Thrilled Picardo announces festival headliner Ricky Martin
International music icon Ricky Martin will headline day one of the MTV Presents Gibraltar Calling music festival, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo revealed yesterday.
He joins a host of global stars such as Bastille, Craig David, Clean Bandit, Years & Years, Kaiser Chiefs and Tinie Tempah on the line-up for this year’s festival.
Speaking at a press conference at No. 6 Convent Place Mr Picardo reflected on the “magnificent line-up” which, he said, includes music for all tastes and the opportunity of seeing some of Gibraltar’s “brilliant bands” on the big stage.
He added: “I confess that I am really looking forward to a guilty pleasure of a weekend of Ricky Martin and the Village People.”
“I encourage many people to come and join us in enjoying this magnificent line-up and in particular to come and watch the Gibraltarian bands because some of those Gibraltarian bands are really of a standard above and beyond anything you will see anywhere else and it’s worth seeing them also on the big stage.”
In a press briefing Mr Picardo said of Ricky Martin: “His name, fame and music spans a number of decades and he remains a fresh sound with a great back catalogue of hits.”
“I have no doubt that thousands will enjoy his music with the mighty Rock of Gibraltar in the background.”
The 45-year old heartthrob from Puerto Rico has a stellar career spanning as far back as to when he was just 12-years old and part of a band called Menudo.
In 1998 Ricky recorded the title track ‘The Cup of Life’ for that year’s FIFA World Cup held in France.
Shortly after that in 1999 Ricky released 'Livin’ La Vida Loca' and that was the hit that launched his global career to new heights as the track reached number one across the world.
Ricky Martin continues being very active musically and remains one of the hottest Latino artists in the world today.
He has also been a coach on the Australian version of the hit show The Voice where one of his acts made it into the final. He was also a coach on the Mexican version of the show.
Recently his collaboration with Colombian sensation Maluma and the track ‘Vente Pa' Ca’ has had over one billion views on YouTube and has reached number one in most Spanish speaking markets.
Aside from his music, Ricky has recently been cast and is currently filming the horror story about the last days of fashion designer Gianni Versace life. Ricky is cast as Antonio D’Amico, Giannis' partner. The film will tell the story of Versace’s murder and will also feature the likes of Penélope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez.
Ricky last year won another Grammy Award for his album, “A Quien Quiera Escuchar”.
He holds the record for being one of the biggest attractions in Las Vegas with his residency at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.