Ricky Meléndez (born Ricardo Omar Meléndez Saurí, November 22, 1967 in

Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" (' ...

) is a Puerto Rican singer, lawyer and actor, best known for his tenures as a member of boy band Menudo and of El Reencuentro.

Career

He was raised in Guaynabo. He became a member of Menudo at the age of nine. He was one of the original five in the group joined by his brothers Carlos and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

, and brothers Fernando and Nefty Salaberry. He is also the cousin of group founder Edgardo Díaz. As a member of Menudo, he acted in two films: '' Menudo: La Pelicula'' and '' Una Aventura Llamada Menudo''. He was a member of the band through most of the band's golden era and he's remembered for singing lead in the tracks "Y Yo No Bailo", " Amor en Bicicleta" and "Cámbiale Las Pilas". Meléndez retired from Menudo in 1984 at the mandatory age of 16, but since he had started at age nine, he became the band member with the longest tenure at eight years. He gave up his place to

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography spanning Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton ...

. His final concert with Menudo was in

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founded i ...

, where he was joined by most of the former Menudo members on that concert's date, September 16, 1984. Once Meléndez left Menudo, he tried various business ventures, including a shop at Plaza Las Americas in San Juan, and became a lawyer. In 1998, he got together with former bandmates Rene Farrait, Johnny Lozada, Ray Reyes,

Charlie Masso Carlos Javier Rivera Masso (born June 13, 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known as Charlie Masso, is a Puerto Rican singer and actor. Masso is a former member of Menudo, joining the band at the height of Menudo's worldwide fame. He rep ...

and Miguel Cancel to make a comeback tour under the name of El Reencuentro. They toured the world.

Personal life

Meléndez graduated in 1995 with a juris doctor from the University of Puerto Rico Law School. Now lives in San Juan with his wife Miriam Calderin and practices corporate and real estate law at Pietrantoni Mendez & Alvarez LLC. Meléndez also has a B.A. from

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in broadcasting. Melendez is married to Miriam "Muñeca" Calderín. He has one son and one daughter.

In pop culture

Melendez is played by

Marcelo Otano Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: *Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapis ...

and by

Eugenio Rivera Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar de ...

in the 2020 Amazon Prime Video series based on Menudo, " Subete A Mi Moto".

Discography

With Menudo

* ''Los Fantasmas'' (1977) * ''Laura'' (1978) * ''

Chiquitita "Chiquitita" (a Spanish term of endearment for a woman meaning "little one") is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from the group's sixth album, '' Voulez-Vous'' (1979). Agnetha Fält ...

'' (1979) * ''Felicidades'' (1979) * ''Mas Mucho Mas'' (1980) * ''Es Navidad'' (1980) * '' Fuego'' (1981) * '' Xanadu'' (1981) * ''

Quiero Ser ''Quiero Ser'' (1981) is Menudo (band), Menudo's ninth Spanish album and the second one released in 1981, featuring Ricky Meléndez, Rene Farrait, René Farrait, Johnny Lozada, Xavier Serbiá and Miguel Cancel. With this album, their popularity ...

'' (1981) * '' Por Amor'' (1982) * '' Una aventura llamada Menudo'' (1982) * '' Feliz Navidad'' (1982) * ''

A Todo Rock ''A Todo Rock'' is Menudo's thirteenth album in Spanish. It features Ricky Meléndez, Johnny Lozada, Charlie Massó, and new members Ray Reyes, who replaced Xavier Serbiá after Xavier reached the age limit and Roy Rosselló, who replace ...

'' (1983) * '' Reaching Out'' (1984) * ''

Mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...

'' (1984)

References