"Livin' la Vida Loca" is a song performed by Ricky Martin. It was released on March 23, 1999, from Martin's self-titled debut English-language album. The song was composed by Desmond Child and Draco Rosa. La vida loca is Spanish for "the crazy life." "Livin' la Vida Loca" is generally seen as the song that began the Latin pop explosion that followed and made the transition of other Spanish-speaking artists into the English-speaking market easier. Before this time, most non-Latino Americans had never heard of Martin until what CNN reported was a show-stopping performance of "La Copa de la Vida" at the 41st Grammy Awards show, which became a catalyst in bringing Latin pop to the forefront of the U.S. music scene. The song received various Grammy Awards nominations and Ricky Martin obtained enormous success inside the United States and worldwide. In 2007, the song was ranked at number 28 on the list of 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s by VH1.
Recording
The song was the first U.S. number one single to be recorded without using then-conventional recording studio equipment; instead the track was created at Desmond Child's Gentlemen's Club Studio, which utilizes a 169-track Pro Tools system. The recording is also noted for its exceptional use of dynamic range compression to increase the track's perceived loudness.
Music video
The video for "Livin' la Vida Loca", directed by Wayne Isham and starring Croatian model Nina Morić, was shot in Los Angeles. It aired later the same month 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 three additional awards in the internationalViewers Choice categories. It also won Ritmo Latino Music Award for Music Video of the Year. The video features Ricky Martin performing in a pub with his band and hanging out with a lady at different locations, including New York City. One scene shows several dancers taking their shirts off and performing choreographed dance moves while it rains; this scene coincides with the line in the pre-chorus "She'll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain". Various snippets of the video seem to merge into each other over the duration of the song. Towards the end of the video, Martin gets distracted by his lady passenger while driving, causing him to drive erratically and causing another car to veer and hit a fire hydrant, releasing a fountain of water; this was also the first scene of the video. As of June 2020, the video has received over 300 million views on YouTube and is one of the most viewed music videos from the 90s.
Chart performance
"Livin' la Vida Loca" is Martin's biggest hit. It was his first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining at the top in the United States for five consecutive weeks and ranking at number ten on the year-end chart of 1999. The single was certified Platinum for sales over one million physical copies in the US alone. It topped the Hot Latin Songs for nine weeks, and Latin Pop Songs for ten weeks. Although released long before the digital era, it has sold 502,000 digital copies in the US, becoming Martin's best-selling downloaded track. On the Canadian RPM Top Singles the song stayed at the top for eight weeks, and on the Canadian Singles Chart for three weeks. In the United Kingdom, "Livin' la Vida Loca" debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks. It has sold over 900,000 copies and was certified Platinum. The song also reached number one in Greece, Hungary, Ireland and New Zealand. "Livin' la Vida Loca" peaked inside top ten around the world and was certified Platinum, Gold and Silver in various countries.
