Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991. Throughout his career, he has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide. He is the founder of the Ricky Martin Foundation (in Spanish Fundación Ricky Martin), a non-profit charity organization aimed at human trafficking.
Martin got his start at age twelve with the all-boy pop group Menudo; after five years with the group, he released his Spanish-language solo album, Ricky Martin, in 1991. He also acted on stage and on TV in Mexico, becoming a modest star in the country. In 1994 he starred on the American TV soap opera General Hospital, playing a Puerto Rican singer. In 1999, after several albums in Spanish, he released his first English-language album (also titled Ricky Martin), which included "Livin' la Vida Loca". The album sold 22 million copies and brought Martin international fame. His other studio albums include: Me Amarás (1993), A Medio Vivir (1995), Vuelve (1998), Sound Loaded (2000), Almas del Silencio (2003), Life (2005), and Música + Alma + Sexo (2011).
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (April 19, 1970) is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel. An icon in the Spanish-speaking countries, he is often referred to as "El Sol de México" (The Sun of Mexico) or simply "El Sol" (The Sun).
Beginning his musical career in his childhood, Luis Miguel has won five Grammys and four Latin Grammys among other numerous awards. He is considered as one of the top male pop vocalists in the world nowadays. His contribution to Latin pop music, along with his hermetic personal life, has made him a global figure of Latin music for almost three decades. He debuted on the professional music at 11 years old. At the age of fifteen, Luis Miguel received his first Grammy for his duet "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" (I Like You Just The Way You Are) with Sheena Easton. In 1991, the RIAA gave him a recognition for the high sales of the albums Romance and Segundo Romance. Luis Miguel is the only Latin artist to have two Spanish-language albums (Romance and Segundo Romance) go platinum in the USA. He has achieved a long string of distinctions. Also among those was having his album Luis Miguel achieve gold and platinum certifications in four countries, including the United States, within just three days of its release.
José Luis Perales (born January 28, 1945 in Castejón, Cuenca Province) is a Spanish singer-songwriter and composer who is very popular in Spain and Latin America. He has performed some of his extensive work at Carnegie Hall, New York.
From a very young age, Perales displayed an interest in music. At age 6, he learned to play the lute. At 16, Perales studied to be an electrical engineer at the Universidad Laboral of Sevilla on a scholarship. He learned how to play the guitar there. During his time at university, he realized that music was going to be part of his life. After university, Perales moved to Madrid, where he completed his studies and continued his interest in music. His first attempt as a musician was as a composer, because he did not like to sing and was unsure of the support of his girlfriend, Manuela. Encouraged by his mother, Mariana, Perales sang in his hometown at some local festivals. It was not until he met Rafael Trabucchelli (an influential Spanish music producer of the time) in 1970, however, that his musical career took a dramatic turn. Trabucchelli discovered the young composer and talented, but reluctant, singer. Perales composed "Porque te vas" (Because you're going), which was performed by Jeanette and sold 4 million copies worldwide in 1972. After much encouragement from Trabucchelli and his supporters, Perales decided to give singing a try. His first record, "Mi Guitarra" (Jealousy of My Guitar) was a huge success in Spain and in Latin America.
Anthony "Romeo" Santos (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, featured composer and former lead singer of the Bachata group Aventura. As a member of Aventura, Santos has been a key figure in popularizing Bachata, with hits reaching near the top of the Billboard Latin charts and the top of charts in Europe. In 2002, the band's song "Obsesión" was number one in Italy for sixteen consecutive weeks.
Santos was born in The Bronx, New York, United States to a Argentinian father and a Puerto-Rican mother. At twelve years of age, he became a member of the church choir. While the group performs in both English and Spanish, their work was widely ignored by the English-language media during the early part of their career. On May 9, 2011, Santos released his first single, "You", from his upcoming solo debut album, Formula. The song became a number-one debut on the Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Songs chart. The second single revealed from his album was "Promise" which features a duet with Usher. The single has peaked at number #1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart and number one on the Tropical Songs chart.
Marcos Gómez Llunas (born 29 September 1971, Madrid) is a Spanish singer-songwriter who has been successful in southern Europe and Latin America and is known for his participation in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest.
Llunas, son of Spanish musician Dyango, released his self-titled first album in 1993. He recorded several moderately successful singles, and in 1995, in Paraguay, won the OTI Song Festival for Spain with the song "Eres mi debilidad".
In 1997, Llunas was chosen internally by broadcaster TVE as the Spanish representative for the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest with his self-penned song "Sin rencor" ("No Hard Feelings"). At the contest, held in Dublin on 3 May, "Sin rencor" finished in sixth place of the 25 entries.
In the years following his Eurovision appearance, Llunas recorded in Portuguese and Catalan in addition to Spanish, and became particularly successful in Latin American markets. His most recent album, a career retrospective, was released in 2004 and he has been inactive as a recording artist since, although he has appeared as a judge on Spanish television talent shows.