Luis Fonsi Returns to No. 1 on Latin Pop Airplay With Carlos Vives Collab ‘Santa Marta’
Luis Fonsi is back at No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay chart thanks to “Santa Marta,” his first collaboration with Carlos Vives, which climbs 3-1 to lead the Aug. 31-dated ranking. It’s the Puerto Rican’s 11th champ and Vives’ seventh.
“It’s like an anniversary song,” Fonsi previously told Billboard of “Santa Marta,” which praises genuine love and empathy. The song — released May 17 as one of 12 songs on Fonsi’s 11th studio album, El Viaje, which earned the Puerto Rican his 15th entry on Latin Pop Albums in June — was written by Fonsi alongside Mauricio Rengifo and Andres Torres, also producers of the album.
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“Santa Marta” crowns Latin Pop Airplay after a 1% gain in audience impressions, to 3.3 million, earned in the U.S. in the tracking week of Aug. 9-15, according to Luminate.
As the song lands at the summit, Luis Fonsi manages his 11th No. 1 on Latin Pop Airplay and seventh through a collaboration. His first collaboration to hit No. 1 was “Despacito” with Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, which ruled the tally for 18 weeks in 2017. All of his No. 1s since have been collaborations. His first four leaders were all solo No. 1s, unaccompanied by any other artist, including his first No. 1, the five-week champ “Nada Es Para Siempre” in 2005.
Vives, however, parked in the No. 1 slot for the first time in 1995 when “La Tierra Del Olvido” ruled for two weeks. The song, a core vallenato track, then made it to the pop radio ranking before it switched from a station-based tally to a genre-based survey. Since then, Vives has crowned Latin Pop Airplay six more times, his last through “Mujeres,” a collab with fellow country singer Juanes, for one week on top in December 2023.
“Santa Marta” places Luis Fonsi back at the lead on Latin Pop Airplay after almost three years, as the Puerto Rican last occupied the No. 1 spot with “Bésame,” with Myke Towers, in November 2021. He managed, though, three top 10s in between: “Vacaciones” with Manuel Turizo (No. 6 high in 2022), “Buenos Aires” (No. 10, September 2023) and “Pasa La Página “Panamá” (No. 6 high in January) The latter two (along with “Santa Marta”) are all from El Viaje.
Elsewhere, despite its 1% lift in audience impressions, “Santa Marta” dips to No. 32 on the overall Latin Airplay chart, after its No. 31 high (Aug. 31-dated list) during its nine-week run so far.
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