Ricky Martín

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Ricky Martin

Background information
Birth name Enrique Martín Morales
Born December 24, 1971 (age 35)
Origin Flag of Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico
Genre(s) Pop, Latin
Occupation(s) singer
Instrument(s) Voice
Years active 1984–present
Label(s) Sony Music/Columbia Records
Associated
acts		 Menudo, Chayanne, Marc Anthony
Website http://www.rickymartin.com

Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), is a Grammy Award and Latin Grammy Award-winning 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. He has sold over 55 million albums around the world, charting twenty one top-ten hits on the U.S. Latin Charts, eight of which reached number one, and a total of over thirty hit singles.[citation needed]

Contents

Solo career and first album

Martin was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After he left San Juan, he moved to the United States and then to Mexico City where he started acting, first in theater productions. He recorded his first album, Ricky Martin, in 1991 - which included the single "Fuego Contra Fuego". The album has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.

Me Amarás

In 1993, Ricky Martin released his second album Me Amarás which sold more than a million copies worldwide. In 1994, he moved to Los Angeles, California. He received a role as bartender (Miguel Morez) in the American soap opera General Hospital.

After the conclusion of a world wide concert tour , Martin returned to the studio and recorded his fourth album called Vuelve, while appearing for the first time in a Broadway production, as the romantic lead, Marius Pontmercy in Les Miserables. "Vuelve" was certified platinum by the RIAA and went 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 became a hit, reaching number one on the charts in sixty countries.

Ricky Martin (English album) and the "Livin' la Vida Loca" era

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 as Desmond Child, Diane Warren, William Orbit and his long time childhood friend (producer/singer) Robi Draco Rosa. The album also featured special guests such as Madonna (on the Spanish-English duet "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi Corazón)") and Meja (on the single of his album called "Private Emotion"). The first and most prominent single was "Livin' La Vida Loca," which reached number one in many countries around the world, including the U.S., the U.K., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa. This album became one of the top-selling albums of 1999, and was certified seven times platinum; selling over seventeen million copies worldwide.

Sound Loaded: the "She Bangs" era

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 shipped two million copies in the USA.

La Historia and The Best of Ricky Martin

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. 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.

Martin, who was a headliner in the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush, has changed his position on the President. Martin said in an e-mail statement sent to the Associated Press via a spokesman: "My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it".[1]

Almas del Silencio

In 2003, Martin released a new Spanish album Almas del Silencio. 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."[1] Almas del Silencio debuted at #12 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 four million copies worldwide.

Life

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."[2] The album debuted at number six on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The first single from the album was "I Don't Care"/"Qué Más Da", featuring guest appearances by Fat Joe and Amerie.

Another single was released "Drop It on Me", which didn't even chart. Soon after, Martin announced his Latin American tour called Una Noche con Ricky Martin, promoting his latest album Life. Starting in Latin America, the tour started 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: "Déjate Llevar"). A different version appeared in France, which included additional vocals by French hip-hop singer Matt Pokora. The song went to number one 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.

MTV Diary and MTV Unplugged

MTV has begun airing "MTV Diary: Ricky Martin", showcasing scenes from the "One Night Only" tour, on the road and onstage. MTV Latin America and MTV Tr3s co-produced the "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" show to be taped in Miami on August 17th, 2006 and premiered on MTV Latin America, MTV Tr3s and MTV Puerto Rico in November 2006. "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" released worldwide on CD and DVD by Sony BMG in November 2006. The first single of the album ,"Tu Recuerdo", featuring La Mari from Chambao, reached number one on the U.S. Latin Charts. The Album debuted at number one on the U.S. Latin Charts and number thirty-eight on Billboard 200.

This album includes Puerto Rican influences, particularly "Tu Recuerdo" (based mainly on a Puerto Rican "aguinaldo jíbaro",[2] and finishing with an "aguinaldo orocoveño"[3]) and "Pégate", a Puerto Rican plena. Christian Nieves plays the Puerto Rican cuatro on both tracks.

Social work

Martin, the Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, established the Ricky Martin Foundation in Puerto Rico to advocate for the welfare of children around the world. Along with his older brother, born Enrique Maciel Martin, who also goes by the name "Ricky", they have both worked with very ill children and do a lot for the children by giving them toys, hope and spending time with them.

Ricky Martin has also collaborated with the International Organization for Migration on the "Llama y Vive" (Call and Live), a campaign which is aimed to facilitate prevention of human trafficking, protection of the youngest victims of child trafficking, and prosecution of the traffickers.

