Born: 24 December 1971, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Birth Name: Enrique Mart?n Morales
Nickname: Kiki
Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m)
Jos? Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971),[1] better known by his stage name Ricky Martin, is a 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.
His career has spanned over three decades and has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of Ricky Mart?n Foundation (in Spanish Fundaci?n Ricky Martin) a non-profit charity organization.
In 2008, he became a single father of twin boys, Matteo and Valentino.
Ricky was raised in Puerto Rico. He began his career at the age of 12, as a member of the Puerto Rican music group Menudo. During his time in the group, he had the opportunity to travel and record in various languages including Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and English. Ricky left the group in 1989 and went to study in New York. Later, Martin moved to Canc?n where he started acting, first in theater productions, and then in atelenovela ("soap opera") titled Alcanzar Una Estrella II (Reach for a Star 2). 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.
During a trip to Mexico, his plans changed when he was offered a part in the musical play, "Mama ama el Rock". He went on to portray "Pablo" in the Mexican soap opera "Alcanzar Una Estrella II". He won a Heraldo, the Mexican equivalent of the Academy Award, for his role in "Mas que Alcanzar una Estrella", a film loosely based on the soap. In 1991, he began his career as a soloist, with the release of his first album, self-titled. This album sold over 500,000 copies world-wide, becoming one of the highest debuts for a Latin artist under the Sony label in the last ten years. He followed with another album, "Me Amaras", a more mature compilation of personal and romantic songs which also skyrocketed to the top of the Latin charts and earned him "Best New Latin Artist" at the 1993 Billboard Video Awards. Seeking further opportunities as an actor, he moved to Los Angeles in late 1993. He appeared on two episodes of the NBC sitcom "Getting By" (1993). In February 1994, he made his debut on the ABC daytime soap opera, "General Hospital" (1963), as "Miguel Morez". After dedicating two years of his career to acting, Ricky has returned to his first love, music. His latest release, "A Medio Vivir", is a compilation of songs reflecting pop, rock and latin influences. Ricky Martin is as passionate about helping others as he is about his work. He always finds time to give to drug-addicted and abused children, as well as to educate and inform the youth of the countries he visits about AIDS.
In 1995, 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 hit "Maria", which epitomizes this new sound. "Maria" broke Martin into Europe through Spain. With the ballad "Te Extra?o, Te Olvido, Te Amo", Martin began his expansion from Latin American and Spanish-speaking audiences to the European and Asian markets.
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 asDesmond Child, Diane Warren, William Orbit, George Noriega 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 Coraz?n)") and Meja (Private Emotion). As Turkey was one of the countries where Martin's popularity was at its peak, he sang the song with Sertab Erener, Turkish winner of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, instead of Meja in Turkish versions of the album.
The first and most prominent single was "Livin' la Vida Loca," which reached number one in many countries around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom,Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, and South Africa. He followed up with the hit "She's All I Ever Had" which peaked at #2 on The Billboard Hot 100. This album became one of the top-selling albums of 1999, and was certified 7 times platinum, selling over 22 million copies worldwide to date.
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 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"/"Qu? M?s Da", featuring guest appearances by Fat Joe, Amerie and drummer Joseph Quevedo "Joey Q".
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: "D?jate 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. An anticipated 8 month tour ended early due to a lack of advertising.
In 2007, Martin began a international promotional tour titled Blanco y Negro which included a performance at the Jos? Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and concluded with a presentation at the Madison Square Garden on October 14, 2007
In 2008, Martin released a greatest hits album entitled Ricky Martin 17.
In June 2009, the singer announced he was working on a new studio album, the first since 2005's 'Life'. The album, which will feature tracks in both English and Spanish, is expected to be ready for spring of 2010, with a first single releasing near the beginning of the year. His collaborators include producer Lester Mendez, who has penned hits for everyone from Nelly Furtado to Carlos Santana. It would be his 9th studio album and his 11th album overall.
The singer also announced through his Twitter account that he's currently penning a book, although the content of said book is still unknown.
Ricky Martin rose to fame when boy a member of the Latin American boy band Menudo after which he became a solo artist in 1990. He is considered a major star in the world of Latin Pop and is considered to have opened the doors for some of his fellow (Latin American singers).
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