"La Luz" ( en, The Light) is a song written and performed by the Colombian singer-songwriter

Juanes file:Juanes ZMF 2015 jm49108.jpg, Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Freiburg, Germany file:Juanes ZMF 2015 jm49211.jpg, Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Freiburg, Germany Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez (born 9 August 19 ...

, released as the lead single from his sixth studio album '' Loco de Amor'' (2014) on December 16, 2013. The song was produced by the American producer

Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big ...

. The music video for the song was directed by

Jessy Terrero Jessy Terrero (born October 7, 1972) is a List of people from the Dominican Republic, Dominican Film director, film and music video director. Career Terrero appeared as an extra on the 1992 film ''Juice (1992 film), Juice'' starring Tupac Shakur ...

and filmed in Cartagena. An alternate version of the song featuring Brazilian singer

Claudia Leitte Cláudia Cristina Leite Inácio (; born 10 July 1980) is a Brazilian singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2002 as the lead vocalist of the Axé music group Babado Novo. The group achieved a string of consecutive diamond- ...

was also released.

Background

After the success for his second live album,

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

(2012), the singer decided get back to the studio. At the

Grammy Awards of 2013 The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

, Juanes presented and performed totally in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, singing "

Your Song "Your Song" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single. "Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in M ...

" of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, being the first time watch Juanes singing a song in other language. This presentation caught the attention for many fans and journalist, about the possibility for record his next studio album in English. On November in the same year, Juanes with

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

presented the category of

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

at the

Latin Grammy Awards of 2013 The 14th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 21, 2013, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. This was the sixth time that Latin Grammys has been held at this location. The main telecast was broadcast on Univision a ...

, they performed "La Flaca", original song for the Spanish rock band

Jarabe de Palo Jarabe de Palo ("Wooden Stick Syrup" or, by virtue of the Spanish expression "dar un jarabe de palo", i.e. a "hell of a beating") were a Spanish rock band founded in 1996, once led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Pau Donés, who, on 9 June ...

, four days later released the song as the first single from the twenty-third studio album of

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

. In December 11, Juanes uploaded a video via

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, talking about of the new single from his upcoming album. Then in

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, showed the official cover for "La Luz" (The Light) and the date that will be released. The lead single, "La Luz" was released on December 16, 2013, from his sixth studio album ''Loco De Amor''.

Critical reception

Following its release, "La Luz" received some reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Thom Jurek of

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 ...

, said that the song "melds 21st century

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

" with the " Colombian cumbia and Latin alt-rock", in a driving with "infectious dancefloor groover", and praised the vocal performance from Juanes, when he refers about his "killer falsetto". Hector Aviles of Latin Music Café, compared the song with "

Yerbatero "Yerbatero" ( en, Herbalist) is a rock song by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes released as the lead single from his fifth studio album '' P.A.R.C.E.''. It was released digitally on June 10, 2010 through Universal Records.

Chart performance

"La Luz", debuted in Colombia at number three on the

National-Report The National-Report is the Colombian music industry standard singles popularity chart tracking company. Chart rankings are based on radio play and issued weekly. The data are compiled by monitoring radio stations through an automated system in re ...

chart on the week of December 16, 2013. Two weeks later, it peaked at number one on the chart replacing "Amor a Primera Vista" by Alkilados. It spent three consecutive weeks on top of the chart until it was replaced by

Prince Royce Geoffrey Royce Rojas (born May 11, 1989), known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen ...

's single, "

Darte un Beso "Darte un Beso" (English: "Give You a Kiss") is a 2013 bachata song by American singer Prince Royce. The single became an international hit for Prince Royce in the United States, Latin America and Spain. At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2014, the s ...

". In the United States, the song debuted at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' Latin Pop Songs chart and received the "Greatest Gainer", in ''Billboard'' Tropical Airplay chart at number 39. In Mexico, debuted on the

Monitor Latino Monitor Latino (stylised monitorLATINO) is a singles chart founded in 2003 which ranks songs on chart based on airplay across radio stations in Latin American countries and Hispanic radio stations in the United States using the Radio Tracking Data ...

chart at number 11, and two weeks later, peaked at number 4 in the week ending February 17, 2014. It also peaked at number twelve on the ''Billboard'' Mexican Airplay chart. While in Venezuela debuted at number 37, and twelve weeks later top the chart. It peaked at number forty-one in Spain.

Music video

In October 30, Juanes posted a photo on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

where was shooting his new music video, causing curiosity from the fans, and the rumors about the coming of a new single. Three days later Juanes upload the music video of "La Luz" in December 18, in his

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

account, receiving 400k views the first day. The music video was shot in the streets of the center of Cartagena, was directed by

Live performances

The song was performed live for the first time in

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. After the Spanish American wars ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

as part of the VI Festival de Antofagasta 2014, in the

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

. On March 11, 2014, the same day of the releasing of ''Loco de Amor'', Juanes performed "La Luz" at

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

. The next day, Juanes performed the song in a concert in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, as part of a show that was broadcast live online for Terra Live Music.

Track listing

*Digital download # "La Luz" - # "La Luz" (featuring

) -

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Recorded at

Henson Recording Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

and

Perfect Sound Studios Jake Rodenhouse is a record producer and multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of Perfect Sound Studios. He was also a member of the band The City Drive. He currently resides in Hollywood, California. Between 2002 and 2004, Jake combined efforts ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. ;Personnel *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Juanes *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– Juanes, Steve Lillywhite *Vocal engineering and recording – Matty Green *Mixing – Steve Lillywhite, Matty Green *Background vocals;– Michele Delamor, Ana Cristina Álvarez Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Loco de Amor'',

Universal Music Latino Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...

, Parce Music LLC ( BMI).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luz (Juanes song 2013 songs 2013 singles Juanes songs Songs written by Juanes Song recordings produced by Steve Lillywhite Spanish-language songs Music videos directed by Jessy Terrero Number-one singles in Colombia Record Report Top 100 number-one singles Record Report Top Latino number-one singles Universal Music Latino singles