Ricky Martin has gained the title of “King of Latin Pop” after a lengthy and fruitful career. He is one of the most financially successful Latin performers, with over 70 million records sold worldwide. Latin pop entered the mainstream of US musical culture thanks to Martin’s efforts in the late 1990s. Martin has had a lot of success as an actor outside of performing.
Early Years
On December 24, 1971, Enrique Martin Morales was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was nurtured in a Roman Catholic home with four brothers and one sister by a psychologist father. When Enrique was just two years old, his parents got divorced. Early on, he developed a love for singing, and by the time he was six years old, he was humming along to his favorite pop tunes in both English and Latin. Enrique was motivated to begin creating his own songs by his grandma, a poet.
Young Career
Enrique debuted in advertisements for toothpaste, soft drinks, and other products at the age of nine. He appeared in 11 Puerto Rican advertisements before turning 11 years old. He eventually tried out for the Latin boy band Menudo after holding several auditions. Enrique, who was only 12 years old, joined the band after showcasing his remarkable singing and dancing abilities.
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Although Enrique relished the opportunity to sing on stage, he quickly realized that the band’s rigid leadership and demanding schedule were not to his taste. Records started to sell less by 1987, and Enrique departed the band at the age of 17 two years later. Enrique didn’t have access to his bank account because he was still a minor until he finished high school in Puerto Rico. He relocated to New York City after he was 18 in order to relax and enjoy the money he had made while working in Menudo.
Telenovela
Enrique Morales, however, quickly relocated to Mexico City in order to play a part in the play Mama Ama el Rock. A producer saw him when he was performing on stage and wanted him to be the lead in a Mexican telenovela. A fictional pop band was the subject of the program. Outside of the performance, this group eventually put out a number of passably successful albums and went on tour in Mexico. Following this achievement, Enrique agreed to a contract with Sony.
Career as a solo singer
His stylized stage name, Ricky Martin, was first used on his first album for Sony. Due to the album’s popularity, a tour of Latin America was organized. On his second studio album, Me Amaras, he later worked with Juan Carlos Calderon. Martin relocated to Los Angeles in 1994 to appear on television programs like Getting By and General Hospital.
Martin relaunched his musical career in 1995 and tried fusing pop songs with traditional Latin elements. The huge single “Maria” from his third album, A Medio Vivir, typified this new direction in Latin music. Over 3 million copies of the album were ultimately sold globally. He performed in a Les Miserables Broadway staging in 1996.
Vuelve, his fourth album, was released in 1998 and went platinum, selling more than 8 million copies worldwide. That year, he also wrote a song for the FIFA World Cup and performed during the finals, bringing Latin pop to the attention of the entire world. For this album, Ricky Martin later received a Grammy.
In 1999, Martin’s career took a major step forward as he transitioned to an English audience for the first time. Later that year, his self-titled album was published, and it featured the massive song “Livin’ la Vida Loca.” The CD also included a Madonna song. The song “Livin’ la Vida Loca” is now recognized as having reignited English-speaking audiences’ interest in Latin pop. Many people think that Ricky Martin, on his own, opened the door for performers like Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, and Shakira with this song. The 1999 album eventually sold 15 million copies globally, becoming seven times platinum.
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He issued the album Sound Loaded in 2000, which featured the popular song “She Bangs.” Later, the record sold over 8 million copies and was certified double-platinum. La Historia, Martin’s best hits collection, was published in 2001. With the release of the Spanish CD Almas del Silencio in 2003, he went back to his Latin roots. His return to the English-speaking market came in 2005 with the release of the album Life.
MTV Unplugged, his debut live album, was made available in 2006. He subsequently started a lengthy globe tour. The diligent vocalist took a three-year hiatus in 2007 to give his personal life more attention. In 2010, Ricky Martin made a comeback with “Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tu,” a new single with Natalia Jimenez, and an autobiography titled Me. He released Musica + Alma + Sexo in 2011 as his second album. The dance smash “Mas” was on this album.
Ricky Martin made TV appearances on Glee and The Voice Australia in 2012. He traveled for a while before making an appearance on The Voice Mexico in 2014. From that point on, he kept showing up in different The Voice programs. He issued the CD A Quien Quiera Esuchar in 2015. Martin later received another Grammy Award for the record. Martin received his first Emmy nomination for his noteworthy performance on American Crime Story in 2018. Martin revealed that he would be releasing a new album in 2020.
Individual Life
Ricky Martin used a surrogate mother in 2008 to produce twin boys. Ricky Martin publicly came out as gay in 2010 despite being in a long-term relationship with Mexican TV star Rebecca de Alba. Later, he made it clear that while he is drawn to both men and women, he exclusively desires romantic relationships with men. After dating Jwan Yosef in 2016, the couple married and later had two children together.
Real Estate
Ricky paid $13.5 million in November 2016 for a residence in Beverly Hills, California. At the same time, he advertised a New York City condo that he bought in 2012 for $6 million, for $8.4 million. He previously owned a property in Beverly Hills which he sold in 2006 for $15 million and another NYC condo which he sold in 2015 for $7.55 million.
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In addition, he owns a significant piece of real estate in Puerto Rico, a villa in Madrid, and a private island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
Net Worth
A pop musician, actor, and novelist from Puerto Rico, Ricky Martin is worth $130 million.
