Dec 16, 2011 05:32 PM
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(Updated Dec 16, 2011 05:32 PM)
Ricky" Martin Morales(born December 24, 1971), better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.
During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide. He is the founder of Ricky Martin Foundation(in Spanish Fundacion Ricky Martin), a non-profit charity organization. Ricky Martin's exuberant 1999 single "Livin' la Vida Loca" made him a prominent figure of Latin dance-pop. Martin got his start 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 there. 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 the salsa-style "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). In 2010 Martin announced that he was a "fortunate homosexual man", ending years of fan speculation on the topic.
