Who is Macarena, the inspiring muse of one of the biggest hits in the world?

You listened to this song in almost every party of the 90's and, depending on the places you go to, you still hear it today, in the middle of 2013. And it's not enough to hear it: you know the choreography and, if you don't dance, it's just because it's really shy. But where did this song come from anyway?

It all started when Spanish duo Antonio Romero Monge and Rafael Ruíz, better known as “Los Del Río”, decided to release a different song after almost 30 years of a career without international fame. "Macarena" exploded and sold 4 million albums in the US alone, topping the most played songs for 14 weeks.

Classifications

The song, which makes everyone look like a flash mob, ranked the duo Los Del Rio as one of the best One Hit Wonder by VH1 in 2002. Also, the hit is in two Billboard ratings: Fifth among the best songs of all time and first among the best Latin songs. "Macarena" was also voted the most annoying in history by Rolling Stone magazine.

The boys from Los Del Rio were in Venezuela when they were charmed by a woman who danced flamenco. Seeing her dance, they were inspired and resumed the composition of "Macarena", which had been standing for some time. The hit song had a different name: it was called “Magdalena” and it just didn't keep being called that because there was already a big hit with that name.

“Macarena” was inspired by a very charming woman who had a crush on uniformed men, and at the time dated a Spanish army recruit named Victorino, allegedly betrayed by her.

Listen below to the original version of the song:

The song was so successful that some famous brands bet on it to pack some commercials: