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Livin’ La Vida Loca is one of the most iconic Latin pop songs, and it is going to be added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. The song composed by Desmond Child and Draco Rosa and performed by Ricky Martin is one of 25 pieces that were considered all-time cultural treasures worthy of preservation based on its cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.
Livin’ La Vida Loca, marked a before and after in Latin crossover upon its release on March 23, 1999. The song sold over 8 million copies, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. It was also the Puerto Rican singers first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining in that position for five consecutive weeks. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and the national library expressed how proud they are to help preserve the song through a press release.
Martin reflected on how the song generates the same reaction regardless of how many years have passed. “It’s a very powerful song that represents the fusion of Latin pop,” Martin said in Spanish. “It is an honor to be linked to this song that has an important page in the history of music because it was part of the first album recorded entirely digitally and it was also my first production made entirely in English. It is undoubtedly a song for history and I feel honored that it is receiving this recognition.”
Rosa shared the same excitement, “I am honored, grateful, and excited as co-producer and co-author of this song and accept the recognition while inducing LIVIN‘ LA VIDA LOCA! to the National Recording Registry.”
The pieces selected for the National Recording Registry bring the number of titles in the registry to 600, representing a small portion of the National Library’s vast recorded sound collection of nearly 4 million items. Nearly 1,000 public nominations were received this year to add recordings to the registry. The latest selections named to the registry span were released from 1921 to 2010, with genres ranging from Rock, Pop, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Country to Latin music, Motown, Jazz, and historical recordings.