Macarena - Los del Río

Lore & Background

The song was composed after Los del Río visited Venezuela in 1992. At a private party, a local flamenco teacher, Diana Patricia Cubillán Herrera, performed a dance, and Antonio Romero Monge spontaneously recited the chorus-to-be: "¡Diana, dale a tu cuerpo alegría y cosas buenas!" He later changed the name to Macarena in honor of his daughter Esperanza Macarena. The composition features a variant on the clave rhythm, is written in the key of A♭ major, moves at 103 beats per minute, and follows the chord progression A♭–G♭. The Bayside Boys remix includes a sample from the Yazoo track "Situation"—the laughter of vocalist Alison Moyet—and uses female vocal samples previously used by the Farm in their song "Higher and Higher (Remix)".

Reader's Guide

The Bayside Boys remix hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1996 and remained at the top for fourteen weeks. It also topped the US Cash Box Top 100. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at No. 2 on 17 August 1996, kept off the top spot by the Spice Girls' "Wannabe". In Australia, it was the most successful song of 1996. The song stayed in the Hot 100 for 60 weeks. By 1997, the song had sold 11 million copies. All versions of the song have sold over 14 million copies worldwide.

Did You Know?

• The Bayside Boys remix reached No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1996.
• The song got Los del Río ranked the "No. 1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of All Time" by VH1 in 2002.
• In 2012, it was ranked No. 7 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and No. 7 on Billboard's All Time Latin Songs list.
• The Bayside Boys mix was featured in Sonic Team's Samba de Amigo for the Sega NAOMI arcade system and the Sega Dreamcast.
• Vice President Al Gore made a joke about doing the Macarena dance during his speech at the 1996 Democratic National Convention.