After being turned down for being to short, at age 12, Ricky finally became a member of Menudo, the teenage Spanish/English singing group for 5 years. During these 5 years Ricky lived one of his many dreams, performing on stage to sold out concert halls across the world. In 1989 he left the group to return to Puerto Rico, finish school and take some time off for himself.
Ricky And His Acting Career
Ricky began acting at the very young age of 6 doing commercials. He also sang in choir when he was young and performed in school plays. Ricky stared in the long-running musical play Mama Ama El Rock. In 1992 Ricky stared in the Mexican daytime series "Alcanzar Una Estrella II". The success of this show lead to a feature film of the same name. For his performance as Pablo in the feature film version, Ricky earned a Heraldo, which is the equivalent of a Academy Award. 1993 Ricky appeared in an episode of "Getting By", an American sitcom. While Ricky was with Menudo, they all had a spot on the American TV show "The Love Boat". He made a pilot for a TV station called Bare Foot In Paradise which never made it onto the air. Ricky has also done many commercials for Pepsi including a commercial filmed with Janet Jackson. When asked if he would like to continue acting, Ricky states that right now music is his first passion but if a role is ever offered with Demi Moore he would take it!
Ricky As Miguel Morez On General Hospital
Ricky entered the show as a new orderly in 1994. L&B Records launched Miguel Morez's career with a mega-concert in his native Puerto Rico. Sonny located Lily Rivera, Miguel's lost-love and song-writing inspiration. She was the daughter of the Puerto Rican crime boss! Lily went to Miguel. Their love hadn't died after Lily's father forced them apart. He'd forced Lily to give up her child by Miguel. Their boy was now 6, Lily told Miguel. In Puerto Rico, they searched for and found their son, Juan. That he'd been adopted into a happy home eased their heartache... Miguel and Lily were kidnapped by Lily's father. His daughter Lily convinced him to release them by daring him to kill her when he killed the rest of them. He couldn't do it. They flew back to Port Charles. Lily ended her engagement to Miguel who was hurt and angry. Lily confided more and more in Sonny Corinthos. Sonny felt comfortable around Lily. Brenda grew more jealous each time she saw Lily with Sonny. Sonny and Lily were jealous every time they saw Miguel and Brenda rehearsing a hot video. They convinced Brenda to wear a wire to get the goods on Sonny. Brenda felt disloyal, but she knew Sonny would never trust her enough to tell her the truth. Lily warned Sonny. He frisked Brenda, found the wire, and blew up at her. They were finished. Miguel was disgusted with Lily for what she'd done. They, too, were finished. After his breakup with Brenda, Sonny got engaged to Lily Rivera.
Ricky on Broadway
"Les Miserables" is one of Broadway's class acts, with a powerful book based on the classic Victor Hugo novel, as well as strong songs and solid staging. So a critically successful run in "Les Miserables" carries more credibility than in lighter fare musicals. Though not the lead, the role of Marius is sizeable and pivotal; in theater parlance one would refer to it as the "juvenile role". Marius is a young, idealistic, university student in Paris during the French Revolution. Part of a group of youths fighting for the rebel cause, he meets and falls in love with Cosette, the daughter of the story's protagonist, Jean Valjean. Against the backdrop of the revolution the two meet, are separated by war and ultimately reunited. So, yes, it's the romantic role and he had several numbers to sing during the course of the three hour show. As far as stage presence and movement, it's no surprise that Ricky was dashing in the role of Marius. Ricky is tall (6'1") and handsome and looks like, a romantic lead. Aside from the wedding scene, there is very little dancing in this musical, but Ricky moved well on stage and even managed a nice pratfall over the garden wall. It's his singing, though, that was most important for the role. His solo "Empty Tables at Empty Chairs" was performed with the right balance of anger and sadness.
