First Post had to be of one of my Longest "Taken" lovers of all time ....This article being taken from Advocate Magazine ....Introducing the Coming Out of Ricky Martin.......
"As he prepares to bring sizzling Latin authenticity to his role in the Broadway revival of Evita, megastar Ricky Martin reveals the other passions in his life.
By Jeremy Kinser
Photography by David Needleman
“I was seduced by the madness and the fame,” Ricky Martin says, letting out a deep breath as he leans back on a sofa in a studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The 40-year-old superstar’s chiseled features, which once made him an MTV fixture, ensure he’s still boyishly handsome, but there’s also a well-earned maturity that wasn’t evident when Martin became a household name. “Once I took a moment to step out of the spotlight and create my family, I thought it was the perfect moment to have this stability.”
Having settled down with his partner and two children in New York this winter, Martin has found a constancy that seemed to be missing when he first became a superstar more than a dozen years ago. The singer is in many ways liberated, certainly from the closet in which he hid his sexual orientation. Perhaps the best word for Martin is one he used to describe himself last year while accepting an award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation: free.
He may be free, but today Martin is a very busy man and on a rigid schedule. Martin arrives at the studio for this interview and photo shoot accompanied by his longtime publicist, John Reilly, and his manager, Jose Vega, who’s been with him since he joined the wildly popular Puerto Rican singing group Menudo when he was 12 years old. He’s just come from a wardrobe fitting for Evita, a Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated political-themed musical; it’s the reason for his move to New York. And though he says he’s eager to get home to see his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, Martin takes time to offer a friendly smile and firm handshake to everyone on the small crew assembled for the photo shoot. Although it’s a brutally chilly Friday afternoon in Manhattan, Martin is gregarious and warm.
Martin’s charisma appears effortless and genuine, and his magnetism isn’t reserved for the cameras. The crew, most of whom are gay men, exchange glances to signify that this will be an exciting afternoon. Even the lesbian studio manager—no stranger to superstar photo sessions—is hovering about, clearly smitten with Martin.
His crossover appeal is, by now, almost legendary.
By Jeremy Kinser
Photography by David Needleman
“I was seduced by the madness and the fame,” Ricky Martin says, letting out a deep breath as he leans back on a sofa in a studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The 40-year-old superstar’s chiseled features, which once made him an MTV fixture, ensure he’s still boyishly handsome, but there’s also a well-earned maturity that wasn’t evident when Martin became a household name. “Once I took a moment to step out of the spotlight and create my family, I thought it was the perfect moment to have this stability.”
Having settled down with his partner and two children in New York this winter, Martin has found a constancy that seemed to be missing when he first became a superstar more than a dozen years ago. The singer is in many ways liberated, certainly from the closet in which he hid his sexual orientation. Perhaps the best word for Martin is one he used to describe himself last year while accepting an award from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation: free.
He may be free, but today Martin is a very busy man and on a rigid schedule. Martin arrives at the studio for this interview and photo shoot accompanied by his longtime publicist, John Reilly, and his manager, Jose Vega, who’s been with him since he joined the wildly popular Puerto Rican singing group Menudo when he was 12 years old. He’s just come from a wardrobe fitting for Evita, a Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated political-themed musical; it’s the reason for his move to New York. And though he says he’s eager to get home to see his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, Martin takes time to offer a friendly smile and firm handshake to everyone on the small crew assembled for the photo shoot. Although it’s a brutally chilly Friday afternoon in Manhattan, Martin is gregarious and warm.
Martin’s charisma appears effortless and genuine, and his magnetism isn’t reserved for the cameras. The crew, most of whom are gay men, exchange glances to signify that this will be an exciting afternoon. Even the lesbian studio manager—no stranger to superstar photo sessions—is hovering about, clearly smitten with Martin.
His crossover appeal is, by now, almost legendary.
Born Enrique Martin Morales to a Roman Catholic family in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he began driving women and gay men wild as a member of the boy band Menudo. In 1984, Martin was recruited into the group to replace a departing member, and he would remain with Menudo for five years. In Menudo he was trained to make fans swoon, and he achieved teen idol status, selling out huge venues, appearing on magazine covers, recording dozens of albums—sometimes up to four per year—and starring in Pepsi and McDonald’s commercials and appearing on television shows including The Love Boat.
Feeling stifled creatively, he left Menudo in 1989 and began a solo career that yielded four hit Spanish-language albums, a year-long stint as a bartender on the daytime drama General Hospital, and a turn in Les Misérables on Broadway, before a performance that would alter the course of both his career and contemporary music. In 1999, while still relatively unknown in the U.S., Martin performed a pelvis-gyrating version of “La Copa de la Vida” (“The Cup of Life)” to a standing ovation at the Grammy Awards. Months later the international chart-topping success of his self-titled English-language album and its inescapable lead single, “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” would usher in the Latin pop explosion, helping to prepare the lucrative U.S. market for Latin entertainers Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias. Martin was everywhere: MTV, Saturday Night Live, dozens of magazine profiles, even on the cover of The Advocate as the subject of a 1999 article that examined “Ricky fever.” His level of stardom made a literal truth out of the title of his loca hit song.
