Word: martin
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...black slaves and Spanish conquistadors; here cultures collided, rhythms intermingled, and salsa emerged, inspired by Africa and Europe and by New York City. Marc Anthony's parents hail from the island, and Jennifer Lopez, though born and raised in the Bronx, also has roots there. As for Ricky Martin, he was born in Puerto Rico, the only child of Enrique Martin, a psychologist, and Nereida Morales, an accountant (Martin's parents separated when...
...Look at Martin today, and you can tell he was a child star--he wears the spotlight like ordinary folks wear house slippers. Indeed, Martin got started early: at 12 he auditioned to join Menudo, a Latin singing group comprised of boys ages 12 to 16 whose roster rotated when members grew too old. Martin was rejected on his first try because he was too small and too young-looking. Martin tried out again. Rejected again. On the third try, he made it. It was an early sign: what Martin lacked in talent he made up for in pure doggedness...
...Martin was immediately caught up in Menudo's vida loca. He visited Italy, Japan, Guam and Spain before he was old enough to shave. During one stretch, he and his young bandmates played for a month in Brazil (singing in Portuguese), then flew to the Philippines (singing in English) before returning to Latin America for a series of shows in Spanish. Life became a blur...
...surprisingly, perhaps, Martin's homelife suffered--both his parents wanted to see more of him, and his father asked him to choose between him and his mother. Hurt and angered by the ultimatum, Martin stopped talking to his father for almost a decade. A few years ago, they reconciled...
...kids in Menudo were poorly supervised, even neglected. Diaz will admit only that the group did have "problems," though he denies he was the root cause. Says Diaz: "I think a lot of problems come from the house, from the family, some of the parents the kids have." Martin, Diaz says, actually fared better than most. "Ricky had that special personality, like a charm," says Diaz. "He could handle himself...