Menudo, a manufactured Latin pop group composed of young Hispanic adolescent musicians who were rotated out of the group as they advanced into their teen years. When Martin was 17, however, he left the group and returned to Puerto Rico to complete high school. After completing high school, Martin left San Juan and moved to New York. Later, Martin moved to Mexico City where he started acting, first in theater productions, and then in a soap opera ("telenovela") titled Alcanzar una estrella II (Reach for a Star). A film based on the series was produced in which Martin played "Pablo," earning a Heraldo Award in 1993. While acting in Mexico, Martin was signed to Sony Discos, the company's Latin imprint, in 1990. He released his first solo album, the Spanish-language Ricky Martin, in 1991, which included the single "Fuego Contra Fuego." The hit release earned gold records in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico, and the United States, and he performed a string of sold-out concert dates across South America. Following a few months of inactivity, he began to work his way back into the entertainment industry. He returned to Mexico, where he acted on-stage for a year before returning to the music industry. In 1991, he released his self-titled debut album, which he co-wrote with his fellow Menudo alumnus Robi Rosa, who would become a regular collaborator over the course of Martin's career (often credited as Ian Blake). The album became a sizable hit on the Latin charts. Two years later, he followed it with the Juan Carlos Calderon-produced Me Amarבs, which was an even bigger hit, launching him to superstar status in Latin America. In January 1994, he joined the cast of the soap opera General Hospital, playing Miguel Morez. His recurring role was so successful that it landed him a role on Broadway, where he played Marius in Les Miserables. He left General Hospital to perform in the production and stayed with the play for about a year. In 1993, Ricky Martin released his second solo album, Me Amaras, which sold more than a million copies worldwide. In 1994, Martin moved to Los Angeles, California. He received a role as bartender (Miguel Morez) in the American soap opera General Hospital. In 1995, Ricky Martin refocused on his music career through his third album, A Medio Vivir. With this album, Martin made a shift from formulaic hit ballads to a more risky fusion of music centered around traditional Latin sounds. With the smash hit "Maria," which epitomizes this new sound, Martin began his expansion from Latin American and Spanish-speaking audiences to the European and Asian markets. In 1995, he released his third album, A Medio Vivir, a record that had a harder rock edge yet also featured such Latin styles as flamenco and cumbia. In early 1998, he released his fourth album, Vuelve. His first English-language pop album -- which like his first long-player also happened to be titled Ricky Martin -- was released in the spring of 1999; it made him an international superstar thanks to blockbuster singles including "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "She's All I Ever Had." A year later, Martin sizzled again with the release of Sound Loaded. His biggest Spanish-language hits were collected on 2001's La Historia, while 2003's Almas del Silencio was an album of new Spanish material. Life, from 2005, was a return to English-language pop. Martin then released MTV Unplugged in 2006 in both CD and DVD formats. After the conclusion of a worldwide tour, Martin returned to New York to appear in a Broadway production for the first time. He played the romantic lead, Marius Pontmercy, in Les Miserables. While on Broadway, Martin returned to the studio and recorded his fourth album, Vuelve, which was certified platinum by the RIAA and went on to sell eight million copies worldwide. He was chosen to sing the anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the famous hit "The Cup of Life"/"La Copa de la Vida", that reached number one on the charts in 60 countries. After several years as a major star in Spanish-speaking countries, Martin prepared his first English album in 1999. The self-titled album contained material by producers such as Desmond Child, Diane Warren, William Orbit and his longtime childhood friend (producer/singer) Robi Draco Rosa. The album also featured special guests Madonna (on the Spanish-English duet "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi Corazón)") and Sertab Erener (on the single of his album called "Private Emotion"). The first and most prominent single was "Livin' La Vida Loca," which reached number one in many countries around the world, including the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Turkey, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. This album became one of the top-selling albums of 1999, and was certified 7 times platinum, selling over 17 million copies worldwide. After the success of Ricky Martin, a new English-language album, Sound Loaded, was released in November 2000. Though the album did debut in the top ten (number four), it failed to reach number one. Three singles were released from Sound Loaded: the first was "She Bangs," which was followed by a duet with Christina Aguilera called "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely". Unlike the first two singles released from Ricky Martin, neither of the first two singles from this album reached the U.S. Top Ten on Billboard's Hot 100; they reached twelve and thirteen respectively. The third single, "Loaded" reached ninety-seven on Billboard's Hot 100. Sound Loaded eventually sold two million copies in the USA. In 2001, Martin released a Spanish Greatest Hits album entitled La Historia, which went to number one in the Latin Charts and stayed there for five weeks. The album contained reworkings of two of his early songs Fuego contra fuego and El amor de mi vida. In the same year, he released his English greatest hits album, The Best of Ricky Martin, which went on to sell over one million copies. The album contained no new material save for two remixes of the track Amor. Both remixes were released to radio in some European countries and a cd single was also released. In 2003, Martin released a new Spanish album "Almas del Silencio" ("Souls of Silence"). The first single, "Tal Vez", went to number one on the Latin Charts and stayed there for twelve weeks. He said of the new album: "I really needed to go back to focus, to my center, to the beginning. I had the need to search within, and really dig deep, and find those emotions that, because of the adrenaline and the euphoria that I lived for a couple of years, were probably sabotaged." Almas del Silencio debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200, reached number one on the Latin Albums charts and stayed there for six weeks. The next singles, "Jaleo" and "Y Todo Queda en Nada", reached number one on the Latin Charts, and the album sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. On October 11, 2005 Martin released his first English language album since 2000's Sound Loaded and the tenth album of his career. Most of the songs on the album, called Life, were co-written by Martin. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production." The album debuted at number six on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The first single from the album was "I Don't Care"/"Qué Más Da", featuring guest appearances by Fat Joe and Amerie. Another single was released "Drop It on Me", which did not chart. Soon after, Martin announced his Latin American tour called Una Noche con Ricky Martin/One Night Only, promoting his latest album Life. Starting in Latin America, the tour premiered on November 15 in Mexico City. After finishing the first leg of the tour (which included Latin America and the U.S.), he released his next single, "It's Alright" (Spanish version: "Déjate Llevar"). A different version appeared in France, which included additional vocals by French R&B singer M. Pokora. The song went to number 4 in France. Martin performed at the 2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Turin. A few days later, he announced the second leg of his world tour (which included Europe and Africa) called One Night Only/Una Noche Con Ricky Martin World Tour. The second leg started on April 21 in Manchester, U.K., and ended on June 3 in Tel Aviv, Israel, including shows that sold-out in two hours (Italy and Finland). In addition, he performed at the World Cup Fan Party in Berlin (Brandenburger Tor) on June 7, 2006, and at Lebanon's Beiteddine Festival on May 27 at the BIEL seafront hall in Beirut and on May 28 in Egypt , his first concerts in the Arab world following a promise to Queen Noor on his 2005 visit to the Arab Conference in Jordan. During this visit, he recorded an Arabic/Spanglish version of "Drop It on Me", "Enta Omri" with Arabic pop star Cheb Mami. He and Enta were a touring duo. Their anticipated 8 month tour ended early due to a lack of advertising. MTV aired "MTV Diary: Ricky Martin" in November 2006, showcasing scenes from the "One Night Only" tour, on the road and onstage. MTV Latin America and MTV Tr3s co-produced the "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" show to be taped in Miami on August 17th, 2006 and premiered on MTV Latin America, MTV Tr3s and MTV Puerto Rico in October 2006. "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" was released by Sony BMG on November 7, 2006 in both separate CD and DVD formats, and in May 2007, was re-released together in a CD/DVD combo-package. Available exclusively at Wal-Mart with the original CD purchase is a separate Ricky Martin DVD titled "Making of Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged", which includes a 40 minute behind the scenes documentary and the music video to "Tu Recuerdo". (It should be noted the music video for "Tu Recuerdo" is just an extracted live performance of the song from MTV Unplugged.) The first single of the album, "Tu Recuerdo", featuring La Mari from Chambao, reached number one on the U.S. Latin Charts. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Latin Charts and number thirty-eight on Billboard 200. This album includes Puerto Rican influences, particularly "Tu Recuerdo" (based mainly on a Puerto Rican "aguinaldo jíbaro", and finishing with an "aguinaldo orocoveño") and "Pégate", a Puerto Rican plena. Christian Nieves plays the Puerto Rican cuatro on both tracks. Martin has been nominated one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine and its sister magazine People en Español in 2000 and 2006 respectively. For many years, Martin has been very secretive about his private life, refusing to reveal his sexual orientation. Probably his best known relationship was with Mexican personality Rebecca de Alba. Martin, the Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, established the Ricky Martin Foundation in Puerto Rico to advocate for the welfare of children around the world. In September 2002, Martin received a Hispanic Heritage Award for his humanitarian work through the Sabera Foundation in rescuing three orphan girls from the streets of Calcutta. Ricky Martin has also collaborated with the International Organization for Migration on the "Llama y Vive" (Call and Live), a campaign which is aimed to facilitate prevention of human trafficking, protection of the youngest victims of child trafficking, and prosecution of the traffickers. For his work against human trafficking, the U.S. State Department named Martin one of its "Heroes in Ending Modern-Day Slavery" in 2005. Martin was a headliner in the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush, he even invited the newly elected president to join him on stage to dance. This image was captured by photographers and broadcast in various media throughout the world. Martin would even go so far as to reference it in a later song Asignatura Pendiente. Martin changed his position on the President. In a concert in Puerto Rico during the song Asignitura Pendiente Martin thrust his middle finger disapprovingly in the air while singing the line "photo with Bush". The gesture met with audience approval but caused a minor controversy with the media. Martin said in an e-mail statement sent to the Associated Press via a spokesman: "My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it". Scoop of The Week - Sept. 17, 1999. "He's No Mailman Ricky Martin may be living La Vida Loca, but he violated a federal law! He failed to register with the U.S. Selective Service System. The 27-year-old Latin hunk can never correct his mistake either. Born in Puerto Rico, Ricky is a U.S. citizen. But he failed to sign up with the Selective Service by the age of 18. A reminder was sent to Enrique Martin Morales (his real name) at age 19. What does this mean for Ricky and his fans? Well, the Department of Justice isn't throwing the book at draft deadbeats for now. But he won't be able to hold a government job. That's right. He'll never be a mailman. But he's delivering just fine." |
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