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ricky martin
Ricky Martin.`Born in Puerto Rico, Ricky Martin first came to
the attention of American audiences for acting stints including
the role of Marius in "Les Misérables" on Broadway.
For more than a decade, Ricky Martin watched his popularity
escalate around the world, even as he remained under the radar
of stateside audiences. And then…
More than a billion television viewers in 187 countries across
the globe felt the full force of Rickymania when he performed
"The Cup Of Life" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards
ceremonies in February 1999. Ricky's single, "La Copa de
la Vida," was the official song of the World Cup France
'98 and has been a #1 single in more than 30 countries. That
same night, Ricky's full-length Latin recording Vuelve won the
Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance.
In April 1999, when the true first week's sales (280,000) were
tallied on Ricky's "Livin' La Vida Loca," the blockbuster
single shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the single
with the highest #1 sales figures in Columbia Records history
and the highest single week's sales figures in 1999. Ricky Martin
became the first solo Latin male artist of the SoundScan era
to hit #1 on the Hot 100 and the first male artist to have the
#1 single on the Hot 100 in more than a year. "Livin' La
Vida Loca" had the highest single week's sales figures
of any single released in 1999. "Livin' La Vida Loca"
became the #1 single in five international markets including
the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand,
and Ireland.
Released on May 11, 1999, Ricky Martin, Ricky's English language
debut album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart
with the highest first week's sales (more than 660,000) in Columbia
Records history. A international success story, Ricky Martin
became the #1 album in ten international markets including the
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Spain, Norway, Finland,
New Zealand, and the pan-European Music Media chart. Ricky Martin
has been certified platinum (or better) in some 33 countries.
Ricky Martin has kept extremely busy since the release of English
language debut. As his "Livin' La Vida Loca" became
the party anthem of the new millennium (winning two MTV Video
Music Awards--Best Dance Video & Best Pop Video--in the
process), Martin embarked on one of the best-selling tours in
modern concert history, selling out more than 250 concerts in
some 25 countries.
When dates for Ricky Martin's anxiously-awaited American tour
were announced, each of the venues sold-out within an hour (in
some cases, within minutes!) of going on sale. Due to an unprecedented
demand for tickets, 11 new dates were added to Ricky's SRO tour
itinerary. By tour's end, Ricky Martin had performed to more
than 500,000 people across the country and sold some $22.6 million
dollars worth of tickets. A Ricky Martin performance at London's
Hyde Park drew more than 100,000 fans.
Ricky Martin's mantelpiece is jam-packed with awards. In 1999,
in addition to his Vuelve Grammy, he walked off with two Billboard
Latin Music Awards: Album Of The Year (Vuelve) and Hot Latin
Track Of The Year ("Vuelve"). The 1999 MTV Video Music
Awards gave Ricky's "Livin' La Vida Loca" two awards:
Best Dance Video and Best Pop Video; he also won the MTV North
Latin Viewer's Choice Award, the MTV South Latin Viewer's Choice
Award and the MTV Russia Viewer's Choice Award. Ricky was named
the World's Best Selling Latin Male at the World Music Awards
and won Favorite Male Artist at the Teen Choice Awards. He was
named Male Artist Of The Year and Male Hot 100 Singles Artist
Of The Year at the 10th Annual Billboard Music Awards. He was
named Male Entertainer of the Year at this year's American Latino
Media Arts Awards while "Livin' La Vida Loca" was
named Latin Pop Track of the Year at the 7th Annual Billboard
Latin Music Awards. Ricky Martin was named World's Best-selling
Pop Male Artist and World's Best-selling Latin Artist at the
12th Annual World Music Awards. The video for Ricky's "Shake
Your Bon Bon" has been nominated for Best Male Video and
Best Dance Video in this year's MTV Video Music Awards.
Ricky Martin was the star of "Ricky Martin: One Night Only!,"
his first network television special. Filmed at New York's Liberty
Park Directed by Emmy Award winner Ken Ehrlich, "Ricky
Martin: One Night Only!" premiered on Friday, November
26, on CBS and captured a 7.6/14 share rating. A home video
of the show has been certified platinum by the RIAA, as has
"The Ricky Martin Video Collection."
Picked by People magazine has one of the World's 50 Most Beautiful
People, Ricky Martin has been the subject of major pieces in
Time, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, People,
Interview, TV Guide, and many others. Ricky has been named "Entertainer
Of The Year" by Entertainment Weekly and is one of People's
25 Most Intriguing People Of '99. Ricky Martin was one of the
subjects on the annual "Barbara Walters Oscar Special."
Throughout his career, Ricky Martin has remained true to his
Puerto Rican roots and the Hispanic/Latino fanbase that first
made him a star. A peerless musical ambassador (who's also fluent
in five languages!), Ricky has introduced Latin Pop music to
markets around the world including the United States, England,
Japan, China, Germany, and many others. He continues to perform
and record in Spanish and often visits his native Puerto Rico.
At his appearance at the first annual Latin Grammy Awards, Ricky
acknowledged the enormous cultural and musical contributions
of the legendary Tito Puente, the master of mambo who passed
away this year.
Ricky Martin is an active participant in many social causes
including the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Luciano Pavarotti
& Friends fundraising concerts, the Carousel of Hope, the
Rainforest Foundation, and others.
To date, Ricky Martin has sold more than 32 million albums (more
than 24 million) and singles (more than 8 million) worldwide.
His 2000 World Tour has taken him to Canada, Japan, Asia, Australia,
Europe, and back to the States
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