New Ricky Martin Album, 'Life,' to Be Released as Traditional CD and as DualDisc

International pop music superstar Ricky Martin is back with a brand-new album, Life, the artist's most eclectic cross-cultural collection to-date. Life will be released simultaneously as a traditional CD and as a DualDisc on Tuesday, October 11.

The DualDisc edition of Ricky Martin's Life will include an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album, from photo shoot to video shoot, with candid and revelatory commentary from Ricky. The DualDisc will also include the video for "I Don't Care," the album's first single, as well as a video for the Spanish version of the single, "Que Mas Da."

"I Don't Care," the first single from Life, features guest artists Fat Joe and Amerie on a track that Billboard praised for its " ... crafty melody that takes less than one listen to haunt the eardrums ... .a track deserving of a welcome home celebration ... it is great to have this class act back in the game."

Collaborating with a "dream team" of writers, producers, and artists, Ricky Martin co-wrote many of the songs on Life and played a direct role in the record's production, working with some of the hottest names in the business including George Noriega and Danny Lopez, Scott Storch, Sean Garrett, will.i.am, Luny Tunes, and the hitmaking songwriting/production team The Matrix, among others. Guest artists on Life include Fat Joe & Amerie (on "I Don't Care"), Voltio (on "I Am"), and Daddy Yankee and Taboo from B.E.P. (on "Drop It On Me"). Portions of Life were recorded in Miami, Los Angeles, and Cairo.

Tracks on Life include: "Til I Get To You," "I Won't Desert You," "I Don't Care," "Stop Time Tonight," "Life," "I Am," "It's Alright," "Drop It On Me," "This Is Good," "Save The Dance," "Que Mas Da (I Don't Care)" (Luny Tunes Reggaeton Mix), and "Dejate LLevar" ("It's Alright" Spanish).

"I met with great producers and composers, young people that wanted to give it all in their art," Ricky says about Life. "We were risking, we were daring to go places that we never went in music and because of it, I think there's a lot of spontaneity. We weren't doing music following any rules. I wanted to start from zero, as if it were the first album that I was recording, so I could present a new sound."

Ricky Martin traveled to India to record the string arrangements for his groundbreaking new album which charts a new multicultural musical direction for the artist. Martin also trained in Capuera, a rigorous Brazilian martial arts form, in preparation for a worldwide promotional tour to coincide with the release of his new album.

"Life, the album, came about because I believe that life is not one-dimensional," said Ricky Martin. "After spending time in silence, away from the stage, I had the time to travel and exchange ideas with people from all over the world -- Brazil, Thailand, India, Egypt -- and from all walks of life. Being influenced by all these cultures in a creative process, I've learned how connected we all are. I have been able to focus on simple things that make life powerful. In each song on my album, we describe, through lyrics or music, stories that not only represent my personal experiences, but also scenarios that I have witnessed. As I produced this album, I simply allowed life to happen. This album is the result of those experiences.

"I believe this album is global. My dream is to unite lifestyles with my music. That's why I went from rock to Middle Eastern sounds, from Asian to hip-hop, from pop to Reggaeton, making it easy for people from all over the world to relate."

Life is the first Ricky Martin album since his worldwide smash, Almas del Silencio (Souls of Silence) debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with the largest first week's sales (65,063) of any all-Spanish language album in the SoundScan era in May 2003.

Almas del Silencio, the artist's first Spanish language album since 1998's Grammy-winning Vuelve and first album in any language since 2000's multi-platinum selling Sound Loaded, went straight to #1 in Argentina and #2 in Mexico.

Almas del Silencio was the latest in a series of record-breaking recordings for Ricky Martin, the Grammy-winning international pop superstar who's sold more than 50 million copies of his sound recordings and DVD/videos worldwide. With his "Livin' La Vida Loca" single in 1999, Ricky Martin became the first solo Latin male artist of the SoundScan era to hit #1 on the Hot 100. He won the Best Latin Pop Performance Grammy for Vuelve, a full-length Latin recording, at the 41st Annual Grammy ceremony in 1999. Among Ricky's numerous awards, he was named World's Best-selling Pop Male Artist and World's Best-selling Latin Artist at the 12th Annual World Music Awards. At the 10th Annual Billboard Music Awards, Ricky Martin was named Male Artist Of The Year and Male Hot 100 Singles Artist Of The Year.

Following the chart-topping international achievements of his self-titled English language debut, which was certified 7x platinum by the RIAA, Ricky Martin rode the success of Sound Loaded, which has sold more than 5.4 million copies worldwide since its release on November 14, 2000, has been certified gold and/or platinum in 26 countries, and is RIAA double-platinum in the U.S.

http://www.rickymartin.com/

http://www.columbiarecords.com/

SOURCE: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Claire Mercuri of Columbia Records, Media, New York,
+1-212-833-5121, or Claire.Mercuri@sonybmg.com

Web site: http://www.columbiarecords.com/
http://www.rickymartin.com/