Ricky Martin

Enrique Martín Morales, known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican 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 launched his solo career. In Mexico, he appeared in several theater productions, and in 1986, he made his acting debut 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 reached the number 5 spot on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart and sold over 500,000 copies of the album in just one month. Singles such as "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 1990s. His third album, "A medio vivir" (1995), featured hits in the island 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, with Spanglish lyrics and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, was a success in Europe and was the second best-selling single worldwide that year. The true meaning of the song's lyrics was highly controversial in the '90s and contributed to its popularity. Although Ricky has always insisted that his song is about an attractive woman named María, many have interpreted the catchy chorus as a clear allusion to cocaine: "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 performed 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 viewed by millions in over 40 countries, earning him the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance. This song is featured on his single. Later that same year, he would achieve great success with his next album, Ricky Martin, in both English and Spanish, which reached number one in the United States and includes another of his major global hits, Livin' la vida loca.

In 2010, the singer publicly came out as gay, triggering a significant reaction and establishing himself as an idol within the LGBT community, which he has always supported and defended. His advocacy for their rights earned him the Peace Summit Awards in 2019, presented by the Global Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.

Since 2016, she has shared 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 delivered houses in the municipality of Loíza in Puerto Rico in 2018 to those affected by Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island a year earlier. He raised funds by selling t-shirts featuring his children's faces. Additionally, he joined a protest regarding the number of donations sent from abroad that had not yet been distributed.

As a Puerto Rican, he is deeply connected to his people, and in 2019 he raised his voice against the religious freedom bill approved 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 Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rosselló was leaked, featuring messages that included homophobic and misogynistic comments and mentioned politicians, journalists, and well-known figures, the singer called for the unity of Puerto Ricans to bring about a change in direction and traveled to Puerto Rico to join other artists from the country in a protest.

His Latin American sentiment extends beyond Puerto Rico, and he also made headlines at the end of 2019 when, in response to the protests in Chile, he used his social media to send a message to the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera: "President Sebastián Piñera, you must 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 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 amassed over a billion views on YouTube. Behind this track is the wife of the well-known Cuban musician, Beatriz Luengo, who is the song's author. In September 2020, Luengo announced that she and Yotuel had composed the song "Quiéreme," featured on the album "Pausa," which the Puerto Rican artist performs alongside the renowned Spanish flamenco 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 with the song "Cántalo."