“You have to be careful,” he says now about playing to sold-out stadium crowds around the world. “It’s not easy to deal with fame. I’m very lucky to be surrounded by amazing people who are raw and honest, who will say I’m wrong, and who will also congratulate me.”
Martin seems to take his own celebrity and the accompanying power in stride. In March 2010 he ended more than a decade of speculation about his personal life with a simple message he posted on his website and linked to on Twitter. It read, “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man.”
He remembers a tweet he received after that, from a straight Latino father thanking him for coming out, saying it allowed him to better understand his own gay son. Martin was so touched that he sent the man a direct message back. “I wrote, ‚’Sir, you just made my day. Go and hug your child.’”
In the fall of 2010, just months after he came out, Martin published Me, a best-selling memoir that examined his colorful career and the secretive private life that led up to his decision to come out. Me explored Martin’s romantic relationships with both men and women, and it addressed the infamous interview with Barbara Walters in which he refused to answer her questions about his sexual orientation. Martin says he hasn’t read the book since it was published.
Feeling stifled creatively, he left Menudo in 1989 and began a solo career that yielded four hit Spanish-language albums, a year-long stint as a bartender on the daytime drama General Hospital, and a turn in Les Misérables on Broadway, before a performance that would alter the course of both his career and contemporary music. In 1999, while still relatively unknown in the U.S., Martin performed a pelvis-gyrating version of “La Copa de la Vida” (“The Cup of Life)” to a standing ovation at the Grammy Awards. Months later the international chart-topping success of his self-titled English-language album and its inescapable lead single, “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” would usher in the Latin pop explosion, helping to prepare the lucrative U.S. market for Latin entertainers Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias. Martin was everywhere: MTV, Saturday Night Live, dozens of magazine profiles, even on the cover of The Advocate as the subject of a 1999 article that examined “Ricky fever.” His level of stardom made a literal truth out of the title of his loca hit song.
“You have to be careful,” he says now about playing to sold-out stadium crowds around the world. “It’s not easy to deal with fame. I’m very lucky to be surrounded by amazing people who are raw and honest, who will say I’m wrong, and who will also congratulate me.”
Martin seems to take his own celebrity and the accompanying power in stride. In March 2010 he ended more than a decade of speculation about his personal life with a simple message he posted on his website and linked to on Twitter. It read, “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man.”
He remembers a tweet he received after that, from a straight Latino father thanking him for coming out, saying it allowed him to better understand his own gay son. Martin was so touched that he sent the man a direct message back. “I wrote, ‚’Sir, you just made my day. Go and hug your child.’”
In the fall of 2010, just months after he came out, Martin published Me, a best-selling memoir that examined his colorful career and the secretive private life that led up to his decision to come out. Me explored Martin’s romantic relationships with both men and women, and it addressed the infamous interview with Barbara Walters in which he refused to answer her questions about his sexual orientation. Martin says he hasn’t read the book since it was published.
Though his commitment to the Evita redo and his foundation are significant, they pale next to his devotion to his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino. The boys were born via a surrogate mother in 2008. It was Martin’s desire, after years of avoiding discussion of his sexual orientation, to live an honest life with his children that led him to come out two years later. “I don’t want my family to be based on lies,” Martin told Oprah Winfrey in 2010, during his first interview after coming out. “I want to be transparent to them.”
“Every decision I make and everything I do is based on their needs,” Martin says about his sons, now age 3. “I don’t want to sound cliché, but they teach me new things every day.”
“Valentino is mister peace and love,” Martin says. “He loves flowers and nature. If I ever wonder where he is, he’ll be somewhere behind the bushes covered in mud. He’s just at one with nature.” Martin pauses briefly, then decides to continue. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think he meditates. He goes under the water.” Martin imitates being submerged in a tub of water. “I’m like, He’s gone. He’s traveling right now. He’s very Zen and noble.” Matteo, Martin says, is a little more demanding. “He’s more alpha and a leader. He’s like, ‘You don’t do that, this is what you do.’ He tells his brother what to do and what not to do.”
Martin is very much a hands-on father and raises his sons with the help of his mother, who frequently travels with him, and Rose, their nanny. Martin’s sperm was joined with eggs from a donor he selected from a book; the fertilized eggs were then implanted into a different surrogate mother. Neither woman knew Martin was the father. When it’s suggested that his sons have inherited his good looks, he smiles. “I ate a lot of protein,” he says, laughing. “I don’t know if that worked, but I was very healthy-eating and resting for a whole month before I got the cup.”
The boys have already become accustomed to life on the road. Martin took a sabbatical from touring during their first year and maintained a stable home life while he wrote Me and recorded his most recent album, 2011’s Música + Alma + Sexo. When Martin went back on the road to support the hit album, he took his sons along.
“Every other night we were on a plane,” he recalls. But the two boys quickly developed a large surrogate family while on the road. “It was amazing because they’d walk through the venue or arena. The crew was building the sets and they’d stop what they were doing and smile and say, ‘Hi Valentino, hi Matteo.’” Martin pauses again and lets out a breath before adding, “They are tools of healing, of love, these two. The crew would go back to focusing on their work and dealing with their stress, but those five seconds with the kids were very beautiful for them.”
