María (song)

"María"
Single by Ricky Martin
from the album A Medio Vivir
Released	November 21, 1995 (1995-11-21)
Format	CD single
Recorded	1995
Genre	Latin pop
Length	4:23
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Luis Gómez Escolar, K. C. Porter, Ian Blake
Producer	K. C. Porter, Ian Blake
Ricky Martin singles chronology
"Te Extraño, Te Olvido, Te Amo" (1995) "María" (1995) "A Medio Vivir" (1996)
Alternative cover

"María" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his third album, A Medio Vivir. It was released as a single on November 21, 1995 in Latin territories, and later in other parts of the world. "María" became Martin's first international hit single.

Music video

Three versions of the music video exist. The last one was shot in France and directed by Memo del Bosque.

Chart performance

In July 1996, Martin released the song as a CD single, his first in the United States. The song had a great success on the Hot Latin Songs airplay chart, peaking at number six, which coincided with the CD single sales placed him at number eighty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was remixed by Pablo Flores and Javier Garza.

"María" was Ricky Martin's first international hit song, peaking inside top ten around the world, including number one positions in Belgium Wallonia (ten weeks at the top), France (nine weeks), and Australia (six weeks). In the latter, it was released as a double A-side single with "La Copa de la Vida".

The single was certified Diamond in France after selling 1,400,000 copies,^[1] 2x Platinum in Belgium, Platinum in Australia, and Gold in few other European countries.

The song became the main theme of the Brazilian telenovela Salsa e Merengue in 1996 and was very well received from the Brazilian airplay.

Formats and track listings

UK CD maxi-single #1

1. "María" (Spanglish Radio Edit) – 4:31
2. "María" (Spanish Radio Edit) – 4:38
3. "María" (Spanglish Extended) – 7:56
4. "María" (Spanish Extended) – 8:10
5. "María" (12" Club Mix) – 5:50
6. "María" (Spanglish Dub) – 6:07

UK CD maxi-single #2

1. "María" (Spanglish Radio Edit) – 4:31
2. "María" (Spanish Radio Edit) – 4:38
3. "Dónde Estarás" (Pablo and Javier's Moon Mix)
4. "Volverás" (Album Version) – 4:52

US CD maxi-single

1. "María" (Spanglish Radio Edit) – 4:31
2. "María" (Spanish Radio Edit) – 4:38
3. "María" (Spanglish Extended) – 7:56
4. "María" (Spanish Extended) – 8:10
5. "María" (Spanglish Dub) – 6:07
6. "María" (Perc A Pella Mix) – 5:07

Charts and sales

Charts Chart (1995) Peak position US Billboard Hot Latin Songs[2] 6 US Billboard Latin Pop Songs[2] 2 Chart (1996) Peak position Finnish Singles Chart[3][4] 9 Finnish Top 50 Hits[3] 3 Finnish Airplay Chart[3] 4 Spanish Singles Chart[5] 11 US Billboard Hot 100[2] 88 US Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales[6] 28 US Billboard Tropical Songs[6] 8 US Billboard Rhythmic Top 40[6] 33 Chart (1997) Peak position Austrian Singles Chart[4] 4 Belgian Flanders Singles Chart[4] 2 Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart[4] 1 Dutch Singles Chart[7] 5 French Singles Chart[4] 1 German Singles Chart[8] 3 Irish Singles Chart[9] 12 Norwegian Singles Chart[4] 11 Swedish Singles Chart[4] 3 Swiss Singles Chart[4] 3 UK Singles Chart[10] 6 Chart (1998) Peak position Australian Singles Chart[11] 1 Japanese Oricon Singles Chart[12] 93

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position Belgian Flandres Singles Chart[13] 9 Belgian Wallonia Singles Chart[14] 4 Dutch Single Top 100[15] 29 French Singles Chart[16] 2 Swedish Singles Chart[17] 28 Swiss Singles Chart[18] 9 Chart (1998) Position Australian Singles Chart[19] 1 Certifications Country Certification Australia Platinum[20] Belgium 2x Platinum[21] France Diamond[22] Germany Gold[23] Netherlands Gold[24] Sweden Gold[25] Switzerland Gold[26]

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by "Con te partirò" by Andrea Bocelli	French SNEP number-one single April 12, 1997 – June 7, 1997 (9 weeks)	Succeeded by "Alane" by Wes
Preceded by "Let a Boy Cry" by Gala	Belgian (Wallonia) number-one single May 10, 1997 – July 12, 1997 (10 weeks)

References

1. ^ Les Ventes & Les Certifications: Ricky Martin. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Maria - Ricky Martin. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Pennanen, Timo (2006) (in Finnish). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 205. ISBN 13-978-951-1-21053-5. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Ricky Martin - Maria (song). Retrieved January 24, 2011.
5. ^ Listas de Afyve. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Billboard Singles. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
7. ^ Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
8. ^ Single-Chartverfolgung. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
9. ^ The Irish Charts. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
10. ^ Top 75 Releases. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
11. ^ Ricky Martin - Maria / The Cup of Life (song). Retrieved January 24, 2011.
12. ^ Ricky Martin singles sales ranking. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
13. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1997". Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1997. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
14. ^ "Rapports Annuels 1997". Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=1997. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
15. ^ "Jaaroverzichten - Album 1997". Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1997&cat=s. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
16. ^ "Classement Singles - année 1997". Disque en France. http://www.disqueenfrance.com/fr/pag-259376-Classements-Annuels.html?year=1997. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
17. ^ "Årslista Singlar - År 1997". Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening. http://www.hitlistan.se/netdata/ghl002.mbr/lista?liid=43&dfom=19970001&newi=0&height=420&platform=Win32&browser=MSIE&navi=no&subframe=Mainframe. Retrieved 2011-04-18. 
18. ^ "Swiss Year-end charts 1997". Hung Medien. http://swisscharts.com/year.asp?key=1997. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
19. ^ "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 1998". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-1998.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-19. 
20. ^ ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 1998 Singles. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
21. ^ Awards 1997. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
22. ^ Certifications Singles Diamant - année 1997. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
23. ^ Gold-/Platin-Datenbank. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
24. ^ Goud/Platina Muziek. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
25. ^ År 1987-98. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
26. ^ Awards 1997. Retrieved January 24, 2011.