Enrique Martín Morales, known artistically as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 24, 1971.
In 1984, he became part of the popular musical quintet Menudo, which was already famous in Latin America and other countries around the world. Starting in 1991, when the group, formed in 1977, began to decline, Ricky embarked on his solo career. In Mexico, he appeared in several theater productions, and in 1986, he made his debut as an actor in the Argentine telenovela Por siempre amigos, alongside the other members of Menudo . In 1991, he acted in the Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una estrella II .
In 1991, with his debut studio album, Ricky Martin achieved the number 5 position on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and sold over 500,000 copies of the record in just one month. Singles like "Fuego contra fuego," "Dime que me quieres," and "El amor de mi vida" made him very popular in Cuba, where many of his songs marked the music heard by Cubans during the 1990s. His third album, "A medio vivir" (1995), produced hits in the island like "Te extraño, te olvido, te amo," the title track "A medio vivir," and the phenomenon "María," which gave a new direction to the singer's career. Its remix, featuring Spanglish lyrics and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, was a success in Europe and became the second best-selling single in the world that year. The true meaning of the lyrics to this song was very controversial in the '90s and contributed to its popularity. Although Ricky has always claimed that his song is about an attractive woman named María, many have interpreted clear allusions to cocaine through its catchy chorus: “Así es María, blanca como el día, pero es veneno si te quieres enamorar. Así es María, tan caliente y fría, que si te la bebes, de seguro te va a matar.”
With a career already solidifying in Latin pop, Martín managed to perform the official song in both English and Spanish for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. His rendition of the song at the 1999 Grammys was viewed by millions in over 40 countries, earning him a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance. This song is included in his single. Later that same year, he would sweep the charts with his next album, Ricky Martin, in both English and Spanish, which reached number one in the United States and features another of his major global hits, Livin' la vida loca.
In 2010, the singer publicly came out as gay, sparking a significant reaction and becoming an icon within the LGBT community, which he has always supported and defended. His advocacy for their rights earned him the Peace Summit Award in 2019, presented by the global summit of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
Since 2016, she has been sharing her life with the Swedish-Syrian painter Jwan Yosef, with whom she has four children.
In 2018, he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role as Versace's lover, Antonio D'Amico, in "American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Gianni Versace."
As a philanthropist, Martin has a foundation, the Ricky Martin Foundation, through which he provided homes in the municipality of Loíza in Puerto Rico in 2018 to those affected by Hurricane María, which devastated the island a year earlier, raising funds through the sale of T-shirts featuring his children's faces. Additionally, he joined a protest regarding the amount of donations sent from abroad that had not been distributed.
As a Puerto Rican, he is very supportive of his people, and in 2019 he spoke out against the religious freedom bill passed by the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. That same year, on June 9, the day of the National Parade, he had the honor of wearing the "Grand Marshal" sash at the celebration held in the Big Apple.
In 2019, after a chat from the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, was leaked, which included homophobic and sexist comments and mentioned politicians, journalists, and well-known figures, the singer called for the unity of Puerto Ricans to bring about change and traveled to Puerto Rico to participate in a protest alongside other artists from the country.
His Latin American sentiment doesn't remain only in Puerto Rico, as he also made headlines in late 2019 when, following the protests in Chile, he used his social media to send a message to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera: "President Sebastián Piñera, know that the will of the people must be respected, complied with, and fulfilled. Listen to your people who are speaking to you emphatically," wrote the Puerto Rican on his Instagram account.
In September 2020, Luis Fonsi and Ricky Martin showed their support for the Democratic presidential candidate in the United States, Joe Biden, during an event held in Florida.
In 2015, Ricky Martin and the Cuban Yotuel Romero, from the popular group Orishas, released the song La mordidita, which has a music video that exceeds one billion views on YouTube. Behind the song is the wife of the popular Cuban musician Beatriz Luengo, who is the author of the song. In September 2020, Luengo announced that she and Yotuel had composed the song Quiéreme for the album Pausa, and that the Puerto Rican artist performs it along with the renowned Spanish singer Diego "El Cigala".
In September 2020, his nomination for the Latin Grammys was announced in the categories of Album of the Year for "Pausa," Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Urban Fusion/Performance for the song "Cántalo."
