29 Facts About Michel Martelly

For business and musical reasons, Michel Martelly has moved a number of times between the United States and Haiti.

When travelling to the United States, Michel Martelly mostly stays in Florida.

Michel Martelly popularized a "new generation" of kompas with smaller bands relying on synthesizers and electronic instruments.

From 1989 to 2008, Michel Martelly recorded over a dozen studio albums and a number of live CDs.

In 1995, after Aristide had been restored to office, Michel Martelly's name appeared on a hit list of coup supporters, and he stayed away from Haiti for almost a year.

Michel Martelly had come in third in the first round of the election, until the Organization of American States forced Jude Celestin to withdraw due to alleged fraud.

Michel Martelly assumed his position of the President of Haiti on 14 May 2011 after Rene Preval retired to his home in Marmelade.

Michel Martelly was sanctioned by the Canadian government, which accuses him of involvement in human rights violations and supporting criminal gangs, on 17 November 2022.

In 1987, Michel Martelly returned to Miami with his then-girlfriend, Sophia Saint-Remy, whom he later married in a small ceremony in Miami, Florida.

Michel Martelly has been heralded as a pioneer of a unique genre of compas, a style of Haitian dance music sung predominantly in the Haitian Creole language.

Michel Martelly is notorious for his cursing on stage, cross-dressing as well as using homophobic slurs.

In 1992, Michel Martelly played for free at a protest against the arrival of a UN representative charged with negotiating the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide after the 1991 Haitian coup d'etat.

At the 1996 Carnival, to which Manno Charlemagne, the mayor of Port-au-Prince, invited him, Michel Martelly dressed in a pink wig and bra.

In 1997, Michel Martelly participated in "Knowledge Is Power", an HIV educational music video with a message about preventing the spread of HIV.

In 2004, following the 2004 Haitian coup d'etat against Aristide, Gerard Latortue, a friend of Michel Martelly's, became prime minister.

Michel Martelly benefited from his celebrity status as a musician, and held musical rallies called koudjay, drawing crowds and media attention.

Michel Martelly benefited from the support of Bill Clinton and the active support of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Michel Martelly challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third.

Michel Martelly was quick to pledge reforms for the post-earthquake reconstruction process.

In September 2011, Michel Martelly formed an advisory board that included business executives, bankers, and politicians such as former US President Bill Clinton, which he hoped would improve the economy.

Between March and April 2012, Michel Martelly was accused of corruption, with allegations that during and after the 2010 earthquake and presidential election, he had accepted $2.6 million in bribes to ensure that a Dominican Republic construction company would continue to receive contracts under his presidency.

In October 2013, Michel Martelly met with a Franco-Polish arms dealer Pierre Dadak and two Canadian businessmen to discuss a $20 billion plan to develop Ile-a-Vache, a plan which came to nothing, but has the source of some controversy.

Michel Martelly urged protesters to respect public order and said he had reached a deal with the opposition to form a consensus government within the next 48 hours.

Michel Martelly was ineligible to run again as Haiti's constitution does not allow for consecutive terms.

Michel Martelly's criticism was joined by five other presidential candidates.

Michel Martelly resigned the presidency on 10 February 2016, leaving Haiti without a president for a week.

Michel Martelly divorced his first wife, an American citizen, in 1986.

Michel Martelly has a brother, Girard, who served in the United States Armed Forces.

Michel Martelly is a cousin of Port-au-Prince hotel manager and musician Richard Morse.