9. Ricky Martin
Puerto Rican Pop singer Ricky Martin got his start at the young age of 13 as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo. After the success of Menudo, Martin went solo releasing his self-titled Spanish-language debut album Ricky Martin in 1991. In 1994 Martin moved to Los Angeles and landed a role on the soap opera General Hospital as bartender and singerMiguel Morez. At this time Martin continued to focus on his music and released a third and highly successful album entitled A Medio Vivir with the track “Maria” charting worldwide. After several years as a major international star in mainly Spanish-speaking countries, Martin decided to take on the one place where he still had limited recognition – the United States. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Martin performed a single off his first English album, self-titled Ricky Martin, which soon had the whole world singing “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” To date Martin has sold over 60 million albums worldwide. After years of public curiosity about Martin’s sexuality, he publicly came out over Twitter on March 29, 2010 stating “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.” In regards to his recent coming out, Martin stated on Larry King Live, “If I’d known how good it was going to feel, I would have done it 10 years ago.” Martin is the father by way of a surrogate mother to twin boys, Matteo and Valentino. He is also the founder of the non-profit charity organization Ricky Martin Foundation, which advocates for the well being of children around the world.
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