"Livin' la Vida Loca" (English:
Livin' the Crazy Life
) is a song by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. It was
released in 1999 from Martin's self-titled debut English album.
The song was composed by Desmond Child and Draco Rosa and
topped the charts during 1999. It received various Grammy
nominations and helped Ricky Martin obtain enormous success
inside the United States and worldwide.
The song is generally seen as the song that began the Latin
pop explosion of 1999, and making the acceptance of other Latin
artists (first Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias, then later
Shakira, Thalía and Paulina Rubio) easier to crossover into the
English market. Before this time, most non-Latino Americans had
never heard of Ricky Martin until what CNN reported was a
show-stopping performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 1999
Grammy Awards show, which became a catalyst in bringing Latin
pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene. The song was
awarded "Pop Song of the Year" at the 2000 Premio Lo Nuestro
Awards. A cover version by Antonio Banderas and Eddie Murphy
was featured in the film
Shrek 2."Livin la Vida Loca" was Ricky Martin's first
number-one hit on the
BillboardHot 100, remaining at number one in the U.S.
for five weeks and ranking at #10 on the year-end charts for
1999. The single was certified Gold on May 15 and Platinum on
June 4, for sales over one million copies in the U.S.
alone.
The video was directed by Wayne Isham in March 1999, and
received six nominations at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards
including Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Choreography
in a Video and Viewer's Choice. It won two primary awards for
Best Pop Video, and Best Dance Video, and was voted two
additional awards in the international Viewers Choice
categories.
In 2007, the song was named one of the 20 Most Annoying
Songs by Rolling Stone. The song was ranked at #28 on the list
of
100 Greatest Songs of the 90'sby VH1.
"One Night
Only" ·
"The Video
Collection" ·
"The European
Tour" ·
"La Historia" ·
"MTV
Unplugged" ·
"Black & White Tour
" ·
"Ricky Martin 17"
