Hispanic Heritage

Ricky Martin

Also known as: Enrique Martin
Birth: December 24, 1971 in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality: American, Puerto Rican
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican
Occupation: singer, actor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Awards
Biographical Essay
Career
Further Readings
Personal Information
Source Citation

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Rarely does a musical artist come along who can stir up a frenzied fan base and become a superstar with merely a single performance. But this is what happened in February of 1999 when Hispanic pop sensation Ricky Martin delivered an enlivened rendition of his tune "La Copa de la Vida" ("The Cup of Life") on the televised Grammy Awards program. He captivated music fans and the entertainment world alike with his infectious and soulful performance, not to mention his swiveling hips and snug leather pants. Though he was already famous-he had sold 13 million copies combined of his four Spanish-language solo albums by April of 1999-he was a newcomer as far as much of the non-Hispanic United States was concerned. The onslaught of media reports, including various magazine cover stories, soon reminded everyone that Martin was, in fact, a trained veteran who had learned the ropes beginning at age 12 as the youngest member of the prefabricated teen pop group Menudo, and had also won hearts during a stint in the mid-1990s on General Hospital. The Grammy telecast sent his career soaring in America, and by May of 1999, he released his first English-language album, an immediate hit that produced the number one single, "Livin' La Vida Loca."

Martin was born Enrique Jose Martin Morales on December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the only child of Enrique Martin, a psychologist, and Nereida Morales, an accountant, who also had two children from her first marriage. His parents divorced when he was two, and both later remarried, giving Martin three more step-siblings from his father's second marriage. Even though no one in his family was connected to show business, Martin was drawn to the spotlight as a child, telling his father at age six that he wanted to perform. He started out in school plays and then worked in commercials while taking acting and singing lessons.

When he was 12, Martin auditioned to become a member of the band Menudo, a manufactured Latin pop group composed of attractive Hispanic adolescent males who were rotated out of the group as they advanced into their teen years. On his first try, Martin was passed over because he was too small and looked too young. He tried again later with no luck. Finally, the third time was the charm. "He was small, not a big singer, and his voice was not so good then," Menudo manager Edgardo Diaz remarked in Time. "But we thought he could learn a lot by being with the group." The year was 1984, and he was still 12 years old, but he would soon gather a world of experience. Martin toured the globe with Menudo, hopping from Europe to Asia to South America to North America, singing in various languages along the way.

For five years, Martin rehearsed, toured, and recorded with Menudo at a frantic pace. In 1998, another former Menudo member harshly criticized his time with the band in the press, calling it "abusive, exploitative, and unsavory," according to Andrew Essex in Entertainment Weekly. Martin has not discussed these charges, but has remarked in various interviews that the stint instilled in him a strong work ethic. He recalled to Gloria Estefan in Interview, "It was five years of discipline, Gloria. It was military_. That band definitely helped me keep my feet on the ground." It also made him a teenage millionaire.

However, Martin has been known to complain about his days with Menudo. First and foremost, his family life became strained because he was away so much. Though his parents had joint custody, they began to fight over his infrequent visits, and his father asked him to choose between him and his mother. As a result, Martin changed his name to Ricky instead of Enrique, and did not speak to his father for about a decade, but the family eventually reconciled in 1994. In addition, Martin and some others in the band had higher ambitions that were quashed, which caused frustration. He told Peter Castro in People, "Our creativity was stifled." The band members would compose songs, but the management would refuse to record them, saying they were not good enough. The group also questioned the need for rehearsing sometimes up to 16 hours a day, when they were already touring nine months of the year. On the other hand, they were teenage boys, so they did find time for extracurricular activity. "When I was with Menudo," Martin told Castro, "we had many girls. We'd swap girls."

By age 17, Martin was squeezed out of Menudo because of his age, so he finished high school in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City. "I did a lot of growing up there," he commented to Castro. "In Menudo they told you what silverware to use. Suddenly I was paying my own bills." In addition, Martin needed to embark on some soul-searching. As he mentioned to David Wild in Rolling Stone, "One day [Menudo] played for 250,000 people, and two years later we played for 15 people. You can have it all and you can have nothing, in a heartbeat. I left because I needed to move on. I didn't know who I was, because I was like a comic strip. You're Ricky Martin, but your last name is Menudo."