Ricky and His Solo Career
Singles 1991-1992Fuego contra fuegoDime que me quieresVuelo El amor de mi vida1993-1994 Entre el amor y los halagosMe amarasQue dia es hoy 1995-1996-1997Fuego de noche, nieve de diaA medio vivirMariaTe extrano, te olvido, te amoVolveras Revolucion Bombon de azucar1998 VuelveLa copa de la vidaLa bomba1999Livin'La Vida Loca She's All I Ever HadShake Your Bon Bon2000Private EmotionShe Bang's2001Nobody Wants To Be Lonely Ricky Martin, 1991 Sony Music Me Amaras, 1993 Sony Music Producer: Juan Carlos Calderon A Medio Vivir, 1995 Sony Music Producers: KC Porter and Ian BlakeVuelve, 1998 Sony Music Producers: KC Porter and Robi Rosa Ricky Marin, 1999 Sony Music, Columbia1996 Ricky did a remake of the Beatles "Hey Jude" and "Day Tripper" 1996 Paul Anka's, "Diana" 1996 Voces Unidas, Puedes Llegar with Gloria Estafan, Jon Secada, Julio Eglesias, Placido Domingo, Roberto Carlos, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Patricia Sosa, Alejandro Fernandez and Carlos Vives 1997 Hercules, Disney Not only was Ricky the voice of Hercules for the spanish version , Ricky recorded the theme song for the movie , No Importa La Distancia 1998 Ricky performs La Copa De La Vida at the 1998 Soccer World Cup, which was the offical song for the 1998 games.English translations for ALL of Ricky's solo CD's can be found in "Music" area of this website
Ricky and the 41st Grammy Awards
The night was Febuary 24, 1999. Ricky was being nominated for a Grammy for "Best Latin Pop Performance". After 1 hour and 20 minutes of waiting for his time to perform, Rosie O'donnell introduces Ricky. Stage is set with dancers dancing to the beginning beat of La Copa De La Vida. Out from side stage is a huge silver box with 3 or 4 people all dressed in black pushing the box to the center of the stage. The box is turned and there is Ricky, dressed in black leather pants. He sings La Copa De La Vida in spanglish. His movements are unbelievable. Down both isle ways of the audience people wearing black come down playing percussion and head for the stage.
The end of the performance nears and Ricky walks up a set of stairs and dances to the beat of the music. The song ends and Ricky is looking onto a very well deserved standing ovation and throws out kisses!! Even Rosie O'donnell was amazed with what she just saw! Now the next step to the Grammy's. Gloria Estafan and Jimmy Smits walk out to announce the winner of "Best Latin Pop Performance". "Ricky rocked the house!" says Jimmy Smits. And the nominees are. Chayanne, Atado A Tu Amor [Sony Latin] Jose Feliciano, Senor Bolero [Rodven Records] Juan Gabriel, Celebrando 25 Anos De Juan Gabriel: En Concierto En El Palacio De Bellas Artes [Ariola/BMG U.S. Latin Records] Enrique Iglesias, Cosas Del Amor [Fonovisa] Ricky Martin,Vuelve [Sony Latin]
And the winner is.......RICKY MARTIN!! Ricky comes out to accept his award. "I HAVE A GRAMMY!" and continues with thanking everyone who helped make "Vuelve" also God and Guru.
What has started after this night will continue to be history in the making, the very next day, Ricky was the major topic around the world. Record stores could not hold onto a copy of "Vuelve" and Ricky once again hits the Billboard charts.
May 1999 "Ricky Martin", Ricky's first English CD was released. Ricky has been on many television shows, radio shows and on the cover of magazines across the world. August 1999 Ricky Martin has just been certified with a staggering 5 million sales, making him the biggest selling Latin artist of all-time. "Ricky Martin has certainly sparked interest and influence, but it's refreshing to see more and more Latin artists with incredible sales potential making their mark," said Recording Industry Association of America President/CEO Hilary Rosen on hearing the news.
October 1999 Ricky gets ready to launch a US Tour playing for sold out concert halls across the United States. Most locations sold out in within 10 minutes.
All information written here was reseached through books, magazines, internet resources and actual interviews.