Ricky Martin Opens Up To Oprah, Releases New Single With Joss Stone
During the time Latin pop icon Ricky Martin commanded the charts with his saucy, sexy salsa pop of “Living Da Viva Loca,” Oprah stated the best-selling pop star was also living a lie.
In his first ever live interview since coming out of the closet as “a forutnate homosexual man,” Latin singing sensation Ricky Martin, 38, spoke with Oprah Winfrey about his controversial post-Oscars interview with Barbara Walters, his experience being a single father of two sons, and the years of denying the rumors surrounding his sexuality.
On the Barbara Walters interview:
“She knocked me out… I had my little monologue prepared – what I was used to answering: ‘No, I don’t think it’s something that I want to talk about; this is something private… I show everything when I’m onstage…But she kept on going and going and going. I just wasn’t ready…It was not my moment.”
Details concerning his career, his life choices and his decision to come out publicly have been laid out in Martin’s new memoir, Me.
For the entire show, Oprah profiled the star and focused on his reluctance of opening up about his sexuality. “For many years, I was told that the way I was feeling was a mistake,” Martin explained. “I was told that my emotions were evil so I would try to deny those emotions as much as I could.” Due to the rising number of teens being bullyied and committing suicide due to homophobia, Martin hopes his decision to come forward will produce hope in the lives of others.
His book also reveals his encounters and sexual relations with women, with Oprah reading one particular quote from the book stating, in regards to one particular experience, “this woman drove me crazy…physical chemistry overload.” But the singer went on the record to confront his truth:
“I am not bisexual. I am a gay man…For many years, I thought I was. I was confused then.”
He performed his new single, “The Best Thing About Me Is You,” featuring Joss Stone. He also recorded a version of the song in Spanish with Natalia Jimenez. The pop song is now available on iTunes and Amazon.com for download and is expected to hit the charts in a big way. Billboard knows that the midas touch from Oprah’s show produces big increases in sales. No exception here.
