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 joined the popular musical group Menudo, which was already famous in Latin America and other countries around the world. Starting in 1991, when the band, formed in 1977, began to decline, Ricky started 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 album, Ricky Martin reached position 5 on the Billboard Latin Pop Albums and sold over 500,000 copies of the album 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), scored hits on the island with songs 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 true meaning of the lyrics to this song 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 it as a clear allusion to cocaine through 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.”
With a career already solidifying within Latin pop, Martín managed to perform the official song in both English and Spanish for the 1998 World Cup. His rendition of the song at the 1999 Grammys was seen by millions in over 40 countries, and he won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance. This track is included in his single. Later that same year, he would sweep with his next album, Ricky Martin, in both English and Spanish, which reached number one in the United States and features another of his global hits, "Livin' la vida loca."
In 2010, the singer publicly came out as homosexual, triggering 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, 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 delivered houses 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 large number of donations sent from abroad that had not been distributed.
As a Puerto Rican, he is deeply supportive of his people, and in 2019 he raised his voice against the religious freedom bill approved by the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. That same year, on June 9, the day of the National Parade, he was the one to showcase 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 misogynistic remarks and mentioned politicians, journalists, and public 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 in a protest.
His Latin American sentiment goes beyond Puerto Rico, and in late 2019 he also made headlines when, in light of the protests in Chile, he used his social media to send a message to the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera: "President Sebastián Piñera, please understand that the will of a people must be respected, obeyed, and fulfilled. Listen to your people, who are speaking to you forcefully," the Puerto Rican wrote 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, 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, which is part of the album Pausa and which the Puerto Rican artist performs 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 Pop Vocal Album, and Best Urban Fusion/Performance for the song "Cántalo."
