Enrique Iglesias Scores 25th No. 1 With 'Bailando'

Enrique Iglesias is a force to be reckoned with. He holds the record for most songs to ever top the Hot Latin Songs chart, and now scores his 25th No. 1 with the ever catchy "Bailando" featuring his co-writer on the song, Descemer Bueno, and the Havana-based reggaeton duo Gente de Zona.  Iglesias further extends his lead, leaving the subsequent top No. 1 holders in the dust.  Luis Miguel trails with the second-most chart toppers (16), followed by Gloria Estefan (15).

"Bailando" also climbs 6-1 to rule the Latin Streaming Songs chart. To date, the music video has amassed 27 million views Worldwide, in the (almost) four weeks since its release.  On Latin Digital Songs, the track lists its third week at the top, selling just under 13,000 digital downloads,  according to Nielsen SoundScan.

On Latin Airplay the track bounds 13-5, stretching to 9.5 million audience impressions (a 37 percent increase), according to Nielsen BDS.  Iglesias currently holds 25 No. 1s on the Latin Airplay chart, also claiming the record for the most to reach the top.

Iglesias has been placing hit after hit at the top of the chart for 19 years, logging his first when he was only 19 years old with "Si Tu Te Vas."  The track spent eight weeks at the peak, and was only the start of his illustrious chart history.  Since then, he has ruled with smashes like "Enamorado Por Primera Vez" (12 weeks in 1997), "Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)" (11 weeks in 2007), and "Cuando Me Enamoro" (17 weeks in 2010), among a slew of others.

"Bailando" comes off of Iglesias’ latest album "Sex & Love", which debuted at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums on April 15, 2014 and is currently in its sixth week at the No. 2 spot, selling 5,000 copies for the May 17 chart date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Iglesias' No. 1 is the second recorded version of the song. Collaborators Bueno and Gente de Zona did their own version of the song in 2013. Iglesias had not shown immediate interest in recording it after he and Bueno came up with the basics of "Bailando" during a writing session, according to Bueno. "The song exploded in Cuba," Javier Otero, Gente de Zona’s manager told Billboard. Director Alejandro Perez filmed a video for the song, featuring a flamenco troupe dancing in the streets of Havana. The video quickly became popular on Youtube, where Iglesias saw it after a friend — not knowing it was the superstar's song - told him it was a great video that he should watch.

"Suddenly I got a call from Enrique Iglesias," Otero recalls. The song was revised and recorded by Iglesias with Bueno and Gente de Zona, and another hit for Iglesias was born. The new Iglesias video, also directed by Alejandro Perez in the Dominican Republic and featuring the Cuban artists and the flamenco dancers, has over 27 million views on Youtube.  The Bueno/Gente de Zona version of the song reached No. 18 on the Latin Pop Digital Songs  chart. Members of the Buena Vista Social Club have been the only other artists residing in Cuba under Castro to appear on the Billboard Latin charts, with Gente de Zona's participation in "Bailando" marking a first for a contemporary Cuban resident featured on a track at the top of Hot Latin Songs. Bueno, who has lived in Miami since 2000 and travels regularly to Havana, where he is a star in his own right, is in talks with with Universal Music Latin about recording a new solo album, a follow up to his 2012 EMI release "Bueno."

A bilingual version of "Bailando," with Iglesias singing in English and featuring Sean Paul, has been released to radio stations. A video for that song just completed filming in the Dominican Republic.

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