Even within the chaos of traveling, Martin maintains a structure for his family. “The amount of love these kids have is crazy,” he says. “Me and Carlos, my mother, Rose, the dancers, the sound engineers…” Martin’s voice trails off.
“Every decision I make and everything I do is based on their needs,” Martin says about his sons, now age 3. “I don’t want to sound cliché, but they teach me new things every day.”
“Valentino is mister peace and love,” Martin says. “He loves flowers and nature. If I ever wonder where he is, he’ll be somewhere behind the bushes covered in mud. He’s just at one with nature.” Martin pauses briefly, then decides to continue. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think he meditates. He goes under the water.” Martin imitates being submerged in a tub of water. “I’m like, He’s gone. He’s traveling right now. He’s very Zen and noble.” Matteo, Martin says, is a little more demanding. “He’s more alpha and a leader. He’s like, ‘You don’t do that, this is what you do.’ He tells his brother what to do and what not to do.”
Martin is very much a hands-on father and raises his sons with the help of his mother, who frequently travels with him, and Rose, their nanny. Martin’s sperm was joined with eggs from a donor he selected from a book; the fertilized eggs were then implanted into a different surrogate mother. Neither woman knew Martin was the father. When it’s suggested that his sons have inherited his good looks, he smiles. “I ate a lot of protein,” he says, laughing. “I don’t know if that worked, but I was very healthy-eating and resting for a whole month before I got the cup.”
The boys have already become accustomed to life on the road. Martin took a sabbatical from touring during their first year and maintained a stable home life while he wrote Me and recorded his most recent album, 2011’s Música + Alma + Sexo. When Martin went back on the road to support the hit album, he took his sons along.
“Every other night we were on a plane,” he recalls. But the two boys quickly developed a large surrogate family while on the road. “It was amazing because they’d walk through the venue or arena. The crew was building the sets and they’d stop what they were doing and smile and say, ‘Hi Valentino, hi Matteo.’” Martin pauses again and lets out a breath before adding, “They are tools of healing, of love, these two. The crew would go back to focusing on their work and dealing with their stress, but those five seconds with the kids were very beautiful for them.”
Even within the chaos of traveling, Martin maintains a structure for his family. “The amount of love these kids have is crazy,” he says. “Me and Carlos, my mother, Rose, the dancers, the sound engineers…” Martin’s voice trails off.
The Carlos he refers to is Martin’s boyfriend of nearly four years, Carlos Gonzalez Abella, a financial analyst/stockbroker. Martin has been hesitant to discuss his boyfriend in the past, but now he flashes a toothy smile and leans in a bit, his voice growing softer. “I think he’s so sexy. He’s very smart. That is such a turn-on,” Martin laughs. “He leaves the house every day in a suit and tie and that is so sexy. It’s two different worlds—his and mine. I know as much about his world as he knows about my world, which makes it really cool.”
Martin acknowledges that dealing with media and public scrutiny isn’t easy for the press-shy Abella. Except for occasional paparazzi shots, the two are rarely photographed together. While being honored at the GLAAD Media Awards last year, Martin thanked his boyfriend from the podium. “He takes it one step at a time,” Martin says. “And still my world—our world—is full of surprises every day, even for me. We complement each other beautifully in many ways.”
His partner is also equally dedicated to providing stability for Matteo and Valentino, Martin says. “There’s a lot of love and a lot of communication. He’s guided by the approach I take with the kids, he imitates it perfectly.”
Martin insists he wasn’t looking for a relationship when a mutual friend introduced the two men in 2008. “It was just one of those things that just happened,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘You’re not supposed to be here right now. Would you please allow me to just go on my journey?’”
“People say be careful what you wish for. The other day—” Martin pauses again. He’s cautious of saying too much about his partner. “I don’t care. I’m going to say it. The other day he said, ‘I was looking for a boyfriend and God gave me a family.’ I said, ‘That’s beautiful, but you were looking for a real man with a family and you got it.’” "
Martin acknowledges that dealing with media and public scrutiny isn’t easy for the press-shy Abella. Except for occasional paparazzi shots, the two are rarely photographed together. While being honored at the GLAAD Media Awards last year, Martin thanked his boyfriend from the podium. “He takes it one step at a time,” Martin says. “And still my world—our world—is full of surprises every day, even for me. We complement each other beautifully in many ways.”
His partner is also equally dedicated to providing stability for Matteo and Valentino, Martin says. “There’s a lot of love and a lot of communication. He’s guided by the approach I take with the kids, he imitates it perfectly.”
Martin insists he wasn’t looking for a relationship when a mutual friend introduced the two men in 2008. “It was just one of those things that just happened,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘You’re not supposed to be here right now. Would you please allow me to just go on my journey?’”
“People say be careful what you wish for. The other day—” Martin pauses again. He’s cautious of saying too much about his partner. “I don’t care. I’m going to say it. The other day he said, ‘I was looking for a boyfriend and God gave me a family.’ I said, ‘That’s beautiful, but you were looking for a real man with a family and you got it.’” "
p.s This is an interview taken from Advocate Magazine ........
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