Enrique Martín Morales, known professionally 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 joined the popular musical group 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 started his solo career. In Mexico, he appeared in several plays, and in 1986, he made his acting debut in the Argentine soap opera 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 reached number 5 on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart, selling over 500,000 copies 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 defined the music that Cubans listened to during the 90s. His third album, "A medio vivir" (1995), included hits like "Te extraño, te olvido, te amo," the title track "A medio vivir," and the phenomenon "María," which marked a turning point in 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 song's true meaning was highly 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 the 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” as a clear allusion to cocaine
With a career already solidifying within Latin pop, Martín was able to perform the official song in both English and Spanish for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. His rendition of the song at the 1999 Grammy Awards was watched by millions across more than 40 countries, earning him the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance. This track is included in his single. Later that same year, he would dominate the charts with his next album, Ricky Martin, in both English and Spanish, which reached number one in the United States and featured another of his major global hits, Livin' la vida loca.
In 2010, the singer publicly came out as homosexual, sparking a significant reaction and becoming an idol within the LGBT community, which he has always supported and defended. His fight for their rights earned him the Peace Summit Awards in 2019, conferred 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 the Ricky Martin Foundation, through which he provided homes in the municipality of Loíza in Puerto Rico in 2018 to those affected by Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island a year earlier, raising money through the sale of T-shirts featuring his children's faces. He also 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 raised his voice 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 was the one to wear the "Grand Marshal" sash at the celebration held in the Big Apple.
In 2019, after a chat from Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rosselló was leaked, featuring messages that included homophobic and sexist comments and mentioned politicians, journalists, and well-known figures, the singer called for Puerto Ricans to unite for a change in direction and traveled to Puerto Rico to participate in a protest alongside other artists from the country.
His Latin American sentiment extends beyond Puerto Rico, and at the end of 2019, he made headlines when, in response to 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 a people is to be respected, obeyed, and fulfilled. Listen to your people, who are speaking to you emphatically," the Puerto Rican wrote on his Instagram account.
In September 2020, Luis Fonsi and Ricky Martin expressed 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, whose music video has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. Behind the song is the wife of the famous 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, which is performed by the Puerto Rican artist alongside the renowned Spanish singer Diego "El Cigala".
In September 2020, his nomination for the Latin Grammy Awards was announced in the categories of Album of the Year for Pausa, Best Vocal Pop Album, and Best Urban Fusion/Performance for the song Cántalo.
