Martin, Ricky (1971-…), a Puerto Rican singing star, became one of the most popular Latin pop singers of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Martin recorded one of the biggest hits in the history of modern popular music with his single “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (1999).
Martin first won popularity with Spanish-speaking audiences with a series of albums starting in 1991. Vuelve (1998), his fourth album, reached number one on the Latin charts and included the single “La Copa de la Vida (The Cup of Life),” which reached number one in more than 30 countries. In 1999, Martin won a Grammy Award for best Latin pop performance. His first English-language album was Ricky Martin (1999), which included “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”
Martin was born on Dec. 24, 1971, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His real name is Enrique Martin Morales. He started his singing and acting career as a child and performed in the Puerto Rican pop group Menudo beginning in 1984. Martin settled in California in 1993. He acted on the soap opera General Hospital and performed on Broadway in the musical Les Miserables in 1996. Martin released a second English-language album, Sound Loaded, in 2000. After taking a two-year break from show business, he returned to the recording studio in 2003 with the Spanish- language album Almas del Silencio (Souls of Silence).
