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\n\tMTV recognized Ricky Martin<\/a>, already a Latin music icon, with its inaugural Latin Icon Award<\/a> at the 2025 Video Music Awards on Sunday night. The artist celebrated the honor with a bon-bon\u2013shaking medley of hits and a speech thanking fans who have stood by him for the past four decades, since he was a breakout star with Menudo.<\/p>\n \n\tAfter plaudits from J Balvin, Martin descended from the rafters of the UBS Arena as dancers wiggled and writhed to the horns and percussion of \u201cLivin\u2019 La Vida Loca.\u201d With a Cheshire smile beaming over what looked like a black leather bandana and big pants right out of 1999, he sang his breakout solo hit like it was fresh. With as many costume changes as he mustered in music videos from the TV channel\u2019s heyday, Martin zipped through snippets of \u201cP\u00e9gate,\u201d \u201cShake Your Bon-Bon,\u201d \u201cVente Pa\u2019 Ca,\u201d \u201cMar\u00eda,\u201d and \u201cThe Cup of Life\u201d before Jessica Simpson introduced his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThank you so much, because it\u2019s been 40 years,\u201d he told the crowd. \u201cI started when I was a baby working [in Menudo], and we\u2019re still here. We just want to unite countries. We just want to break boundaries, and we just want to keep music alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s been 26 years since Martin won a VMA, and all for his massive hit \u201cLivin\u2019 La Vida Loca<\/a>,\u201d which took home a whopping five MoonPerson trophies in 1999. That year, the Martin classic won Best Pop Video, Best Dance Video, and a trio of International Viewers\u2019 Choice trophies.<\/p>\n \n\tMartin has not released new music in two years since he collaborated with Christian Nodal on \u201cFuego de Noche, Nieve de D\u00eda\u201d and joined Residente for \u201cQuiero Ser Baladista<\/a>\u201d in 2023. His last project, Play<\/a><\/em>, dropped in 2022.<\/p>\n