By the time the 41st GRAMMY Awards rolled around in February 1999, Ricky Martin's "La Copa De La Vida" ("The Cup Of Life") was already an international smash hit — It was the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

But Martin took his hit song to electric new heights when he brought it to the GRAMMYs stage, complete with head-turning leather pants, hip shaking, and a stage-full of dazzling backup dancers and musicians. In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, revisit the unforgettable performance that catapulted "La Copa De La Vida" — and Latin music in general — to the U.S. musical mainstream. 

Martin's high-energy hit became one of the most memorable moments from the GRAMMY Awards that year, earning a rousing standing ovation from the audience and generating buzz about his music almost instantly. Just a few months after the show, Martin's self-titled fifth album — the first he'd ever released with English lyrics — debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, at the time grossing more first-week sales than any other album by a Latin artist in history.

The album, and the momentum from his GRAMMY performance, created a stratospheric leap in Martin's commercial success, but it wasn't just his own career that was elevated. The fervor surrounding the album is largely seen as the catalyst for the "Latin explosion," bringing acts like Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony to the forefront of pop culture.

It would be two more decades before Martin graced the GRAMMY stage again. At the 61st GRAMMY Awards in 2019, he was a part of the show's opening performance, alongside Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Young Thug and Arturo Sandoval. 

"20 years ago I was extremely fortunate to perform for the first time on the show and it undoubtedly became one of the most important and defining moments of my career," Martin told Billboard at the time. "Since then, we have remained focused. Our music has evolved with the times, and there is no denying Latin music came back to the mainstream charts full force in the last two years, breaking all barriers once again. The world is listening and we are here to stay."

Press play on the video above to watch Martin's monumental GRAMMY Awards performance from 1999, and keep checking GRAMMY.com for more episodes of GRAMMY Rewind. 

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