Ricky Martin : The Rolling Stone Interview
Ricky Martin
It's eight in the morning in New York  and 5 000 young girls are hanging out of office-building windows and crammed onto West Fifty-first Street  screaming. For conservative midtown Manhattan  this is an event. For  Ricky Martin   it's just another day at the office. This morning  it's the Today show  where  Martin  is appearing on Today's live summer-concert series with a performance that ties up traffic for hours.
"Ever since I've known  him  " says Robi Rosa  the co-author of  Martin 's smash single "Livin' la Vida Loca" and a former member of Menudo who roomed with  Martin  when  Martin  joined the Latin boy band  "Ricky has exuded a sense of joy."
Not to mention organization.  The twenty-seven-year-old CEO of Ricky Martin Inc.  has managed  his  career in a way that is anything but crazy. Born on Christmas Eve 1971 in Puerto Rico to Nereida Morales and Enrique Martin III  Enrique "Kiki" Martin IV started doing TV commercials at seven. At twelve   he  joined Menudo. After leaving the band at seventeen  Martin considered quitting show business. But a role in a Mexico City musical led to soap opera work there  and then to a part on General Hospital and a stint on Broadway in Les Misérables in 1996. In 1991   he  began releasing a string of four solo albums  which sold a total of 15 million copies worldwide.
 He  did not work alone. "When  Ricky  called me  about 1993  saying  he  wanted to do a Latin album  I was surprised " says Rosa  whom  Martin  calls  his  "Latin soul" — a bit of a dark one  at that. " Ricky  and I are as much alike as Julio Iglesias and Sid Vicious " Rosa says with a laugh. A little Sid Vicious is clearly what  Martin  knew  he  needed; it was a song Rosa co-wrote  "Maria " that broke  Martin  in Spain and the rest of Europe.
But it wasn't until February that America heard the beat itself.  Martin 's hip-popping rendition of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys brought even that jaded audience to its Manolo Blahnik-shod feet. In May  when  his first English-language album  Ricky Martin   was released   it  shot into the top of the charts at Number One and hasn't left since. Neither has  Martin .
I was going to    but didn't want  it . My brothers and I went for a visit and said  "We want Puerto Rico." My father was very important in my life; he was my hero. So even though I loved my mother with all my heart  I wasn't going to stop seeing my hero. So my mother gave everything up and came back to Puerto Rico.
That I was someone who was good at hiding feelings — really good. I was an expert. I was like  "No  I don't want to feel this " and I wouldn't. It was hard for me to say  "I love you." I wouldn't dare. I was afraid of rejection. For five years I was trained to be part of a concept  not to say what I really felt: "Be yourself  but you can't be angry  because we have to work. You're not Ricky Martin  you're Ricky Menudo." So that year  I began to be — accept — myself. I read a lot  started painting. My paintings were a little dark. If you did a psychological test  you'd say  "This guy was depressed." But I was also having a good time  because I didn't have to follow an itinerary. If I wanted to be locked in my house for three days without leaving  I was [laughs].
It's eight in the morning in New York  and 5 000 young girls are hanging out of office-building windows and crammed onto West Fifty-first Street  screaming. For conservative midtown Manhattan  this is an event. For  Ricky Martin   it's just another day at the office. This morning  it's the Today show  where  Martin  is appearing on Today's live summer-concert series with a performance that ties up traffic for hours.
"Ever since I've known  him  " says Robi Rosa  the co-author of  Martin 's smash single "Livin' la Vida Loca" and a former member of Menudo who roomed with  Martin  when  Martin  joined the Latin boy band  "Ricky has exuded a sense of joy."
Not to mention organization.  [TGT]has managed  [TGT]  career in a way that is anything but crazy. Born on Christmas Eve 1971 in Puerto Rico to Nereida Morales and Enrique Martin III  Enrique "Kiki" Martin IV started doing TV commercials at seven. At twelve   he  joined Menudo. After leaving the band at seventeen  Martin considered quitting show business. But a role in a Mexico City musical led to soap opera work there  and then to a part on General Hospital and a stint on Broadway in Les Misérables in 1996. In 1991   he  began releasing a string of four solo albums  which sold a total of 15 million copies worldwide.
 He  did not work alone. "When  Ricky  called me  about 1993  saying  he  wanted to do a Latin album  I was surprised " says Rosa  whom  Martin  calls  his  "Latin soul" — a bit of a dark one  at that. " Ricky  and I are as much alike as Julio Iglesias and Sid Vicious " Rosa says with a laugh. A little Sid Vicious is clearly what  Martin  knew  he  needed; it was a song Rosa co-wrote  "Maria " that broke  Martin  in Spain and the rest of Europe.
But it wasn't until February that America heard the beat itself.  Martin 's hip-popping rendition of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys brought even that jaded audience to its Manolo Blahnik-shod feet. In May  when  his first English-language album  Ricky Martin   was released   it  shot into the top of the charts at Number One and hasn't left since. Neither has  Martin .
I was going to    but didn't want  it . My brothers and I went for a visit and said  "We want Puerto Rico." My father was very important in my life; he was my hero. So even though I loved my mother with all my heart  I wasn't going to stop seeing my hero. So my mother gave everything up and came back to Puerto Rico.
That I was someone who was good at hiding feelings — really good. I was an expert. I was like  "No  I don't want to feel this " and I wouldn't. It was hard for me to say  "I love you." I wouldn't dare. I was afraid of rejection. For five years I was trained to be part of a concept  not to say what I really felt: "Be yourself  but you can't be angry  because we have to work. You're not Ricky Martin  you're Ricky Menudo." So that year  I began to be — accept — myself. I read a lot  started painting. My paintings were a little dark. If you did a psychological test  you'd say  "This guy was depressed." But I was also having a good time  because I didn't have to follow an itinerary. If I wanted to be locked in my house for three days without leaving  I was [laughs].