Trivia

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Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
  • Martin rescued three young girls from the streets of Kolkata from a life of prostitution. [3]
  • In the Puerto Rican dub of the Disney movie Hercules, Ricky played the singing voice of Hercules.
  • In December 2005, Ricky Martin bluntly told American Blender magazine that he "loved giving the golden shower" to his partners. [4] This statement was met with shocked and dumbfounded reactions from his fans. Some even suggested he should close the charity he founded for children relief. Martin later posted a message on his website stating he regretted his frankness around the issue and wished he had kept quiet.[5]
  • He has talked publicly about his fetish for toes.[6]

Television appearances

  • Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd (2003) — as himself (guest appearance in season 6)
  • General Hospital (1996) (television series) — Miguel Morez (unknown episodes, 1994-1995)
  • Les Miserables (1994) (television series) — Marius
  • Alcanzar Una Esstrella (1991) (television series)

Discography

For more details on this topic, see Ricky Martin discography.
  • 1991: Ricky Martin
    Singles:
    • 1991: "Fuego Contra Fuego"
    • 1991: "Vuelo"
    • 1991: "El Amor De Mi Vida"
  • 1993: Me Amaras
    Singles:
    • 1993: "Que Dia Es Hoy (Self Control)"
    • 1993: "Me Amaras" (6 U.S. Latin Charts)
    • 1994: "Entre El Amor y Los Halagos"
  • 1995: A Medio Vivir
  • Singles:
    • 1996: "María"
    • 1996: "A Medio Vivir"
    • 1996: "Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo"
    • 1996: "Bombon De Azucar"
    • 1996: "Fuego De Noche, Nieve De Dia"
    • 1996: "Volveras"
  • 1998: Vuelve (platinum)
    Singles:
    • 1998: "La Bomba"
    • 1998: "Por Arriba, por Abajo"
    • 1998: "Vuelve"
    • 1998: "Perdido Sin Ti"
    • 1998: "La Copa de la Vida"
  • 1999: Ricky Martin
  • Released: May 11, 1999 (7x platinum)
    Singles:
  • 2000: Sound Loaded (2x platinum)
    Singles:
  • 2001: La Historia (2x platinum)
  • 2003: Almas del Silencio (2x platinum)
    Singles:
    • 2003: "Jaleo"
    • 2003: "Tal Vez"
    • 2003: "Juramento"
    • 2004: "Y Todo Queda en Nada"
    • 2004: "Asignatura Pendiente"
  • 2005: Life
    Singles:
    • 2005: "I Don't Care" featuring Fat Joe & Amerie
    • 2006: "Drop It on Me" featuring Daddy Yankee
    • 2006: "It's Alright"/"Dejate Llevar (It's Alright - Spanish)"
    • 2006: "It's Alright" featuring Matt Pokora — English/French version, released only in France)
    • 2006: "Life"
  • 2006: MTV Unplugged
    Singles:
    • 2006: "Tu Recuerdo" featuring La Mari de Chambao and Tommy Torres
    • 2007: "Pégate"

Accomplishments

In addition to the numerous awards received throughout his musical career, Martin has also been honored with many accolades for his humanitarian efforts including: the Leadership in the Arts Award, Billboard's Spirit of Hope Award, the Alma Award, Vanguard Award, and the International Humanitarian Award by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

  • Martin was chosen, Félix Trinidad in 1999, to lead Puerto Rico's worldwide tourism campaign, both exemplifying Puerto Rico's youthfulness, enthusiasm and indefatigable character.
  • In September 2002, Martin received a Hispanic Heritage Award for his humanitarian work through the Sabera Foundation in rescuing three orphan girls from the streets of Calcutta.
  • In February 2004, Martin received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Premios Lo Nuestro in Miami.
  • For his work against human trafficking, the U.S. State Department named Martin one of its "Heroes in Ending Modern-Day Slavery" in 2005.
  • Martin has been nominated one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine and People en Español in 2000 and 2006 respectively.
  • RMartin was honored as the 2006 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year, by The Latin Recording Academy on November 1, 2006. He was chosen for his accomplishments as a world renowned entertainer, consummate performer and passionate humanitarian. A portion of the proceeds from the evening's tribute dinner will benefit Ricky Martin's charitable efforts.

References

  1. ^ "Singer Ricky Martin 'Fingers' Bush for Iraq Criticism". Associated Press, February 16, 2007.
  2. ^ http://www.cuatro-pr.org/Home/Audio/Indexaudio/Instrmusaudio/Genres/Seises/seisesvidal/27Aguinaldojibaro.mp3 A sound sample of an aguinaldo jíbaro, played by cuatro player Efraín Vidal
  3. ^ http://www.cuatro-pr.org/Home/Audio/Indexaudio/Instrmusaudio/Genres/Seises/seisesvidal/8Aguinaldoorocoveno.mp3 A sound sample of an aguinaldo orocoveño, played by cuatro player Efraín Vidal
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See also

External links

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