‘Despacito’ Is The First Spanish-Language Song To Be No. 1 In The U.S. Since The ‘Macarena’

There’s nothing slow about how Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” has taken over the music charts worldwide. 

The “Despacito” remix featuring Justin Bieber officially hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on Monday, making it the first mostly Spanish-language song to claim the spot since the “Macarena” in 1996. The only other song to achieve this in history was “La Bamba,” according to Forbes.

The original single, which has over a billion views on YouTube, was released in January and quickly climbed the charts in Latin America and Europe. But in the United States, it wasn’t until Bieber remixed the song in April that it began making its way to the top.
When the remix was first released on YouTube, it raked in approximately 20 million views in the first 24 hours and became the biggest debut of a music video on the site in 2017 so far, according to Billboard. 
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Fonsi spoke about the single’s success on AOL’s Build on Wednesday.

“We’re taking over ‘Macarena,’ baby,” he said. “It’s amazing. It’s a blessing. It’s been such an amazing ride ever since we released the song with Daddy Yankee first thing this year. It just started connecting with people.”

The Puerto Rican star also discussed the importance of the Bieber remix.  

“He wanted to join the movement and he asked us to be a part of the song, which I think is great for Latin music to have such a huge superstar to want to sing a song in Spanish,” Fonsi said.