Ricky Martin: No Pressure

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday June 26, 1998 12:00 AM EDT

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Ricky Martin, 28, has quite a past: selling 17 million copies worldwide of his self-titled 1999 first English-language album, detonating the lucrative Latin music explosion and pushing the phrase "Livin' La Vida Loca" into the lexicon. But now that his new, much-anticipated follow-up, "Sound Loaded," and its steamy hit, "She Bangs," are making cash registers ring, PEOPLE asks in its current cover story: Is Ricky (the sexiest hip-swiveler since Elvis) here to stay -- or is he just another flash in the pants? Martin claims that he's not worried about topping his past accomplishments. "Everyone felt that pressure but me," he tells PEOPLE. "I don't want to make my music into a science project, and I don't want to compete against myself. This album was done by a completely different person. Spiritually speaking, I've grown." Personally, too. Most recently linked to Mexican TV presenter Rebecca de Alba, 31, Martin (who has long abstained from answering questions about his sexuality, thereby offending neither gays nor heterosexuals) says that they are now just friends and insists he isn't seeing anyone else. Hypothetically speaking, though, "I would love to get married," he says. "I would love to walk into my house and trip over a toy and have a bunch of kids running towards me saying, 'Daddy, Daddy!' "

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