Writer: Diego Torres, Coti, Cachorro Lopezĭiego Torres’ anthem of hope was a salve during Argentina’s depression of 2001. But this live performance offers a glimpse of Varela, now dead, playing the guiro with his band. The movement was so homegrown at the time, Niche never filmed an official music video. This love song to the hometown became an international anthem. No song better exemplified this than 1984’s in-your-face anthem to Cali - the “capital of salsa” - penned by Niche’s leader and songwriter, Jairo Varela. With its hard-hitting sound and fast tempos suited for Cali’s brazen dancers, Grupo Niche redefined the sound of salsa, lending it a distinctly Colombian imprint. Sexy and romantic, Guerra’s 1990 hit about being hopelessly in love (“Poor heart, he undresses impatiently at the sound of your voice”), introduced the world to contemporary bachata. Even The Beatles covered it, part of a long list of artists who recorded the song in many languages, including Luis Miguel, Diana Krall, Andrea Bocelli, Harry Connick Jr., Michale Bublé, Korean pop singer Ailee and, most recently, Il Divo on their 2015 album.īachata was a rather niche and local Dominican genre until singer/songwriter Juan Luis Guerra gave a sophisticated touch and intriguing lyrics, without in any way diminishing its invitation to the dance floor. With its easy to say entreaty, it became, by some accounts, the most recorded and covered Spanish language song of all time. Velazquez was a teen in Mexico when she wrote “Bésame Mucho” (Kiss me a lot) in 1940. How could you not dance and get lost in “una noche loca,” when Enrique and friends are compelling you to do so ever so sweetly? No wonder it became the first Spanish song to surpass one billion views on YouTube.
This 2014 meeting between Spain, Cuba and Miami, and between flamenco and Latin urban rhythms was an intoxicating mix. Writers: Enrique Iglesias, Descemer Bueno, Gente de Zona “ Bailando” – Enrique Iglesias featuring Gente de Zona and Descemer Bueno It has since been covered by Thalia and Moderatto, among others.Ħ.
Penned by Selena’s brother, AB Quintanilla, and Pete Astudillo, it topped Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart for nine weeks, and was one of the first major Tejano music crossovers. Writers: AB Quintanilla and Pete AstudilloĪt first listen, this light, airy, Texan cumbia about love between different social classes sounds like a fairy tale. Ironically, “Amigo,” the song he penned for his friend and longtime writing collaborator, Erasmo Carlos, may be the most enduring, embraced by men and women alike. Roberto Carlos penned a string of romantic hits that, translated into Spanish, became anthems. Illogical.”) Penned by Estefano, it spent two weeks at No. “Ahora quien,” from Anthony’s 2004 Valió la pena, is one of the most exquisitely painful breakup songs (“Who now, if not me? I look at myself in the mirror and I feel stupid. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart, a record it would hold until Shakira’s “La Tortura” topped it in 2005. Penned by Omar Alfanno, “A puro dolor” spent a record 20 weeks at No. Released in 2000, the song was such a hit, it spawned an English version and a ballad version, and ended up topping Billboard‘s decade-end Hot Latin Songs of the 2000s chart. The purest of pain - that’s what this beautiful break-up anthem from Puerto Rican salsa romántica quartet Son by Four evokes. 1 on Hot Latin Songs, but it established Juanes as Colombia’s favorite rocker. “A Dios le Pido” (To God I Pray) never hit No. In 2002, inspired by the guasca sounds of his native Medellin, the Colombian rocker with a heart of gold infused folk into Spanish pop/rock, and instantly gave us a new, feel-good sound to groove to.