In 1992, Martin moved to Mexico City and quickly restarted his acting career in a soap opera (called a "telenovella") titled Alcanzar una Estrella (Reach for a Star). A film based on the series was produced, and for his role in the big screen version, Martin earned a Heraldo Award in 1993--the Mexican equivalent of the Academy Award. In the meantime, he was signed to Sony Discos, the company's Latin imprint, in 1990 and released his first solo album, the Spanish-language Ricky Martin, in 1991. The hit release earned gold records in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico, and the United States, and he performed a string of sold-out concert dates across South America.

Shortly after his second album came out in 1993, the Spanish-language Me Amaras, Martin moved to Los Angeles, where he appeared in a flash-in-the-pan situation comedy on NBC called Getting By. Ironically, though, it was his musical career that landed him his first big acting job in the United States. When the executive producer of the long-running soap opera General Hospital saw a tape of Martin in concert, she immediately asked if he could act. Soon he was cast on the series as Miguel Morez, where he became a heartthrob for daytime television fans. Later, he expanded his repertoire to include Broadway, where he performed the lead role of Marius in Les Miserables.

Meanwhile, Martin was building his solo music career. He won a Billboard Video Award for best new Latin performer in 1993, and in 1995, released a third album, A Medio Vivir (Halfway through Life). This album was especially meaningful for Martin, because in the two years between releases, he had experienced two startling incidents. First, he had a bad car accident, and next, a plane that had just been carrying him crashed shortly after he disembarked. His third album was also a hit, and Martin at this point was a huge star in Latin and South America. He delivered the voice of the lead character in Disney's 1997 Spanish-language version of the animated film Hercules, and became a celebrity spokesman for tourism in his native Puerto Rico. His fourth release, Vuelve, came out on C2 Records, a division of Sony's Columbia label, and reached number one on the charts in 22 nations, thanks mostly to its smash single, "La Copa de la Vida" ("The Cup of Life"). When the 1998 World Cup championship chose the song as its anthem, Martin's name became even more well-known on an international level.

Though Martin's international fame was growing, he still had not broken through in the United States to English-speaking audiences. That changed overnight in February of 1999 when he delivered an astounding performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the Grammy Awards ceremonies. The performance, complete with smoldering dance moves, earned him comparisons to legendary singer and sex symbol Elvis Presley. Essex in Entertainment Weekly observed, "His leather-pants, electro-pelvis version of `La Copa de la Vida' single-handedly goosed a very dull telecast, earning him a standing ovation." Suddenly everyone wanted to hear more from Martin, and sales of Vuelve increased fivefold.

It was not long before American listeners could get a taste of Martin in English. In May, his first English-language album, Ricky Martin, also on the C2 label, hit the charts running. It became the fastest-selling release for any week in 1999 with 661,000 units moved, the best ever for a Latin performer on the mainstream pop charts. Its single, "Livin' La Vida Loca," soon reached and clung to the number one spot for weeks, and the CD also included a duet with Madonna, "Be Careful (Cuidado con Mi Corazon)," on which he sings in English and she sings in Spanish. "It's all about exchanging cultures," Martin commented to Elysa Gardner in USA Today. The release was a funky melange of salsa, pop, jazz, and even ska and old 1960s spy music. It was produced by Desmond Child and Emilio Estefan Jr., who, along with Jon Secada and Diane Warren, also wrote some of the tunes. Critics were overall receptive, though more tempered in their assessment, no doubt, than his loco fans. "This is an unabashed pop album, but it's saved by its Latin soul," declared a Time writer. "Martin's singing talents are limited--his voice lacks power and depth--but he is not out simply to vocalize, he's out to entertain." By December of that year album sales of Martin's self-titled album topped six million, and three single tracks had made the charts on their own. By June of 2000 Martin's worldwide record sales topped 15 million; he released three albums that year, and a fourth in 2001. Early in 2001, having signed with United Talent Agency, Ricky Martin was reviewing movie offers as well.

