Ricky Martin Biography

Ricky Martin (born Enrique Martín Morales on December 24th, 1971 in Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico), is a successful Latin American pop singer who rose to fame, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991. He is considered a major star in the world of Latin Pop, and is considered to have opened the doors for success in English-speaking countries for some of his fellow Hispanic singers like Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, and Juanes. "Livin' La Vida Loca" made Martin the first Latin American singer in history to have a U.K. number one hit. He has sold over 55 million albums around the world, charting seven #1 hits on the US Latin Charts and a total of over 30 hit singles.

Born to now-divorced parents Nerieda Morales and Enrique Martín Negroni, Ricky Martin has five siblings: Fernando, Vanessa, Eric, Daniel and Angel. As a child he participated in school extra-curricular activities and sang in the school choir, where he began to realize that his talent captivated the audiences. Through the encouragement of his dad, he began to take voice lessons, and auditioned for television advertising spots.

Martin first achieved worldwide success with his selection to replace Ricky Melendez in the Latin boy band Menudo from 1984 until 1989. His meteoric ascent to fame started in Menudo's homebase, Caguas, site of his first concert. He signed with Sony in 1990.

After he left the United States, Martin moved to Mexico City where he started acting, first in theater in productions like Mamá ama el rock, with Angélica María and Angélica Vale. He starred in telenovelas such as Alcanzar una estrella II and performed in the music group Muñecos de papel from that telenovela, which included Sasha Sokol, Bibi Gaytan, Angelica Rivera, Erick Rubín, and Pedro Fernández. He recorded his first Album, Ricky Martin, in 1991 - which included the still popular single "Fuego Contra Fuego". The album had sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.

In 1993, Ricky Martin released his second album Me Amaras. In 1994, he moved to Los Angeles, California. He received a role as bartender (Miguel Morez) in the American soap opera General Hospital. The album Me Amaras had sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Martin then established himself in Miami and began collaborating with music creator Desmond Child, former Menudo band-mate Robi Draco Rosa, K.C. Porter and Puerto Rican agent Angelo Medina. And in 1995, his third album A Medio Vivir was released. With these 2 producers in tow, he created his first hit single in 1996 called "María". The song was in Spanish but had great success in the charts worldwide. This album was certified Gold by the RIAA and went on to sell seven million copies worldwide.

After the success of "María" and the conclusion of his busy schedule of giving concerts around the world in many countries, Martin came back to the studio and recorded his fourth album called Vuelve, while appearing in his first ever Broadway production, as the romantic lead, Marius Pontmercy in Les Miserables. Then, 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 became one of the most explosive hits of the 90s, reaching #1 on the charts in 60 countries. "Vuelve" was certified platinum by the RIAA and went to sell eight million copies worldwide.

After satisfying his fans with his Spanish material for years worldwide, Martin prepared his first English album. The album was self-titled and crafted by some of the music industry's most outstanding producers, such as Desmond Child, Dianne Warren, William Orbit and his long time childhood friend (producer/singer) Robi Draco Rosa. Also, the album had special guests, such as the queen of pop Madonna (on the Spanish-English duet "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi Corazon)") and Meja (on the single of his album called "Private Emotion"). The first and most prominent single was the unforgettable "Livin' La Vida Loca," which became a colossal hit, climbing to #1 in many different countries and continents around the world, including the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. This album became one of the top albums of 1999, staying at the #1 spot of the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart in the U.S. for weeks, was certified 7x platinum, receiving great critical approval. This album sold over 17 million copies worldwide, making him a Latin pop phenomenon around the world.

In November 2000, Martin released his second English album Sound Loaded. The first single "She Bangs" reaches #12 on Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Latin Charts. Sound Loaded peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 and was certified 2x platinum. The second single of the album was a duet with Christina Aguilera "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely" reaching #13 in the US and #4 in the UK. The third single was "Loaded" and the album Sound Loaded went on to sell over nine million copies worldwide.

In 2001, Martin released a Spanish Greatest Hits album entitled La Historia, which went to #1 in the Latin Charts and stayed there for five weeks. 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.

In 2003, Martin released a new spanish album Almas Del Silencio. The first single "Tal Vez" went to #1 on the Latin Charts and stayed there for 12 weeks. He said of the new LP: "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 #12 on the Billboard 200, went to #1 on the Latin Albums charts and stayed there for 6 weeks. Next singles "Jaleo" and "Y Todo Queda En Nada" went to #1 on the Latin Charts and the album sold four 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 feels that the album is one of his more personal albums, saying "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 cuping a feeling. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production." The album debuted at #6 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. The song did pretty well but grabbed more attention in Europe. After the success of "I Don't Care," Martin announced his Latin American tour called Una Noche Con Ricky Martin, promoting his latest album Life. Starting in Latin America, the tour kicked-off on November 15th 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 hip-hop singer Matt Pokora. The song went to #1 in France.

Ricky 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 21st in Manchester, U.K. and ended on June 3rd in Tel Aviv, Israel, inlcuding 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, his first concert 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" with Arabic pop star Cheb Mami.

Following the worldwide success of Martin's "One Night Only" tour, MTV has begun airing "MTV Diary: Ricky Martin", showcasing scenes from the tour, on the road and onstage. Meanwhile, MTV Latin America and MTV Tr3s are co-producing 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 November 2006. "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" will also be released worldwide on CD and DVD by Sony BMG in November of 2006.

In addition to the numerous awards received throughout his musical career, Martin has also been honored with many accolades for his humanitarian efforts including: the Leadership In The Arts Award, Billboard's Spirit of Hope Award, the Alma Award, Vanguard Award, and the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children.