Livin' la Vida Loca

"Livin' la Vida Loca" is a number-one hit song by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. It was released on March 23, 1999, from Martin's self-titled debut English-language album (he had previously released several albums in Spanish). 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 (first Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony and then later Shakira and Paulina Rubio) 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. "Livin' la Vida Loca" sold over 8 million copies, making it one of the best selling singles of all time.

The song received various Grammy Awards nominations and Ricky Martin obtain 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 90's by VH1. It is Martin's signature song and still maintains a cult following.

Martin performed the song on second series of The Voice Australia with fellow judges Delta Goodrem, Joel Madden and Seal.

Recording
This 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 64-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 in 1999. 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 international Viewers 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 (Nina Morić) at different locations. One scene shows several women taking their shirts off and perform 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 partner while driving, causing another car to veer and hit a fire hydrant, releasing a fountain of water; this was also the first scene of the video.

Chart performance
"Livin' la Vida Loca" is Ricky Martin's biggest hit. It is his first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining at number one 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 832,000 copies and was certified Platinum. The song also reached number one in 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.

Formats and track listings
Australian CD maxi-single #1
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version) – 4:03
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Push & Pull English House Mix) – 7:09
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Trackmasters Remix) – 3:46
 * 4) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Radio Edit) – 4:07
 * 5) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanish Dub-apella) – 7:51

Australian CD maxi-single #2
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version)
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Spanish Version)
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Spanglish Version)

Brazilian promotional CD single
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (English Version)
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Club Mix)
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Radio Edit)
 * 4) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanglish Club Mix)
 * 5) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanglish Radio Edit)
 * 6) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanish Club Mix)
 * 7) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanish Radio Edit)
 * 8) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Radio Mix)
 * 9) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Alternative Radio Mix)
 * 10) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Push & Pull English House Mix)
 * 11) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Spanish New Radio Mix)
 * 12) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Spanglish Radio Mix)

European CD single European CD maxi-single
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Radio Edit) – 4:07
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands English Radio Mix) – 3:43
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Radio Edit) – 4:07
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Club Mix) – 10:04
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands English Radio Mix) – 3:43
 * 4) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanish Radio Edit) – 4:08

Japanese CD maxi-single
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version) – 4:03
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Push & Pull English House Mix) – 7:09
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Trackmasters Remix) – 3:46
 * 4) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Club Mix) – 10:04
 * 5) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Radio Edit) – 4:07

UK CD maxi-single #1
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version) – 4:03
 * 2) "La Copa de la Vida" (Spanglish Version – Radio Version) – 4:35
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Joey Musaphia's Deep Vocal Edit) – 6:45

UK CD maxi-single #2
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version) – 4:03
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Amen Eurostamp Mix) – 7:18
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Joey Musaphia's Carnival Mix) – 8:48

US CD single
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version) – 4:03
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Spanish Version) – 4:03

US CD maxi-single
 * 1) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Album Version) – 4:03
 * 2) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Scissorhands Push & Pull English House Mix) – 7:09
 * 3) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Trackmasters Remix) – 3:46
 * 4) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores English Radio Edit) – 4:07
 * 5) "Livin' la Vida Loca" (Pablo Flores Spanish Dub-apella) – 7:51

Cover versions

 * The 2000 album La Vida Mickey features modern versions of Spanish songs with the voices of the Disney characters in the background singing along.
 * Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd recorded a cover titled "Livin' Like John Travolta" for his 1999 album Juddmental.
 * Japanese singer Hiromi Go remade the song as "Goldfinger '99". Masaki Sumitani (Razor Ramon H.G., who refers to it as "the song that I used without permission") uses this as his theme song, to which he thrusts his crotch at the beginning of each episode. A parody of this version is made into a music video in the "Hiromi Go" episode of Hard Gay.
 * The Toy Dolls, a punk rock band, perform a version of the song on their 2000 Anniversary Anthems album.
 * Ten Masked Men, a British death metal band, covered this song on the 2000 album Return of the Ten Masked Men.
 * In November 2000, ApologetiX (That Christian Parody Band) released Spoofernatural, including a parody of this song, "Livin' What Jesus Spoke of".
 * An uptempo cover remix by CJ Crew feat. Giorgio for the 2000 Dancemania compilation Speed 4 was later included on Dancemania Speed Best 2001.
 * El Vez covered this song on his 2001 album Boxing with God.
 * WPLJ did a parody of this song in 2001 titled "Livin' la Vida Choka".
 * Dave Ryan in the Morning from St. Paul MN radio station KDWB did a cover titled "Livin' in Minnesota".
 * A eurobeat cover by Italian singer Dave Rodgers, "Livin' La Vida Mickey", was recorded for Eurobeat Disney 3.
 * In 2002, Serbian rock band Night Shift covered the song on their debut album Undercovers.
 * A version of the song performed by Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas is played at the end of the 2004 movie Shrek 2. It also appears on its soundtrack.


 * A version of the song performed by Blue Day appears on its 2004 album Shaka Rock.
 * A children's version called "Drinkin' a Coca Cola" was recorded for the Chuck E. Cheese's soundtrack.
 * The song was parodied as "Livin' la Vida Yoda" by the Bitter Tasting Omelette, which is a group made up of brothers Todd and Gavin Downing.
 * Jimmy Fallon parody the song as "Livin' la Vida Yoda", a reference to Star Wars character Yoda, on an episode of Saturday Night Live which was coincidentally the same one that Martin performed the song as the musical guest.
 * Shlock Rock, a group that parodies popular music with a Jewish theme, wrote "Learning to Dance the Hora".
 * Knockout Theory, a New Jersey punk rock band, often performs a version of the song at their live shows.
 * Nashville Star contestant Gabe Garcia sang a country version of the song in 2008.
 * English metalcore band Bury Tomorrow released their cover onto Myspace on September 9, 2010.
 * Christian singer Mark Lowry parodied this song as "Livin' For Deep-fried [Okra]". A video of the parody—fairly resembling the original Martin video—was presented at his New York City concert event "Mark Lowry on Broadway" at the Beacon Theatre.
 * Draumurinn did a cover in Icelandic in January 2011, called "Farið er allt til fjandans".
 * Runner up contestant of Superstar K3 Busker Busker sings a cover of the song in their unique style in the top 9 round.
 * During the 2013 ESPN Nine for IX film, The 99ers, composed almost entirely of home video footage recorded by U.S. Women's Soccer Team Member, Julie Foudy, some of the other members of the team can be heard singing along to the song at one point during the movie.
 * Filipino rock singer Kean Cipriano covered the song for his final impersonation in Your Face Sounds Familiar.


 * In 2017, the Ukrainian club project "#SiSiKe4" made its remix for this song, which is called "Ricky Martin - Livin' la Vida Loca (#SiSiKe4 Remix)"