Martin did not grow up listening exclusively to salsa music. He instead listened to rock artists such as David Bowie and Journey, but once his mother took him to see Latin legends like Tito Puente and Celia Cruz, he was hooked. His sudden foray into English language sounds prompted some to question his commitment to his Latin roots, but he has insisted he will never lose sight of his Puerto Rican ethnicity. In fact, signs point to the opposite--instead of Martin becoming Americanized, it is possible that America is simply becoming more fond of Latin culture. Gardner in USA Today noted, "The USA's Hispanic community continues to grow--the Census Bureau estimates it will be the largest minority population group by 2005." Spanish-language FM radio stations as of the late 1990s hold the top spots in cities like New York and Los Angeles. But beyond that, Latin music as a crossover sensation was being reported by magazines as diverse as Interview and Forbes, and Martin's sudden boom into superstardom was perhaps just a catalyst for widespread mainstream coverage. The introduction of a new slew of Latin artists like Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and Marc Antony, also added to the hype.

Martin is extremely secretive when it comes to his private life. He has been linked romantically with Hispanic television personality Rebecca de Alba, but the relationship is reportedly on-again, off-again, apparently due to their hectic schedules. For the time being, he lives in Miami, and works out at a gym and does rock climbing to stay in shape. He also practices yoga. As for his future, he told Gardner, "I would love to produce, or even write a play_. I'm talking about maybe going back into acting in two, three, five years." However, he noted that he is devoted to music, and remarked, "I can open the door to a new generation of Latin performers."

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Born Enrique Jose Martin Morales, December 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico; son of Enrique Martin (a psychologist) and Nereida (an accountant) Morales. Addresses: Manager--Angelo Medina Enterprises, 1406 Georgetti St., Santurce, Puerto Rico 00910. Fan mail-Ricky Martin International Fan Club, P.O. Box 13345, Santurce Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00908-3345.

AWARDS
Billboard Video Award for best new Latin artist, 1993; Heraldo Award (Mexico) for best actor, 1993; Billboard Award for best debut of the year, 1999; Grammy Award for best Latin pop performance, 1999; MTV Video Award, 1999; Male Pop Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Video of the Year, Ritmo Latino Music Awards (El Premio de la Gente), 1999; Best Selling Latin Artist, World Music Awards, 1999.

CAREER
Singer and actor. Began acting at age eight; member of Menudo (Latin pop band), 1984-89; released debut album, Ricky Martin, 1993; appeared in television situation comedy series Getting By, 1993; held role of Miguel Morez on daytime television drama General Hospital, 1994-96.

FURTHER READINGS
Books

• Contemporary Musicians, volume 26, Gale Group, 1999.

Periodicals

• Arizona Republic, May 23, 1999, p. E1.

• Billboard, May 29, 1999, p. 100; June 5, 1999, p. 138; January 27, 2001, p. 12; February 3, 2001, p. 97.

• Entertainment Weekly, April 23, 1999, p. 32; May 14, 1999, p. 72.

• Forbes, June 14, 1999, p. 24.

• Interview, June 1999, p. 98.

• Newsday, May 30, 1999, p. D25.

• Newsweek, May 31, 1999, p. 72.

• People, May 15, 1995, p. 109; May 10, 1999, p. 92; June 7, 1999, p. 37.

• PR Newswire, June 9, 2000, p. 4455.

• Rolling Stone, June 10, 1999, pp. 38, 123.

• Time, May 10, 1999, p. 84; May 24, 1999, p. 74.

• USA Today, May 7, 1999, p.1E.

Online

• The Official Ricky Martin web site, http://www.rickymartin.com (June 25, 1999).

• "Ricky Martin," Internet Movie Database web site, http://us.imdb.com (June 25, 1999 and June 19, 2001).

• "Ricky Martin," Wall of Sound web site, http://wallofsound.go.com (June 15, 1999).

SOURCE CITATION "Ricky Martin." Newsmakers 1999, Issue 4. Gale Group, 1999.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2002.

Photo credits