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Ricky Martin music biography continued...

and performing abilities, he has also proven himself as an actor and humanitarian as an ambassador for UNICEF.

The singer was born Enrique Martin Morales on December 24, 1971 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a youngster he sang in the choir and performed in various school plays which eventually led him to pursue professional singing and acting lessons. In 1984 he auditioned to become a member of the Latin boy band Menudo and was chosen out of many contestants to be one of the lead singers. With Menudo, Martin experienced much success as one of the biggest teen idols in Latin America. In 1989, he departed from the group and moved back to Puerto Rico where he completed his high school education.

Following a brief move to New York City, Ricky relocated to Mexico City where he pursued an acting career appearing in the theater production Mamá ama el rock and the telenovela Alcanzar una estrella II. He returned to singing in 1991 releasing his self-titled solo debut which proved to be a reasonable hit selling 500,000 copies worldwide. His follow-up, Me Amaras in 1993 ignited his rise to fame in Latin America. One year later he moved to Los Angeles where he landed a recurring role as the bartender/singer, Miguel Morez, on General Hospital. In 1995 he issued his third album, A Medio Vivir which included the hit single "María". This album, his first distributed in the United States, managed to sell seven million copies worldwide and was certified Gold. In 1997, he joined the cast of Les Miserables on Broadway for one year as Marius. In the meantime, he was working on a fourth album Vuelve which was issued in 1998. The album placed first on the Latin American charts and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200. The number one hit single "La Cope de La Vida (The Cup of Life)" became the 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem.

In the spring of 1999, Ricky released his second eponymous though first English language album. Martin experienced unfathomable success with the hits "Livin' la Vida Loca", and "She's All I Ever Had" and instantly became an iconic superstar. "Livin' la Vida Loca" became his first US number one hit maintaining the position for five weeks. The album would eventually go on to sell 17 million copies worldwide. Sound Loaded followed in December 2000. Although not as commercially successful as the previous release, the album spawned the major hits "She Bangs" and "Nobody Wants to be Lonely" featuring pop star Christina Aguilera. La Historia, the Spanish greatest hits album was issued in 2001 peaking at number one for five weeks on the Latin charts. The English greatest hits compilation The Best of Ricky Martin appeared next selling over one million copies.

Martin returned to his roots delivering a full length Spanish studio album in 2003 entitled Almas Del Silencio. Featuring the number one Latin hit singles "Tal Vez", "Jaleo", and "Y Todo Queda En Nada", the album received incredible praise confirming the singer's continuous credibility. The 2005 release, Life, is stated by Martin to encompass his personal emotions. The album which debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 became a bigger success in Europe with the lead single "I Don't Care/Que Mas Da" which featured rapper Fat Joe and Amerie. Ricky further promoted the album by embarking on the Una Noche Con Ricky Martin tour playing sold out shows in Latin America, the US, Europe, and Africa.