Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, and as a solo artist since 1991. Throughout his career, he has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of the Ricky Martin Foundation, a non-profit charity organization aimed at eliminating human trafficking.
Martin got his start at age twelve with the all boy pop group Menudo; after five years with the group, he released his Spanish-language solo album, Ricky Martin, in 1991. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, becoming a modest star in the country. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera General Hospital, playing a Puerto Rican singer. In 1999, after several albums in Spanish, he released his first English-language album (also titled Ricky Martin), which included "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album sold 22 million copies and brought Martin international fame. His other studio albums include: Me Amarás (1993), A Medio Vivir (1995), Vuelve (1998), Sound Loaded (2000), Almas del Silencio (2003), Life (2005), and Música + Alma + Sexo (2011).
On the edge of the new millennium, Martin—almost by himself—gave Latino music an international face. An acclaimed performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards launched Martin into worldwide super-stardom. As Entertainment Weekly's Andrew Essex reported, "his leather-pants, electro-pelvis version of 'La Copa de la Vida' single-handedly goosed a very dull telecast, earning him a standing ovation." In 2010, Martin announced that he was a "fortunate homosexual man", ending years of fan speculation on the topic. His twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, were born via a surrogate mother in 2008. Martin also co-owns a Miami restaurant, Casa Salsa, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. On November 4, 2011, Ricky Martin was granted Spanish citizenship for his artistic merits and for his grandmother being Spanish-born. Martin currently stars as Che in the Broadway revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita.
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