His performance of "The Cup of Life" at the ceremony earned him a standing ovation from a pretty tough-to-win-over crowd, and his fourth album, "Vuelve," took home the award for Best Latin Pop Performance. It looked as if Martin had become a superstar overnight.
Yet from his '80s years in the long-running boy-band machine Menudo (which "retires" its bandmembers when they turn 17) to his role as Miguel on the soap "General Hospital," Martin's been on the radar of the American cultural consciousness for well over a decade; it's just that his height and his hairstyles have changed. Martin's magnetism and charisma, while always in full effect, is growing stronger with each new fan he wins over.
Ever since that star-making Grammy broadcast, Martin's crossover fame has been escalating at an alarming rate. The blockbuster single "Livin' La Vida Loca," written by fellow Menudo alumnus Robi Rosa and Desmond Child (who's worked with everyone from Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and Kiss to Hanson and Robbie Williams) immediately established residence at number one on the "Billboard" singles chart, generating enough mass hysteria to drive "Ricky Martin," his first full-length album in English, off the charts completely.
Not bad for a guy from San Juan who used to be known only as Menudo's "new Ricky."
MTV News' Serena Altschul sat down with Martin after a rehearsal for his recent appearance on "Saturday Night Live," and they talked about his inspiration, his family, the many stages of his success, and how he's managed to keep it cool in the midst of this sudden fan (and media) frenzy.
Ricky Martin: You know what? I'm gonna blame it on the sounds. Let's think about the Latin sounds. I think about ska. Let's think about, you know, those sounds of the '60s. It's fusion. It's all about crossing over not only into America at this moment, but also into different generations, and that's what we were looking for.
Desmond Child and Robi Rosa wrote the song. People that I trust. People that I count on, unconditionally. Robi Rosa's from New York. Desmond Child, well, we know what he's done.
SA: How did you hook up with Desmond Child to begin with?
RM: We started doing "The Cup of Life," which is a song that I performed at the Grammys, and that song became number one in 22 countries, and I said, "Dude, let's do what we have to do together. Let's stay together."
Desmond Child, he's done a lot with rock, but he's Cuban, and that's something most people don't know. He's really in touch with the Latin within him, and that's what I wanted to work on this album. We wanted to present a little bit of Latin. Of course, we wanted to present a little bit of the romanticism.
SA: I can totally hear that in your music.
RM: I'm glad, I'm glad. One day my mom got sick and tired of us [kids] listening to rock in the house. "Stop with rock. I can't stand it anymore. What do you guys know about Latin sounds?"
SA: So she needed to school you?
RM: Yes, she did. And she changed our lives, to be quite honest. She pulled us by the ear and she took us to a Celia Cruz concert. And I'm very grateful.
RM: Boston, Cheap Trick... mainly rock. I was the youngest of three brothers on my mother's side. You know, I wanted to be like them. So it was more rock than anything else.
Then again, you know, Puerto Rico is 4 million people, and we have like 110 radio stations. There's music everywhere. I mean, music is a way of living. We look for any excuse to make noise. Music has always been there, and I don't want to sound too dramatic, but I want to do music 'til the day I die.
SA: You seem to just love what you're doing. That's something you rarely see.
RM: And if I get tired of this, I will quit. How simple is that? I said to myself a couple of years ago that I was not going to do anything that I was not comfortable with. I will love to do this for a long time, but I mean, I go first. I don't want to sound egocentric, but it's my well-being, you know. Life is too short to be doing something you don't like, so let's take advantage of every moment while we're doing this.
SA: And how are you to really impact the rest of the world if you're not spreading love through loving what you're doing?
RM: I know. I have my ups and downs. I'm human. I breathe to have a heart that beats, and sometimes I just don't want to leave my house. I want to stay at home and relax, and sometimes I wanna quit, because you have to deal with a lot of sacrifices. No need to mention them, but, you know... sometimes I feel weak. Sometimes I'm afraid. So for me [it's] so important to take my time and just talk to myself and analyze what I've done. Step out of the picture, look at the picture, look what you've done, look where you are, look where you want to get, and then go back to the picture with a healthier way of thinking.
SA: And see where you want it to go, then.
RM: I mean, the audience senses it. It's all about emotions. If you're not having a good time, the audience is just gonna be bored. So I'll be very sincere, and I'll just say, "You know what? Thank you so much for everything you've done for me, and the applause, blah blah blah, but I'm not doin' it anymore." You have plan A and plan B. If anything, I love what I do. It's been great. It's been really accepted. But I see this as a beginning.
