"¡Ay, Amor!" (English: ''Oh Love'') is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

written and performed by Mexican singer-songwriter

Ana Gabriel María Guadalupe Araujo Yong (born December 10, 1955), better known as Ana Gabriel, is a Mexican singer and songwriter from Guamuchil, Sinaloa, Mexico. She first sang on the stage at age six, singing "Regalo A Dios" by José Alfredo Jiménez. ...

and produced by Mariano Pérez Bautista. It was released as the first single from her third studio album, '' Pecado Original'' (1987). This song became the second to spend 14 consecutive weeks at number one in the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Tracks chart, after fellow Mexican singer

Daniela Romo Daniela Romo (born Teresa Presmanes Corona; 27 August 1959) is a Mexican singer, actress and TV hostess. During her career, she has sold 17 million records, making her one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Biography Born Teresa Presman ...

with " De Mí Enamórate", being surpassed in the same year by

Yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

when her single "Qué Te Pasa" achieved sixteen weeks at the top of the chart. "¡Ay, Amor!" is also recognized as one of Gabriel's signature songs and has been performed by several singers, including Tino y su Banda Joven, Jannette Chao, Keyla Caballero, Myriam and

Background

Mexican singer-songwriter

, after ten years of preparation, received in 1984 the opportunity to participate on the Mexican Festival 'Valores Juveniles', in which she participated as a composer with the song "No Me Lástimes Más", and won second place in the contest. Following this victory she was called by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and was offered an exclusive contract. The following year, 1985, Gabriel participated in the

OTI Festival OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción, pt, Festival OTI da Canção), often known simply as La OTI, was an international song competition, organised annually between 1972 and 2000 by the Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana (OTI) ...

with the song "Búscame", wrote with Tony Flores, and took the award for 'Revelation of the Year'. That same year she recorded his first album, entitled ''

Un estilo ''Un Estilo'' (English ''A style'') is the 1st studio album by Mexican pop singer Ana Gabriel. It was released on 1985. She participated with the song Búscame (''Look for me'') in the OTI Festival OTI Festival ( es, Festival OTI de la Canción ...

''. In 1986 she participated again in the OTI with the song "A Tu Lado" and this time was recognized as 'Singer of the Year'. Finally, in 1987, Gabriel had her third chance at this festival with the song "¡Ay, amor!", which earned the awards for Best Song, Best Singer and Best Composer, and the opportunity to represent Mexico at the Festival OTI International in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal, where she ranked third, in a tie with Spain. "¡Ay, Amor!" was produced by Mariano Pérez Bautista and was released as the first single from Gabriel's third studio album '' Pecado Original'' (1987). This song was a success in Mexico and United States, leading the album to its peak at number three in the ''Billboard'' Latin Pop Albums and approximate sales of two and a half million units in Latin America.

Chart performance

The song debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Tracks chart at number 35 on 21 November 1987 and climbed to the top ten four weeks later. It reached the top position of the chart on 23 January 1988, replacing "

Soy Así ''Soy Así'' (I am like this) is 23rd studio album recorded by Mexican performer José José, It was released by RCA Ariola in 1987 (see 1987 in music). It was written and produced by Spanish producer Rafael Pérez-Botija. This album became th ...

" by Mexican singer

José José José Rómulo Sosa Ortiz (17 February 1948 – 28 September 2019), known professionally as José José, was a Mexican singer and actor. Born into a family of musicians, José began his musical career in his early teens playing guitar and sin ...

and being replaced twelve weeks later by

Juan Gabriel Alberto Aguilera Valadez (; January 7, 1950 – August 28, 2016), known professionally as Juan Gabriel (), was a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. Colloquially nicknamed as Juanga () and El Divo de Juárez, Juan Gabriel was known for his f ...

's "

Debo Hacerlo ''Debo Hacerlo'' (English language, Eng.: ''I Must Do It'') is a compilation album by the Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel. It was released in 1988, and would be the last album with new songs released by the singer, until his album ''Grac ...

". "¡Ay, amor! returned to number-one for two additional weeks, replacing "

Y Ahora Te Vas "Y Ahora Te Vas" ( en, italic=yes, And Now You Leave) is a song written and produced by Mexican singer and songwriter, Marco Antonio Solís. It was performed by him as the lead singer of Los Bukis. It was released as the second single from his 11 ...

" by

Los Bukis Los Bukis (The Bukis, ''buki'' translates as ''Little Kid'' in the Yaqui language) are a Mexican Grupera band from Ario de Rosales, Michoacan. In 1973, the band was founded by cousins Marco Antonio Solís and Joel Solís. Their first song was ...

and being replaced by "

Qué Te Pasa QUE or que may refer to: * Quebec (Que.), as the traditional abbreviation, though the postal abbreviations are now QC and previously PQ * Que Publishing, a company which first began as a publisher of technical computer software and hardware suppo ...

" by

. Only four female singers have achieved the same number of weeks (or more) at number one on the Hot Latin Tracks history:

(14 weeks with " De Mí Enamórate" in 1986–1987),

(16 weeks with "

" in 1988) and

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

(25 weeks with "

La Tortura "" (English: "The Torture") is a song by Colombian singer Shakira, featuring Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, from Shakira's sixth studio album ''Fijación Oral, Vol. 1'' (2005). It was released on 13 April 2005 by Epic Records as the lead single ...

" in 2005).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Credits and personnel

This information adopted from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. *Mariano Pérez Bautista – director, producer, mixing *Carlos Gómez – piano, arranger, keyboards, engineer *Javier Losada – piano, arranger, keyboards, engineer *Henry Díaz – percussion *Ana Gabriel – lead vocals, lyrics *Rodrigo García – acoustic guitar *Eduardo Gracía – bass *Antonio Moreno – drums *Tito Saavedra – engineer, mixing *Antonio Sauco – arranger *Maisa Hens – vocals *María Lar – vocals *José Flacón – vocals

References

{{authority control 1987 singles 1987 songs Ana Gabriel songs Songs written by Ana Gabriel Spanish-language songs CBS Discos singles 1980s ballads Pop ballads