Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales[a] (born December 24, 1971) is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography incorporating a wide variety of many elements, such as Latin pop, dance, reggaeton, salsa, and other genres. Born in San Juan, Martin began appearing in television commercials at age nine and began his musical career at twelve, as a member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. He began his solo career in 1991 while in Sony Music Mexico, gaining recognition in Latin America with the release of his first two studio albums, Ricky Martin (1991) and Me Amaras (1993), both of which were focused on ballads.
This article is about the singer. For other uses, see Ricky Martin (disambiguation).
Ricky Martin
- Singer
- songwriter
- actor
- model
- author
- cantor
1984–present
- Martin Music Lab
- Ricky Martin Foundation
4
Vocals
Martin's third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), helped him rise to prominence in European countries. The chart-topping single "María" incorporated a mixture of Latin music genres and became his first international hit. His international success was further solidified with his fourth album, Vuelve (1998). The album, which earned Martin his first Grammy Award, spawned songs "Vuelve" and "La Copa de la Vida". Martin performed the latter at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards. His first English album, Ricky Martin (1999) became his first US Billboard 200 number one. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Martin's success in the late 1990s is generally seen as the beginning of the "Latin explosion". He has been credited for propelling the Latin pop music genre to mainstream recognition, paving the way for a large number of Latin artists to achieve global success.
Martin has since released several successful albums, including Almas del Silencio (2003) and MTV Unplugged (2006), as well as Grammy Award winner A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). Notable singles in this period include "She Bangs", "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely", "Tal Vez", "Tu Recuerdo", "La Mordidita", "Vente Pa' Ca", and "Canción Bonita". As an actor, Martin took a role in the hit soap opera General Hospital (1994–1996), while his portrayal of Antonio D'Amico in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018) garnered him an Emmy nomination. He also starred as Ché in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita in 2012.
Martin is one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time, having sold over 70 million records worldwide. He has scored 11 Billboard Hot Latin Songs number-one songs, and won two Grammy Awards, five Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, two American Music Awards, three Latin American Music Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards, eight World Music Awards, fourteen Lo Nuestro Awards, a Guinness World Record, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His philanthropy and activism focus on LGBT rights and fighting against human trafficking; in 2004, he founded The Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that focuses on denouncing human trafficking and educating about the crime's existence.
Public image[edit]
Martin became a teen idol with his debut as a member of Menudo,[30][230][231] and a pop icon following global fame as a solo artist.[232][233][234] Metro Puerto Rico stated that he "raised the name of Puerto Rico internationally".[235] Variety described him as "Puerto Rico's arguably most famous son" in 2021.[236][237] He is ranked as the most famous Latin music artist in the United States, according to YouGov surveys in 2023.[238]
During the 2000s, Martin was known for "guarding his private life" and being "uncomfortable discussing intimate aspects of his personal life"; he used to insist on asking public to focus on his music and "steered interviewers away from his personal life".[239][240][241] However, he chose to live both his "professional and personal life", making his private life public since the early 2010s.[198][242] In 2021, he went on the cover of People with the title "No More Secrets" and told the magazine that he is "a man with no secrets", stating that he is "more comfortable in his own skin than ever before".[243]
Martin is considered to be a sex symbol,[244][245][246] JD Institute of Fashion Technology views Martin as a fashion icon, praising him for "pushing the fashion boundaries with every new look".[247]
Personal life[edit]
Sexual orientation and early relationships[edit]
In his early life, Martin had relationships with both men and women.[231][10][248] In 2000, American broadcast journalist Barbara Walters asked Martin about his sexuality on national television: "You could stop these rumors. You could say, 'Yes I am gay or no I'm not.'" Martin, who answered with "I just don't feel like it" at the time, later revealed that her question had made him feel "violated", since he "was just not ready to come out" and was "very afraid"; he said that it resulted in "a little fake PTSD" that "still haunts him".[243]
In August 2008, Martin became a father to twin boys named Matteo and Valentino, born via gestational surrogacy. He explained that he chose surrogacy to become a parent for being "intriguing and faster" than adoption, which was complicated and could take a long time.[249][250] In March 2010, Martin publicly came out as gay via a message on his website, stating: "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."[251] In an interview with Vanity Fair, he declared: "There was love, passion. I do not regret anything, any of the relationships I lived, they taught me a lot, both men and women."[252] Martin also told Fama!: "I know that I like both men and women, I'm against sexual labels, we are simply human beings with emotional and sexual needs. I like to enjoy sex in total freedom, so I'm open to having sex with a woman if I feel desire." Despite this, he expressed that he would not be interested in "an ongoing relationship with a woman", stating: "Men are my thing".[253][254] Martin dated Puerto Rican economist Carlos González Abella from 2010 to 2014, as his first relationship with a man after coming out as gay.[255][256]
Books[edit]
On August 19, 2010, Martin announced that he had been working on his memoir, mentioning its title as Me and publish date as November 2, 2010. He expressed that writing the book was "one of the reasons" he decided to come out earlier that year. The book also had a Spanish edition title Yo (transl. Me), which was published simultaneously by Celebra.[296][297] Me spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.[298] Martin's first children's book Santiago the Dreamer in Land Among the Stars was published by Celebra and illustrated by Patricia Castelao in November 2013 for ages between five and nine. Its Spanish-language edition, Santiago El Soñador en Entre Las Estrellas, was published simultaneously. Martin expressed that the book was inspired by his "personal life, with fantasy added to it", as well as "a lot of cartoons".[299][300]
