RICKY MARTIN

Born: Enrique Martin Morales; San Juan, Puerto Rico, 24 December 1971

Genre: Latin, R&B, Pop

Best-selling album since 1990: Ricky Martin (1999)

Hit songs since 1990: "Livin' la Vida Loca," "La Copa de la Vida"

Recording a song that becomes a worldwide smash is a huge accomplishment. But when that song—coupled with a million-watt smile and some well-placed hip shakes—single-handedly launches a music revolution, as one-time child star Ricky Martin's " Livin' la Vida Loca" did in 1999, it is a rare occurrence indeed. The former Menudo member thrust his way into the world's consciousness with his mega-selling hit at the dawn of the new millennium, opening the door for a raft of Latin artists in a movement dubbed the "Latin Explosion."

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1971, Ricky Martin was the only child of psychologist Enrique Martin and accountant Nereida Morales, who divorced when he was two years old. Martin began acting in commercials as a child, and by the time he was sixteen had already had a lifetime's worth of pop stardom. A member of the perennially youthful manufactured boy band, Menudo—which forced members to retire at age sixteen—Martin began acting and singing while in grade school, finally gaining entrance to Menudo and touring the world with the group after his third audition in 1984 at age twelve.

Martin won a Mexican Academy Award for his role in the film version of the Mexican soap opera Alcanzar Una Estrella II, in 1988 and in 1992 signed a deal with Sony Records, which released his self-titled debut that year. A second album, the ballad-heavy Me Amaras (1993), preceded Martin's move to Los Angeles to concentrate on breaking his career in the United States. The singer landed a role on the ABC soap opera General Hospital as singing bartender Miguel Morez and released his third album, A Medio Vivir (1995), produced by fellow ex-Menudo member Robi Rosa. The album opened up Martin's style by introducing some rock elements into the traditional mix of Spanish ballads and upbeat dance numbers, producing the hit "Maria." In 1997 Martin began a year on Broadway in the role of Marius in Les Miserables.

The Hipshake Heard 'Round the World

Already a huge star in Latin America, the personable singer released Vuelve (1998), which debuted at number one on Billboard 's Top Latin chart and contained the official song for that year's soccer World Cup championship,
"La Copa de la Vida" ("The Cup of Life"). The single hit the number one chart position across the globe while the album sold more than 6 million copies worldwide. With a 1999 Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance, Martin was poised to cross over to an American audience, which he did in an unforgettable fashion at the February Grammy Awards ceremony.

His electrifying performance of the song, complete with leaping flames, a hip-shaking, leather-clad derriere, and a million-watt smile, launched Martin into the stratosphere. Suddenly, the singer was everywhere: magazine covers, entertainment news programs, benefit concerts, and television specials.

The hype would reach astronomical levels with the release of the Latin pop single "Livin' la Vida Loca" in the spring of 1999. The rousing, dance floor-ready celebration of a wild life was the number one single in the United States for five weeks during the summer and the album from which it was taken, Ricky Martin (not to be confused with his self-titled 1992 Spanish debut), entered the charts at number one. The song, which was so ubiquitous it quickly took on the quality of another Spanish smash, "The Macarena" (1996), helped the album sell more than 660,000 copies in its first week, the best ever for a Latin performer on the mainstream pop charts.

With production from Emilio Estefan Jr. and Desmond Child, Ricky Martin blends dance pop, rock, jazz, ska, and salsa into a world beat mix that appeals both to Martin's loyal Latin audience and to an American one primed for new sounds thanks to Martin's charisma and approachable, photogenic image. Even Madonna was wooed to join in Martin's "Latin Explosion" by singing a duet with him on the song "Be Careful (Cuidado con Mi Corazon)." The album also produced the hit ballad "She's All I Ever Had."

Along with massive exposure came prying questions, including a repeated whisper campaign concerning Martin's sexuality. Though interviewers asked Martin to clear up the media-created confusion, the singer politely demurred, suggesting that what he does in his bedroom—he was linked romantically with Hispanic television personality Rebecca de Alba for years—was not for public consumption. Taking few chances, Martin launched his second English-language album, Sound Loaded (2000), with another pop romp combining Latin percussion and Western dance music, "She Bangs."

Spot Light: The Latin Explosion

With a shake of the hips, a flash of his pearly whites, and a soccer chant that became a worldwide smash, Ricky Martin helped open the floodgates for the late-1990s "Latin Explosion." Following his career-making performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 1999 Grammy Awards, Martin released the Latin pop smash "Livin' la Vida Loca," an infectious Latin-English celebration of life that became Columbia Records' biggest-selling number one hit of all time. In the wake of Martin's success, the pop charts were suddenly flooded with Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, Chris Perez, Shakira, Luis Miguel, and Maná, some of whom were already major stars in Latin America but who had struggled to break the all-important American market. Not coincidentally, the movement came just a few years before the United States Hispanic population was expected to exceed African Americans as the country's largest minority population (2005).

Despite stronger songs and a more eclectic, lusher sound, the album did not fare as well as its predecessor. A hastily arranged duet with red hot Anglo-Latin singer Christina Aguilera on the album's second single, "Nobody Wants to Be Lonely," and the title track, which was uncomfortably close in sound to "Livin' la Vida Loca," did not reach the fevered pitch of the previous album's singles, according to music critics. Martin retreated from the spotlight in 2001 and 2002, making sporadic appearances at charity events.

With a lifetime of experience at his fingertips, Ricky Martin was poised to break into the lucrative American market, but even the former Menudo member could never have predicted how large an entrée he would make. The success of Martin's feel-good Latin dance singles helped pave the way for a number of other Latin artists who were finally able to translate their fame to a more receptive American audience.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Ricky Martin (Sony Discos, 1991); Me Amaras (CBS/Sony Discos, 1993); A Medio Vivir (Sony Discos, 1995); Vuelve (Sony Discos, 1998); Ricky Martin (Columbia, 1999); Sound Loaded (Sony/Columbia, 2000); Almas del Silencio (Sony Discos, 2003).

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