Ricky Martin: the identity of one of the idols of Latin America
The Latin American singer and actor has stood out throughout his career for his versatility as well as for his charisma and humility.
Just mentioning the name of Ricky Martin is an allusion to one of the most prominent singers in Latin America. Talking about him takes us down the road from nostalgia to his biggest hits in the 90s, when half-ponytail hairstyles and dark-rooted blonde hair ruled the fashion trends; and to a place - be it from our childhood or youth - that we undoubtedly remember with joy. Who will not remember when mixtapes still existed (yes, centennials, before streaming and CDs we had tapes) where we played Livin 'la Vida Loca over and over again with those crazy manes that were exchanged for short hairstyles stuffed with styling wax. Of course, always with the Puerto Rican at the forefront to teach us how to do it and take it.
Ricky Martin is more than just a Puerto Rican, the talented actor and singer has fallen in love for decades for his charisma and attitude on and off the stage, and for being a champion of the LGBT + cause in Latin America. His handsome demeanor and latent humility have made young people take him as a source of inspiration since his beginnings in the music scene and adults as a Latin American leader, who with his music, in addition to teaching us to move our hips to replicate his steps , have set the pace in the region's music scene to push for the top. Not for nothing is he recognized as the King of Latin Pop.
Who is Ricky Martin?
Enrique Martin Morales, if we mention that name without further ado, it is likely to go unnoticed, however, it does not take a magnificent intuition to be able to highlight that we are facing one of the most popular names in the world of Latin music. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ricky Martin has made an impactful musical career, managing to position himself as one of the best-selling and most influential Latin artists in history. His career began in the 80s with the youth group Menudo and going on as a soloist in 1991, until 2021 he has compiled nine studio albums with which he has reached 60 million in sales and has catapulted him from Latin pop to pop in English.
The winner of two Grammy Awards and five Latin Grammys, he has a career worthy of admiration. His beginnings as a model gave way to performances on the small screen, along with Menudo, with adolescent soap operas such as Por siempre amigos (1986), and then embarked on his solo adventure at just 19 years old. His first album titled under his stage name catapulted the Puerto Rican to the top of music with his hits, Flight and Fire against Fire; same album with which he obtained eight gold records throughout Latin America and the United States. Such was the impact and sensation in the nineties with this figure, after albums like Me amarás (1993) or Vuelve (1997), that by 1998 Ricky Maritn would reach the top of the world music scene with La copa de la vida , the official theme of the 1998 FIFA World Cup France, which topped the charts in more than thirty countries.
Already positioned on the global scene, the Puerto Rican released his first album in English titled eponymously, followed by years of success at the beginning of the new century that even led him to release a compilation of his most listened to singles. By the mid-2000s, successes followed such as his show Unplugged, recorded in Miami, where María or Vuelve meet, and a new edition of his greatest singles with album 17, to commemorate his 17 years on the music scene. After several years traveling for the music of the Puerto Rican, with his wedding, the arrival of his children and, therefore, the formation of a family; the pop singer found his return with the rise of reggaeton and Latin son. The collaborations between Ricky Martin and Carlos Vives or with Maluma, did not wait and they were what returned to the music scene the Puerto Rican who does not marry a single genre or a single language, in a symbol of resilience and such incredible adaptation as surprising.
Ricky Martin in Menudo: His Beginnings
As we mentioned earlier, the Tu Recuerdo singer found his biggest leap to fame with the youth group Menudo. After several attempts in the world of modeling as a child model and after acting in several school plays, the Puerto Rican with Spanish parents auditioned to be part of the youth group Menudo, in 1984, which replaced Ricky Meléndez, original member of the group with his brothers Carlos and Óscar, with which Ricky Martin achieved his debut as a singer.
For five years as part of Menudo, the group continued their successes and went to unexpected places within Southeast Asia, reaching the Philippines and within parts of Asia such as Japan. The group's albums such as Shadows and Figures, Sons of Rock or Los Últimos Héroes, were propelled by success in soap operas mainly in South America and especially by their appearance in commercials for large American brands such as Pepsi or McDonald's. By 1991, the so-called "Menudomania" came to an end for Ricky Martin.
How old is Ricky Martin?
Ricky Martin's wide and diverse acting and musical career might seem to us that he has been in this world for an eternity, however, the one born on December 24, 1971 in the Puerto Rican capital, has 49 years of age and 37 years of career.
What is Ricky Martin's Instagram?
At the beginning of the decade, we can say that something vital (but clearly indispensable) in our life is social networks. Being around celebrities of the stature of Ricky Martin makes us get closer to our idols, know their lives and know how they behave off stage, something that generates a remarkable and outstanding identification. The Puerto Rican himself, on his Instagram account, @ricky_martin, is one of the stars who has best adapted to the digital world and in which he lets us delve, even if only a little, into his private life.
Who is Ricky Martin's husband?
