Ricky Martin was born on Christmas Eve, on December 24th, 1971 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the only son of Nereida Morales, his mother, who was an accountant, and Enrique Martin Negroni, who was a psychologist. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and they both got married again years later. His father gave him another 3 half-brothers.
Although nobody in his family was part of the artistic environment, he was attracted to that since he was a Little kid.
Menudo.
At 12, he made an audition for joining Menudo, a Latin pop group formed by Puerto Rican teenagers that were substituting when they reached 17 years old.
When Ricky was 17, he left the band, and he came back to Puerto Rico to finish his High School.
He had the chance to travel the world with this pop group that was the most important teenager Spanish group of all time. Ricky always dreamed to be part of this band.
After finishing High School, he left San Juan and move to New York. Later, he moved to Mexico City where he started acting, first, on plays, and then in soap operas, such as “Alcanzando Una Estrella” (Reaching a Star). A movie based on the soap opera was also released, and he had an important role. His character’s name was “Pablo” whom made him win an important award in Mexico.
Music Career.
While developing his career as an actor in Mexico, he signed a contract with the Record Company Sony Discos, Latin version of Sony Music in 1990. With that label, he released his first Spanish solo album “Ricky Martin” (1991), which included the simple “Fire against Fire”. The album reached gold records in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico and the United States, and to this was added a series of concerts in South America whose tickets sold out quickly.
He continued releasing albums during the 90s, alternating this with his career as an actor. He could participate in Broadway in the famous play “Les Miserables” along with an important role in the American soap opera “General Hospital”
1998 FIFA World Cup.
He was chosen to sing the official song of the FIFA World Cup in 1998 hosted in France. His hit “The Cup of Life” reached number one on charts in 60 countries.
After many years as a Spanish music star, he prepared himself to make his crossover, and he released his first English album in 1999 called “Ricky Martin” which had tracks produced by Desmond Child, Diane Warren, William Orbit, and his friend Robi Draco Rosa.
Personal Life.
In his personal life, he has been named among the 50 most beautiful people nominated by People magazine and its version in Spanish, in 2000 and 2006, respectively.
On March 29th, 201o Martin made public his homosexuality via Twitter, after keeping a relationship with a Chilean guy called Cristobal Olivos. He had twins Valentino and Mateo. His current Net worth is $60 million, and he published his autobiography in 2011.