Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin (born Enrique Martín Morales) is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Nereida Morales, an accountant, and Enrique Martín Negroni, a psychologist. His parents divorced when he was two; his father remarried. Ricky has two maternal half-brothers, Fernando and Ángel Fernández, and two paternal half-brothers, Eric and Daniel Martín, and a paternal half-sister Vanessa Martín. He grew up in a Roman Catholic home and was an altar boy until he joined the Latin boy band Menudo. He became a solo artist in 1990. Ricky has some Corsican and Catalan ancestry as his paternal fourth great-grandfathers were born in Rogliano, Cap Corse, Corsica, and Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia.
After completing high school, Ricky left San Juan and moved to New York City. Later,he moved to Mexico City where he started acting. He first in a musical-theater in 1989 named Mis Tennis Rojos (My red tennis shoes) next to Angelica Vale and then followed another theater productions Mama Ama el Rock (Mom Loves Rock). He then participated in a telenovela (soap opera) titled Alcanzar Una Estrella II (Reach for a Star 2) next to Sasha Sökol. Out of this soap opera a musical group was formed named Muñecos de Papel in which he was one of the 6 members; they toured several cities in Mexico and recorded 2 albums. His main single was Juego de Ajedrez. A film based on the tv-series was also produced.
Ricky has enjoyed two decades of success as a solo musician both in Latin and English speaking countries. In all he has released nine albums. The most prominent single from his first English album, Ricky Martin, was "Livin' la Vida Loca", which reached number one in many countries around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, Turkey and South Africa.
Ricky is not only a well-recognized musician, but has continued performing in theater productions on Broadway. After the conclusion of a world tour in the mid '90s, Ricky returned to New York to appear in a Broadway theater production for the first time, joining the cast of the hit musical Les Miserables to play the romantic lead, Marius Pontmercy. In 2007, he began a international promotional tour titled Blanco y Negro which included a performance at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and concluded with a presentation at the Madison Square Garden on October 14, 2007. He is said to be playing Ché in the Broadway revival of the show Evita, scheduled to open in spring 2012.
In the past Ricky stated he was in love with Mexican TV host Rebecca de Alba, with whom he had an off-and-on-again relationship for over 14 years. They even talked of starting a family together, and at one point he planned on proposing. However with the release of Life, Ricky confirmed he and De Alba had parted ways.
In August 2008, Ricky became the father of twin boys, named Matteo and Valentino. The babies were birthed by a surrogate mother.
After the success of Livin' la Vida Loca, Ricky's personal life became a subject of interest due to his large gay following, and he was questioned about his sexual orientation. In a December 2000 interview with The Mirror, he was asked to comment on the rumors surrounding his sexuality. He replied that "I don't think I should have to tell anyone if I am gay or not, or who I've slept with or not."
On March 29, 2010, Ricky publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in a post on his official web site by stating, "I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am." Ricky said that "these years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within, and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn't even know existed."
Please pray for Ricky this week. Pray that God will do a miraculous work to show him his need of a Savior and draw him into a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ.