Ricky Martin - Biography
By J Poet
Ricky Martin’s good looks and charisma made him one of the biggest Latin crossover acts of all time. He’d already had four albums that were hits on the international market, including Vuelve (1998 Sony Discos) which won him a Best Latin Vocal Performance Grammy for the title track, when he launched his first English language album Ricky Martin (1999 Columbia). The lead single, “Livin’ La Vida Loca”, was an international smash and the album came into the Billboard pop charts at #1. For the next few years Martin was everywhere and it seemed like he was going to be the man to mainstream Latin pop. He sold more than 55 million albums and charted 21 Top 10 hits on the American Latin charts. He’s had albums since, but nothing so far has measured up to the hysteria generated by “La Vida Loca.”
Enrique Jose Martin Morales IV was born in Puerto Rico in 1971. A precocious entertainer, he was already appearing on local TV commercials when he was six. He took professional acting and singing lessons and sang in his grammar school choir. He had his heart set on becoming the lead singer of Menudo, a group put together by producer Edgardo Diaz to try and cash in on the success of being the first of the latin boy bands . Martin auditioned three times before getting the gig in 1984. While he was in the band he made 11 albums including Evolucion (1984 RCA), Reaching Out (1984 RCA), Menudo (1985 RCA), Festa Vai Comecar (1986 RCA), Viva Bravo (1986 RCA) and Somos Los Hijos del Rock (1987 RCA).
He was 18 when he left the group and returned to Puerto Rico to finish high school. In 1988 he moved to New York City and got signed by Columbia as a solo artist and released Ricky Martin (1991 Sony Discos) and Me Amarás (1991 Sony Discos), which made him a star in Latin America. In 1992, he landed a role in Alcanzar una Estrella, a telenovela, moving on to General Hospital, where he played a singing bartender in 1995. In 1996 he sang on Broadway in Les Miserables.
In between stage jobs he toured and made A Medio Vivir (1997 Sony Discos) which included flamenco and cumbia influences and Vuelve (1998 Sony Discos) which won him a Best Latin Vocal Performance Grammy for the title track. The album’s first single, “La Copa de la Vida” was an international hit. Martin sang it at the 1998 World Cup opening ceremonies to a TV audience estimated at two billion people. He sang the song again at the 1999 Grammy ceremonies, priming the American for his first English language single “Livin La Vida Loca.” The single was a phenomenon; La Vida Loca became a popular catchphrase and the singer’s first English language album Ricky Martin (1999 Columbia) earned seven platinum albums in the US alone. It sold over 17 million copies worldwide and entered the US pop charts at #1. Ricky Martin won four Grammy nominations - Best Pop Album, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and for “La Vida Loca” Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. He didn’t win, but his Grammy night performance helped boost the alum into the stratosphere.
Martin undertook a lengthy world tour and dropped the double platinum Sound Loaded (2000 Columbia) with “She Bangs” another hit, but not unexpectedly, not as big as “La Vida Loca.” La Historia (2001 Song Discos) was a collection of his Spanish language hits. Almas del Silencio (2003 Sony International) was aimed at the Latin market and didn’t cross over. Life (2005 Columbia) was his third English language album. It came in at #6 on the pop charts and led to an extended world tour.
In 2006 Martin made the first MTV Unplugged show for MTV’s new international channel. A recording of the event, MTV Unplugged (2006 Norte), entered the US Latin chart at #1 and went platinum; the MTV Unplugged DVD went gold. Martin’s 2007 Black & White Tour of the world sold out major venues all over the planet and was documented on Ricky Martin Live: Black and White Tour (2007 Sony Discos). In 2006 Martin created the The Ricky Martin Foundation to advocate for children’s rights and teamed with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for families devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami. In 2006 Martin got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010 Martin came roaring out of the closet, publicly acknowledging his homosexuality. He followed this epiphany with the release of Musica+Alma+Sexo in 2011, as well as becoming a vegetarian in March 2013.