RM: Theater was great. That's my favorite. That's exactly when you have to really understand the meaning of the world "discipline." It's 7 shows a week, and it's 3 hours on stage and running, makeup.... You're dealing with classical sounds. You're dealing with a different audience in front of you every night. If you want a standing ovation, you have to sweat. So it's draining. I have a lot of respect for theater actors, especially those that have been doing a part for 10 years. If you can do that, you can do anything you want in life. And I loved it.
I did "General Hospital" for a while. It was great. It helped me a lot, even in my music, because of the acting techniques that I was using. I don't act when I go on stage and I perform my music, but it definitely helped me to find myself.
If I have to choose, without a doubt, music is what I love. A lot of people ask me about acting [in films]. I would love to do acting with the right director, with the right cast, but for me, there's nothing like music.
RM: I started [in] 1984 with Menudo. Very important years of my life. Five years where I was, once again, learning the real meaning of the word "discipline." Travelling, meeting different people...
I mean, you're 12 years old, and you left home, and you're working, and you're doing press conferences and concerts, and... it was very intense. That's why, in 1989, I needed to stop and just detach from anything that had to do with show business, because I was, first of all, saturated. Second of all, I didn't know who I was. I didn't know what I liked. I didn't know what I hated. Why? Because [I was] part of a concept. "You wear these clothes. You use this haircut. You sing this song."
SA: You're part of an instrument.
RM: Exactly. And [afterward] I came to New York City to do nothing. You know, for me, it was fascinating to go and walk and sit on a bench in a park and look at people walk by.... 'Cause [Menudo was] like, in a crystal ball, you know what I mean? We were, like, untouched.
But it was a great moment. I mean, to anyone who's part of a boy band now, I wish, you know, the best of luck. Enjoy it. Learn from it. Be a sponge. It's not gonna last forever.
SA: Being part of a boy band can be a blessing and a curse. How were you able to deal with that?
RM: Stopping for a while. Not taking advantage of the fame that I had in the band and go[ing] immediately to perform as a soloist. You can learn a lot from it, or you can be totally screwed, because of the adrenaline.
RM: Oh, definitely. Being on stage is addictive, and it's one of the most beautiful addictions, you know what I mean? I don't regret it, but still, it's very delicate when you're a teenager and you're dealing with the applause. You're dealing with all these things that you're not used to. It could be crazy for anyone.
For me, something that kept my feet on the ground was the fact that I knew that it was not going to last forever. I was gonna leave eventually, and I would remind myself [of] that every day.
SA: Let's go directly to the American insanity and the craze that has just ensued. How are you dealing with this enormous attention and constant barrage of media and press?
RM: It's been crazy. But it's been crazy for a while now, so I guess everything that I did for the past six years, since I released my first album, was getting me ready for this. This is the battle, you know. You just gotta be ready for anything, and I'm having a good time. It's not a scientific project. I'm taking it one day at a time and as it comes.
SA: You mentioned before a little bit about sacrifices. How are you dealing with your fame and your privacy?
RM: When I'm on stage, I give it all and I present myself as who I am. Yes, I do have my secrets. They're my secrets. It's like a defense mechanism for you to think you're one step ahead.
It's one of the biggest sacrifices that you tend to see. I sell tickets to my concerts, I sell CD's, but the day I feel forced to sell the key to my room, I'll stop doing this.
My relationships... not only with girlfriends, but also the relationship I have with my parents and the relationship I have with my friends, they belong to me. They're mine. If you wanna know me better, well, here's my music. Here's the way I perform, and this is the way I express myself.
RM: That's the only thing I want for myself. I mean, the paparazzi, they do a great job, man. They're out there with, like, a knife in their mouth. There's nothing you can do about that. They're only doing their job, nothing against them. But still, I'm winning. [Laughs]
When I was 6 years old I told Dad, "I want to be an artist." He [said], "Okay, so how can I help you?" My father was a psychologist. My mother is an accountant. Nobody's in the music business.
But one thing my father told me is: You know what you're saying. You know what you want. You know what comes with all this. And you want to be in the spotlight. But you have to deal with press. You have to deal with fans. You have to deal with the fact that maybe one day you want to be with your family [and] you're not going to be able to because there are responsibilities to take care of. I was only 6 years old, but he was trying to open my eyes a little.
If I was born again, I would do it all over again. I love this. I mean, when it comes to sacrifices, everybody has sacrifices in life. I mean, look at doctors. Look at lawyers. Look at Clinton, you know what I'm saying? You just have to ask for serenity and accept things you cannot change and [have] courage to change the things you can't. That's all you need. And the wisdom to know the difference.
