Lo Mejor de Tu Vida

"Lo Mejor de Tu Vida"
Single by Julio Iglesias
from the album Un Hombre Solo
Released 1987
Format Airplay, Promo single
Recorded 1987
Genre Latin
Length 4:17
Label Sony
Writer(s) Manuel Alejandro, Marian Beigbeder
Producer Manuel Alejandro
Julio Iglesias singles chronology
"To All the Girls I've Loved Before"
(1984)
"Lo Mejor de Tu Vida"
(1987)
"Que No Se Rompa la Noche"
(1987)

"Lo Mejor de Tu Vida" ("The Best of Your Life") is a ballad written and produced by Spanish singer-songwriter Manuel Alejandro, co-written by Marian Beigbeder, and performed by Spanish singer Julio Iglesias. It was released as the first single from his studio album Un Hombre Solo in 1987. This song became the first by a male performer to spent 13 weeks at number one in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart and held the record for the biggest leap to the top of the chart for over twenty years (14-1) until Mexican rock band Maná leapt from 22 to number one with "Manda Una Señal" in 2007.

"Lo Mejor de Tu Vida" is also recognized as one of Iglesias' signature songs and has been covered by several singers, including Tamara, Simone, Ray Conniff, Bertín Osborne and Alexandre Pires.

Contents

Background

Julio Iglesias was the most popular Latin singer of the '70s and '80s, selling over 100 million albums around the world. In 1968, he was a contestant at the 1968 Spanish Song Festival at Benidorm, singing his original song "La Vida Sigue Igual". Iglesias won the first prize at the contest, which led to a record contract with Columbia, an independent record label. During the '70s, he toured Europe and Latin America, gaining a large fan base with hits like 1975's "Manuela", written by Manuel Alejandro.[1] A few years before, Iglesias was watching another performer during a music festival and thought that the song he was singing was beautiful, began asking who was the writer of the track, and someone told him that the songwriter was Manuel Alejandro. Iglesias refers to Alejandro as the "greatest Spanish songwriter in history."[2] Alejandro and Iglesias worked together again on Un Hombre Solo which was awarded with the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance and sold three million copies worldwide.[3][4] Manuel Alejandro said to the Spanish newspaper La Revista that Iglesias was the best performer of his songs, and praised the simplicity of his work.[5]

Chart performance

The song debuted on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart at number 14 on May 30, 1987 and climbed to the top of the chart the following week.[6][7] "Lo Mejor de Tu Vida" set the record for the biggest leap to the top in the chart's history. After almost 20 years, Iglesias' record was broken by Mexican rock band Maná, who soared 22-1 with "Manda Una Señal".[8] This track spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at number-one, the most for a male performer in the Hot Latin Tracks chart, only surpassed by Daddy Yankee with "Rompe" (15 weeks), Luis Fonsi with "No Me Doy Por Vencido" (19 weeks), Flex with "Te Quiero" (20 weeks), and Juanes with "Me Enamora" (20 weeks).[9]

Chart (1987) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks 1

Personnel

This information adopted from Allmusic.[10]

Cover versions

"Lo Mejor de Tu Vida" has been recorded by several performers, including Alexandre Pires who released it as a single from his album A un Idolo in 2007, peaking at number 23 in the Hot Latin Tracks.[11] Spanish singer Tamara also did a version of this song, and included it on her album of the same name—a tribute to Julio Iglesias, produced by Max Pierre.[12] Tamara's album peaked at number 8 in the Spanish Album chart.[13] Simone, Bertín Osborne, Ray Conniff and Yayi Gómez also recorded their own version of the track.[14]

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Julio Iglesias - Biography". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p14871/biography. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  2. ^ "Julio Iglesias habla de Manuel Alejandro y canta 'Manuela'" (in Spanish). YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_t0cctQZH4. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  3. ^ "Julio Iglesias - Awards". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p14871/charts-awards/grammy-awards. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  4. ^ AMPROFON. "Los 100 Discos Más Vendidos de la Década de los 80s". http://foro.univision.com/univision/board/message?board.id=yuri&message.id=62006. Retrieved 2009-04-14. 
  5. ^ "Manuel Alejandro". La Revista. http://www.elmundo.es/magazine/num185/textos/manuel1.html. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  6. ^ "Lo Mejor de Tu Vida - Week of May 30, 1987". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-10-25. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=363&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Latin+Songs&ci=3005926&cdi=6285369&cid=05%2F30%2F1987. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  7. ^ "Lo Mejor de Tu Vida - Week of June 6, 1987". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-11-15. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=363&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Latin+Songs&ci=3006004&cdi=6289771&cid=06%2F06%2F1987. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  8. ^ Bronson, Fred (2007-02-22). "Chart Beat". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003548872. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  9. ^ Brito, Joel (2008-07-31). "Flex invencible en Hot Latin Songs". Billboard en Espanol. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboardenespanol.com/musica/content_display/esearch/e3i9c0ca62f73977b1082808fbba04a5c5d. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  10. ^ "Un Hombre Solo - Credits". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r100589/credits. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  11. ^ "Lo Mejor de Tu Vida - Alexandre Pires". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2008-02-09. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=363&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Latin+Songs&ci=3091364&cdi=9662175&cid=02%2F09%2F2008. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  12. ^ Iglesias, Gustavo (2005-11-02). "Tamara versiona el cancionero de Julio Iglesias en 'Lo mejor de tu vida'". Los40. Prisacom. http://www.los40.com/articulo/noticias/Tamara-versiona-cancionero-Julio-Iglesias-mejor-vida/l40actn01/20051102l40l40not_4/Tes. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  13. ^ "Tamara - Lo Mejor de Tu vida". aCharts.us. 2005-11-21. http://acharts.us/album/38961. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 
  14. ^ "Lo Mejor de Tu Vida - Performers". Allmusic. Macromedia Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:894370. Retrieved 2009-04-29. 

Procession and succession

Preceded by
"En Bancarrota" by Braulio García
U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks number-one single (first run)
June 6, 1987 - August 15, 1987
Succeeded by
"Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" by Luis Miguel
Preceded by
"Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" by Luis Miguel
U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks number-one single (second run)
August 22, 1987 - September 5, 1987
Succeeded by
"Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" by Luis Miguel