(Biography as of Spring 2007)

MTV Unplugged / Black and White Tour

MTV has begun airing "MTV Diary: Ricky Martin", showcasing scenes from the "One Night Only" tour, on the road and onstage. MTV Latin America and MTV Tr3s co-produced the "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" show to be taped in Miami on August 17th, 2006 and premiered on MTV Latin America, MTV Tr3s and MTV Puerto Rico in November 2006. "Ricky Martin MTV Unplugged" released worldwide on CD and DVD by Sony BMG in November 2006. The first single of the album ,"Tu Recuerdo", featuring La Mari from Chambao, reached number one on the U.S. Latin Charts. The Album debuted at number one on the U.S. Latin Charts and number thirty-eight on Billboard 200.
This album includes Puerto Rican influences, particularly "Tu Recuerdo" (based mainly on a Puerto Rican "aguinaldo jíbaro", and finishing with an "aguinaldo orocoveño") and "Pégate", a Puerto Rican plena. Christian Nieves plays the Puerto Rican cuatro on both tracks.

On February 9th, the Black and White Tour started on his natal Puerto Rico, with the Spanish name Blanco y Negro.
With a repertory of around 23 songs, divided into 4 parts:
Part 1: Africanism with the songs "Pégate", "Raza De Mil Colores", "Por Arriba, por Abajo", "This Is Good", "Jaleo", "Que Más Da" and "Maria". Part 2: Unplugged/Romantic with the songs "Vuelve", "Gracias Por Pensar En Mi", "Fuego De Noche, Nieve De Día" and "Y todo queda en nada". The Part 3: Rock, consisted of "Revolución", "It's Alright", "Livin' La Vida Loca", "Somos La Semilla", "I Am Made Of You" and "Asignatura pendiente". And the end the Part 4: Latin Dance with "Drop It On Me", "Lola, Lola", "La Bomba", "The Cup Of Life", "Tal vez" and "Tu recuerdo", featuring in some presentations with La Mari, vocalist of the Spanish band Chambao. Who also participated in some presentations as the openning act.
On April 17th, Ricky is going to start the Black and White Tour, with the English title in the United States and Canada, starting in San José, California. More details over the European tour is still waited to be officially announced by fans, just some Spain dates have been announced

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.

Living la vida loca

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."

Sound Loaded

Ricky Martin, the tireless international superstar who detonated the Latin Pop Explosion, is back with Sound Loaded, the eagerly-awaited follow-up to his phenomenal English language debut album, which has sold 15 million copies worldwide and has been certified seven times RIAA-platinum in the United States since its release in 1999. With Sound Loaded, Ricky charts further his path of artistic growth, continuing to find new ways of blending el ritmo with elements of Pop, Rock, and Funk. Ricky's worldwide fanbase, which has grown exponentially with each of his releases, will not be disappointed with Sound Loaded. While remaining true to his Latin music roots, Ricky extends the possibilities of his music with 15 brand-new tracks ranging from heart-stopping ballads to booty-stomping party anthems.

Taking time off from his exhaustive tour schedule to record Sound Loaded earlier this year, Ricky assembled his dream writing/production team, many of whom helped him create the magic of Ricky Martin: Robi Rosa, Walter Afanasieff, Desmond Child, George Noriega, Emilio Estefan, Jr., Randall Barlow, Steve Morales, Mark Taylor, KC Porter.

Sound Loaded kicks off with Ricky's latest hit single, "She Bangs," a frenetic hook-packed tribute to a wild woman who bumps la vida loca up a couple of notches. (The album also includes a Spanish language version of the song.) The album's remaining songs--"Saint Tropeze," "Come To Me," "Loaded," "Nobody Wants To Be Lonely," "Amor," "Jezabel," "The Touch," "One Night Man," "Are You In It For Love," "Ven A Mí (Come To Me)," "If You Ever Saw Her," "Dame Más (Loaded)" and "Cambia La Piel"--provide a musical portrait of Ricky Martin now as well as the soundtrack to a nonstop Latin Pop Dance Music Party (with candlelit couches in the corners for interludes of amor.)

Almas de Silencio

In 2003, Martin released a new Spanish album Almas del Silencio. The first single, "Tal Vez", went to number one on the Latin Charts and stayed there for twelve weeks. He said of the new album: "I really needed to go back to focus, to my center, to the beginning. I had the need to search within, and really dig deep, and find those emotions that, because of the adrenaline and the euphoria that I lived for a couple of years, were probably sabotaged." Almas del Silencio debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200, reached number one on the Latin Albums charts and stayed there for six weeks. The next singles, "Jaleo" and "Y Todo Queda en Nada", reached number one on the Latin Charts ,and the album sold four million copies worldwide.

Life

On October 11, 2005 Martin released his first English language album since 2000's Sound Loaded and the tenth album of his career.
Most of the songs on the album, called Life, were co-written by Martin. He commented on the album: "I was really in touch with my emotions. I think this album is very multi-layered, just like life is. It's about feeling anger. It's about feeling joy. It's about feeling uncertainty. It's about feeling. And all my emotions are part of this production." The album debuted at number six on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The first single from the album was "I Don't Care"/"Qué Más Da", featuring guest appearances by Fat Joe and Amerie.
Another single was released "Drop It On Me", which didn't even chart. Soon after, Martin announced his Latin American tour called Una Noche con Ricky Martin, promoting his latest album Life. Starting in Latin America, the tour started on November 15 in Mexico City. After finishing the first leg of the tour (which included Latin America and the U.S.), he released his next single, "It's Alright" (Spanish version: "Déjate Llevar"). A different version appeared in France, which included additional vocals by French hip-hop singer Matt Pokora. The song went to number one in France.
Martin performed at the 2006 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Turin. A few days later, he announced the second leg of his world tour (which included Europe and Africa) called One Night Only/Una Noche Con Ricky Martin World Tour. The second leg started on April 21 in Manchester, U.K., and ended on June 3 in Tel Aviv, Israel, including shows that sold-out in two hours (Italy and Finland). In addition, he performed at the World Cup Fan Party in Berlin (Brandenburger Tor) on June 7, 2006, and at Lebanon's Beiteddine Festival on May 27 at the BIEL seafront hall in Beirut and on May 28 in Egypt , his first concerts in the Arab world following a promise to Queen Noor on his 2005 visit to the Arab Conference in Jordan. During this visit, he recorded an Arabic/Spanglish version of "Drop It on Me", "Enta Omri" with Arabic pop star Cheb Mami.

Social work

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. Heis ambassedor of Unicef and he has his own foundation. He spends a lot of his time working for the awareness of childtrafficking and modern slavery. See more on www.peopleforchildren.org

To date, Ricky Martin has sold more than 55 million albums and singles worldwide. His 2000 World Tour has taken him to Canada, Japan, Asia, Australia, Europe, and back to the States. In his Lifetour he visited also Africa. He started his Blanco y Negrotour with a lot of concerts in Latin America.