From ‘La Bamba’ To ‘Despacito’: What Comes After A Huge Spanish-Language Hit

The song of the summer actually became the Song of the Year at the 18th annual Latin Grammy’s held in Las Vegas on Thursday evening.

The song by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee also picked up Record of the Year, Best Urban Fusion Performance and Best Short Term Video.

There has been no escaping the song since it was released last January as it broke the counting machines at Youtube and on line music streaming services.

And it made history as only the third Spanish-language song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

So what happens after No. 1? How do these artists successfully ride this wave of popularity? Will Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee have to perform that song at their shows for the rest of their careers? Will their next records be “Despacito 2.0”?

For a clue, it’s instructive to look back at the other two bands that have been there and done that. Most people won’t remember the name of the act that gave us the 1996 chart-topper “Macarena.” (The Spanish pop band was called Los Del Rio.) Much more familiar is Los Lobos, the band that gave us the very first song in Spanish to hit the No. 1 spot, 1987’s “La Bamba” — from the Richie Valens biopic of the same name.

Read full interview at: https://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/2017/11/13/563920922/from-la-bamba-to-despacito-what-comes-after-a-huge-spanish-language-hit