María (Ricky Martin song)


"María" is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his third album, A Medio Vivir and written by Ian Blake, K.C. Porter and Luis Gómez-Escolar. It was released as a single on November 21, 1995, in the United States, and later in other parts of the world. "María" sold over five million copies and became Martin's first international hit single.

Critical reception

from Billboard described the song as a "rousing tribal anthem" and commented that it "works extremely well within the confines of a house bassline, which is iced, contrasting with the original cut's flashy horns and rave-ish synths." He stated that "the chants are infectious and add fleshy fun to the spree of wriggling percussion." Music & Media called it a "excellent flamenco flavoured pop tune"
"María" is ranked as one of the greatest latin pop songs of all time by Rolling Stone.

Music videos

Four versions of the music video exist. The first uses the original track from the A Medio Vivir album and shows Martin performing the song on a stage at a concert, with some shots of him singing and dancing to the song in the colorful barrio of La Boca in Buenos Aires with the local people. The second version is set to the Pablo Flores Remix of the song and uses scenes and shots of the original video plus added takes of Martin performing in concert or at the barrio, close shots of locals dancing, etc. Both the original and the remix video were released in 1995. A third version, the least known, was filmed to the Pablo Flores Spanglish Remix in 1997. The last version was shot in France and directed by Memo del Bosque in 1998. Also set to the Pablo Flores Remix of the song, this version of the video is considered to be the official version, and is also the most popular.

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, France, and Australia. 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, 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

"María" remixes were produced by Pablo Flores and Javier Garza, except for the UK only remixes by Deep Recess and Disco Volante, and the 1998 remix by Jason Nevins.
Australian CD maxi-single #1
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:23
  3. "María" – 7:56
  4. "María" – 6:07
  5. "María" – 5:07
Australian CD maxi-single #2
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "La Copa de la Vida/The Cup of Life" – 4:37
  3. "María" – 4:23
  4. "María" – 5:07
  5. "La Copa de la Vida" – 4:37
Brazilian promotional CD single
  1. "María" – 4:23
  2. "María" – 4:21
European/US CD single
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:38
European CD maxi-single and 12" single / US CD maxi-single
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:38
  3. "María" – 7:56
  4. "María" – 8:10
  5. "María" – 6:07
  6. "María" – 5:07
French CD single
  1. "María" – 4:38
  2. "María" – 4:23
French 12" single
  1. "María" – 8:10
  2. "María" – 5:07
  3. "María" – 7:56
  4. "María" – 6:07
Japanese CD maxi-single
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:21
  3. "María" – 5:08
  4. "María" – 6:07
Spanish CD maxi-single
  1. "María" – 8:10
  2. "María" – 6:05
  3. "María" – 4:31
  4. "María" – 7:56
  5. "Dónde Estarás" – 4:51
  6. Bombón de Azúcar – 6:14
  7. Bombón de Azúcar – 5:20
Spanish 12" single
  1. "María" – 4:38
  2. "María" – 8:10
  3. "María" – 6:05
  4. "María" – 5:05
UK CD maxi-single #1
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:38
  3. "María" – 7:56
  4. "María" – 8:10
  5. "María" – 5:50
  6. "María" – 6:07
UK CD maxi-single #2
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:38
  3. "Dónde Estarás" – 9:16
  4. "Volverás" – 4:52
UK 12" single
  1. "María" – 7:56
  2. "María" – 8:10
  3. "María" – 5:50
  4. "María" – 6:07
  5. "María" – 5:07
UK promotional CD single
  1. "María" – 4:31
  2. "María" – 4:38
  3. "Maria" – 3:10
UK promotional 12" single
  1. "María" – 5:50
  2. "María" – 3:10
  3. "María"
US 12" single
  1. "María" – 7:56
  2. "María" – 8:10
Featured on "The Cup of Life" single
  1. "María" – 3:45

    Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 1

All-time charts

Certifications and sales