page_title: Ricky Martin
section_title: Humanitarian work and impact
hierarchical_section_title: Ricky Martin / Activism and other ventures / Humanitarian work and impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Ricky Martin at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City, New York. Español: Ricky Martin en el Desfile Puertoriqueño en la Ciudad de Nueva York.
context_page_description: Enrique Martín Morales, better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author and humanitarian who is known as the "King of Latin Pop". He began his career at age 12 with the all-boy pop group Menudo. After five years with the group, he released several Spanish-language solo albums throughout the 1990s. Since the beginning of his solo career in 1991, Ricky Martin has become one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time with over 70 million records worldwide. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, where he achieved modest stardom. In 1994, he appeared on the US TV soap opera General Hospital, playing a Puerto Rican singer. He also ranks among one of the most influential Latin artists of all time and one of the greatest music video artists of all time.
  In early 1999, after releasing several albums in Spanish, Martin performed "The Cup of Life" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards show, which became a catalyst in bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene. Following its success, Martin released "Livin' la Vida Loca", which helped him attain success worldwide.
context_section_description: Martin is the founder of Fundación Ricky Martin (Ricky Martin Foundation), a non-profit organization. Among the events promoted by the foundation was a summer camp, which included Martin's personal participation.
  Martin has been honored with accolades including: Leadership in the Arts Award, Billboard's Spirit of Hope Award, ALMA Award, Vanguard Award, International Humanitarian Award by the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, Hispanic Heritage Award for his humanitarian work through the Sabera Foundation in rescuing three orphan girls from the streets of Kolkata (September 2002).
  In December 2003, Martin was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In his role as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Ricky Martin has supported UNICEF's efforts in fighting for children's rights, especially in the area of child trafficking.
  Martin has also collaborated with the International Organization for Migration on the Llama y Vive (Call and Live), a campaign which is aimed to facilitate prevention of human trafficking, protection of the youngest victims of child trafficking, and prosecution of the traffickers. For his work against human trafficking, the United States Department of State named Martin one of its Heroes in Ending Modern-Day Slavery in 2005.
  The Ricky Martin Foundation was founded by Ricky Martin, with the mission to advocate for the well-being of children around the world.
  After Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, the organization helped people and handed over homes that were rebuilt after the losses; Martin launched a viral campaign of selling a black shirt with the Puerto Rican flag stamped on it and thus the funds raised. The black shirts were designed by Martin twins, Valentino and Matteo. Many celebrities such as Maluma, Luis Fonsi, Bad Bunny, Will Smith and Marc Anthony supported this campaign. In November 2017, Ricky Martin received iHeartRadio Premio Corazon Latino Award for his support following Hurricane Maria and his constant work throughout the years with human trafficking.
  During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin created a campaign to help health care workers through the nonprofit organization Project Hope. "As you know, health care professionals are extremely vulnerable and professionals around the world don’t have personal protection equipment they need to prevent them getting infected," he said in an Instagram video.
  During Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, after the Killing of George Floyd, Martin and stars such as Rihanna and Katy Perry honored an effort called "Black Out Tuesday". He also created a hashtag #knowthestruggle, giving his social media to voices of the community that are looking for justice, to learn more about what's happening.
caption: Ricky Martin at a Puerto Rican Day annual parade in New York City
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