Ricky Martin (Actor)

"He's the perfect mass-market sex symbol for a simple reason: Martin projects no inner life that might distract fans from the malleable boy-toy fantasy." --Jim Farber of Daily News (October 29, 1999), reviewing Martin's concert at Madison Square Garden.

"He's the Puerto Rican Elvis." --Rosie O'Donnell quoted in TV Guide, June 5-12, 1999.

"I don't do music for guys. I don't do music for girls. I don't do music for grandmothers--I do music for people who enjoy music. And it's so good to be onstage and see the guy with the girlfriend, a bunch of guys alone, a bunch of girls alone, and even the grandmother singing your stuff." --Martin quoted in Interview, June 1999.

"Look at Martin today, and you can tell he was a child star--he wears the spotlight like ordinary folks wear house slippers." --From "Latin Music Pops" by Christopher John Farley in Time, May 24, 1999.

"Ricky is somebody who has taken the required steps into true artistry by tapping into his innermost essence, both musically and philosophically. He is a perfectionist, but at the same time a very trusting man, which is wonderful for a producer. There's no better relationship you can have with an artist." --record producer K.C. Porter quoted in Los Angles Times, October 22, 1998.

"Sexuality and sensuality are completely different things. Sensuality is something that you're born with. Am I sensual? Well, people say I am. But sexuality is something I leave for my own mirror. I don't share that with anyone. ... " --Martin quoted in Rolling Stone, June 10, 1999.

"This career can make you feel like you're the master of the world and everything revolves around you. But it's not just like that. And I don't want to live with the paranoid feeling that anybody who approaches me does so because I'm a famous singer." --Ricky Martin to Los Angeles Times Calendar, October 22, 1998.

Martin is co-owner of Casa Salsa in Miami Beach, Florida.

On his appearance on the Grammy telecast, Martin told the Daily News, May 11, 1999: "I was performing in front of the industry for the first time, and I realized they'd heard it all and seen it all. I said to myself, 'What are you going to do to catch their attention? Let's give them passion. Let's go out there and be who we are.'"

On the pitfalls of fame, Martin told Gloria Estefan in Interview (June 1999): "Having to let go of our privacy creates some kind of block to our creative moments. We have to think about can I open myself, should I say that, shouldn't I, should I go and walk to the patio of my house, maybe they'll take a picture. ..."