Ricky Martin Biography

As a child, Ricky Martin was active in music at his school, singing in the school choir and taking voice lessons. He even began auditioning for advertising spots at an early age. But it was with the Latin boy band Menudo that Ricky Martin first got his taste of stardom in 1984. He spent five years with the band before going solo, signing with Sony in 1990.

But by 1994, Martin had found his big solo breakthrough was not actually as a musician, but first as an actor; he landed the role of Miguel Morez on General Hospital and moved to California to begin his acting career. Nevertheless, he continued to work on his music career, ultimately releasing a series of Spanish language singles between 1996 and 1997. But it was his performance of “The Cup of Life/La Copa de La Vida” at the FIFA World Cup in 1998 that ultimately launched his stardom as a solo artist and confirmed that he was ready for his first English album.

For the next decade, Ricky Martin would remain a Latin pop phenomenon for audiences around the world. In 2005, Ricky Martin released Life, his first album to feature almost all songs co-written by him. The album landed on the charts at number six and “I Don’t Care/Que Mas Da” became its first single hit. He began a worldwide tour in support of the album, starting in Latin America. After finishing the first leg of the tour, Ricky Martin released “It’s Alright,” and in the following year he performed at the 2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Turin.

Between 2006 and 2010, Martin took time off to write his memoirs, titled simply “Me,” which became a New York Times Bestseller upon its publication in 2010. Martin returned to music in 2011 with Musica + Alma + Sexo, and then later in that year a Greatest Hits album available only in Europe. The year 2012 saw Ricky star in the Broadway revival of the musical Evita, in the role of Che, and between 2012 and 2016 he appeared on multiple television shows, such as Glee and The Voice Australia, and in the film Minions, as the Latin American voice for Herb Overkill. In 2015, he released the album A Quien Quiera Eschuchar.

An avid supporter of charities, Ricky Martin has also established his own foundation, which has helped build 110 houses for children displaced in Phuket as a result of the Tsunami. The foundation seeks opportunities to contribute in a variety of humanitarian endeavors, and for his efforts Ricky Martin has been recognized with a variety of awards, including the Spirit of Hope Award, ALMA Award, and International Humanitarian Award from the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.

Ricky Martin continues to act, perform, and record, with no signs of slowing down. He recently began his first Las Vegas residency show in April of 2017, and 2018 will see Martin in the role of Antonio D’Amico in the film Versace: American Crime Story.