Ricky Martin and Rebeca de Alba were the perfect couple for a long time, however, in 2010 the singer openly expressed his homosexuality and after a love affair with the Chilean Cristóbal Olivos, in 2016 he began a relationship with the Swedish painter of Syrian origin Jwan Yosef , with whom after a year of courtship he married. The Scandinavian artist, with a Muslim Kurdish father and an Armenian mother, emigrated with his family to the Swedish country when he was only two years old, studied painting at the Pernby School of Painting in Stockholm, and later moved to Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, also in the capital of Sweden and finish his studies with a Master of Arts from Central Saint Martins in London. Jwan Yosef is recognized in the art world for his solo exhibitions Painting about Sex, Flesh and Violence, lol and High Notes.
Ricky Martin's children
Currently Ricky Martin has four children in total, however, the children of the Puerto Rican actor and singer are not entirely the product of his marriage to Jwan Yosef. Initially, his first-born Valentino and Matteo Martin, born in 2008, were conceived through surrogacy. While in 2018 both Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef announced the birth of their daughter Lucía Martin-Yosef and after a year, in 2019, the arrival of their second child together, Renn Martin-Yosef.
Movies and series where Ricky Martin has appeared
Ricky Martin's success throughout his career has been highlighted by his versatility in whatever activity he performs. In addition to his musical successes, the Puerto Rican has managed to enhance his career with outstanding appearances in several films and series. His success on the big screen came when he was chosen in 1997 by none other than Disney to give a voice in Latin America to one of his most successful animated films: Hercules. And who did not sing in his iconic childhood No matter the distance? Ricky Martin's dubbing performance in Hercules was outstanding, with an impact duo alongside Tatiana, who played Megara.
In recent years, the Puerto Rican's career has focused to a greater extent on television series and television programs, from being a judge in reality shows such as American Idol, La Voz Spain, Mexico, Australia, Italy and Arabia, to his most distinguished performance in a series of the caliber of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, in the role of Antonio D'Amico.
Ricky Martin and his most popular songs
Vente Pa ’Ca - Ricky Martin ft. Maluma
This collaboration with Maluma is probably the one that returned the Puerto Rican singer to the music scene today. Demonstrating his versatility, Ricky Martin surprised us with this vibrant duet that topped the lists of most listened to songs in 2016 in Latin America and Spain, and was nominated for the Latin Grammy as song of the year.
Returns
Belonging to the album Almas del silencio, released in 2003 and with a nomination for the Latin Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Perhaps, it is one of the combinations between the Latin pop so characteristic of Puerto Rican with the rhythms of a romantic ballad. Thus generating another of the hits under the authorship of the Venezuelan singer-songwriter Franco De Vita.
The bite
This song in collaboration with the Cuban singer Yotuel Romero, is part of the introspections of the Puerto Rican to the new fashionable rhythms. With a frenetic rhythm, La mordidita is the perfect song with which Ricky Martin teaches us to move our hips.
Fire at night, Snow at day
One of the singer's first hits, released with the album A medio a vivir in 1995, is one of the ballads with which the Puerto Rican began to conquer Latin America, to become the idol that he is today.
His career today
The current affairs of the Puerto Rican seem as intermittent as it is complex, dedicated almost entirely to his family, he finds his participation as a singer with interesting collaborations such as his recently released Canción Bonita with Carlos Vives and Qué Rico Out with Paloma Mami. Proving that little by little the Puerto Rican returns to the music industry, which he will return live after the announcement of a tour in the United States with Enrique Iglesias. After his role as Antonio D'Amico, the Puerto Rican has not returned to the small screen, thus postponing his acting comeback after a hectic 2020. Likewise, the one who received the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in Mexico for his activism In the fight for the rights of the LGBT + community, he has not ceased and his cause remains alive through his Ricky Martin Foundation.
Ricky Martin's style
Ricky Martin long hair, Ricky Martin with a skirt, Ricky Martin white beard; are some of the most frequent Google searches about the singer. And it is not for less, the Puerto Rican has stood out throughout his career for having a highly particular and outstanding style. In each of the actor and singer's performances, he dazzles us with his style and his uniqueness to let us see how he is always at the forefront.
Those who know of his musical beginnings as a soloist will remember Ricky Martin with long hair on his early albums and singles. With that mythical long hair and a padlock beard worthy of the 90s, the Puerto Rican fell in love with locals and strangers to let us know that if something was certain, it is that Ricky Martin always dresses in fashion. Already in his mature stage, the Puerto Rican has stood out for his presence in the most important fashion shows in the world of fashion, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Jean Paul Gaultier, Berluti and DSquared2, in addition to having a solid friendship with the Italian designer Giorgio Armani.
His most recent style novelties are in line with genderless trends, with the use of a skirt for a concert in 2015, in search of breaking all gender stereotypes and his even more recent beard dyeing to a white beard to make us known his new collaboration with Carlos Vives. Which lets us see that the Puerto Rican singer and actor does not let anything break with his uniqueness, his identity and his clear vision of the world.
