Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), better known as Ricky Martin is a Puerto Rican singer, actor and author who is widely regarded as the "King of Latin Pop".[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] He holds dual American and Spanish citizenship,[14] and began his career at age 12 with the all-boy pop group Menudo.[15] 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 sold over 70 million albums, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.[16] 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.[17] He also ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all time.[18] 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.[19] Following its success, Martin released "Livin' la Vida Loca", which helped him attain enormous success worldwide; it is generally seen as the song that began the Latin pop explosion of 1999 and made the transition easier for other Spanish-speaking artists to move into the English-speaking market. His first English-language album (also titled Ricky Martin), has sold 15 million copies and it's his best selling album to date.[20] His other studio albums include: Me Amarás (1993), A Medio Vivir (1995), Vuelve (1998), Sound Loaded (2000), Almas del Silencio (2003), Life (2005), Música + Alma + Sexo (2011), and A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). In 2018, he portrayed Antonio D'Amico on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie (CLOSE)