"Lambada", also known as "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" or "Llorando Se Fue (Lambada)" (both meaning 'crying, he/she went away' in Portuguese and Spanish, respectively), is a song by French-Brazilian pop group

Kaoma Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band formed in 1988 by Loalwa Braz (lead vocals), Chyco Dru (bass), Jacky Arconte (guitar), Jean-Claude Bonaventure (keyboard), Michel Abihssira (drums and percussion) and Fania (backing vocals). Dru is from Martini ...

. It featured guest vocals by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian vocalist Loalwa Braz, and was released as the first single from Kaoma's debut album, ''

Worldbeat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural c ...

'' (1989). The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, filmed on Cocos beach in the city of Trancoso, in the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

, Brazil featured the Brazilian child duo Chico & Roberta. The song in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

was a mix cover of the 1986 hit "Chorando Se Foi" by Márcia Ferreira (with lyrics translated to Portuguese) and the Cuarteto Continental hit "Llorando Se Fue" (the first upbeat version of the song introducing the accordion), released in 1984 through the Peruvian record label INFOPESA and produced by Alberto Maraví; both songs were adapted from the 1981 Bolivian song "

Llorando se fue "Llorando se fue" ( en, e/Sheleft in tears) is a Bolivian folk song recorded by Los Kjarkas in 1981 on the album ''Canto a la mujer de mi pueblo'' and released as a B-side of the "Wa ya yay" single in 1982. The song has been very popular in Latin ...

" by

Los Kjarkas Los Kjarkas is a Bolivian band from the Capinota province in the department of Cochabamba, and one of the most popular Andean folk music bands in the country's history. Among the styles they play are Saya, tuntuna, huayno, and carnavales. Th ...

. At the time of release, "Lambada" was regarded as the most successful European single in the history of

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

, with sales of 1.8 million copies in France and more than 4 million across Europe. Overall, "Lambada" sold 5 million copies worldwide in 1989 alone according to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. However, the Kaoma group did not credit the original song of

, turning their version into plagiarism and ending with lawsuits that would be won by the original authors of the song, the Bolivian group and their Portuguese-language co-authors.

Background and release

The lyrics and music of Kaoma's "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" were an unauthorized translation of the song "

", originally composed, performed and recorded by the Bolivian Andean folk group

in 1981. The song's lyrics and music had been lawfully registered by the founding members of

, Gonzalo and Ulises Hermosa, in 1981 at the Bolivian Institute of Culture (IBC) and in 1985 at Germany's Music and Authors Society (GEMA). The unauthorized copy by Kaoma, which was credited to fictitious composer Chico de Oliveira, led to a successful 1990 lawsuit by

against Kaoma's producer Jean-Claude Bonaventure. In 1991, French court ruled that co-writers Márcia Ferreira and José Ari were the authors of the Portuguese translation for Kaoma's version. Nowadays, "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" is credited to the Hermosa brothers (as authors), Alberto Maraví, Márcia Ferreira and José Ari. According to Gonzalo,

had based "Llorando Se Fue" on a small, nostalgic

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

melody. Their song was written in a sad and slow Afro-Bolivian Saya rhythm. Prior to Kaoma's 1989 release of the song, several covers of "Llorando se fue" had been released as dance tracks: *1984 – Cuarteto Continental from the LP ''Fiesta de Cumbias'' *1984 – Armonia 10 from the LP ''El Chinchorro, Vol. 2'' *1984 – Sexteto Internacional from the LP ''Mas Sexteto'' *1984 – Tropical Pingüino *1984 – Wilkins from the album ''Una Historia Importante – 15 Grandes Exitos'' *1984 – Chacalón y la Nueva Crema from the EP ''Llorando se fue/Llorando y sufriendo'' *1984 – Grupo Trebol from the LP ''Tropical Andino'' *1985 – Freddy Roland from the LP ''Chicha Up'' *1985 – Juan "Corazón" Ramón from the album ''Cada Día Mejor'' *1985 – Don Medardo y sus Player from the album ''Lo Mejor del Año, Vol.4'' *1985 – Vico y su Grupo Karicia from the LP ''Voz y sentimiento'' *1986 – Márcia FerreiraMárcia Ferreira Official site
Biography. marciaferreira.com.br *1986 – Los Graduados from the album ''Flor de un día'' *1986 – Pastor López from the album ''Cumbia Universal'' *1987 – Sonora Andacollo from the album ''Norte Tropical – Lambada'' *1988 –

Los Hermanos Rosario Los Hermanos Rosario (''The Rosario Brothers'' in English) is a merengue band, originally consisting of brothers Toño Rosario, Pepe, Rafa and Luis. History Los Hermanos Rosario is an emblematic merengue music band from the Dominican Republi ...

from the album ''Otra Vez'' *1988 – Ana Morena from the compilation album ''Baila Baila Baila, Vol. 2'' *1988 – Tropicalismo Apache from the album ''Exitos Quemantes'' *1989 – Los Flamers from the album ''Gran Reventon Gran, Vol. 5'' In 1984, an upbeat version of "Llorando Se Fue", introducing the accordion, was released by the Peruvian group Cuarteto Continental, whose arrangements (produced by Alberto Maraví) were later copied by Kaoma. The first Portuguese translation and recording of "Llorando Se Fue" – as "Chorando Se Foi" – was released by

ian singer Márcia Ferreira in 1986 under her third album. The French managers Olivier Lorsac (aka Olivier Lamotte d'Incamps) and Jean Georgakarakos formed the band Kaoma in France after Lorsac was exposed to

lambada Lambada () is a dance from State of Pará, Brazil. The dance became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as forró, salsa, merengue, ...

in March 1988 during his visit to

Porto Seguro Porto Seguro (, Safe Harbor in English), is a city located in the far south of Bahia, Brazil. The city has an estimated population of 150,658 (2020), covers , and has a population density of 52.7 residents per square kilometer. The area that inc ...

, Brazil. Lorsac and Georgakarakos bought the musical rights to over 400 lambada songs from the Brazilian music publisher Continental. Lorsac admitted he and Georgakarakos had heard a "remarkably similar" song by the Hermosa brothers, later recognized by French court to be Márcia Ferreira's hit cover version.In France of 1989, Kaoma's song was used in a television advertisement for

Orangina Orangina () is a lightly carbonated beverage made from carbonated water, 12% citrus juice (10% from concentrated orange, 2% from a combination of concentrated lemon, concentrated mandarin, and concentrated grapefruit juices), as well as 2% ora ...

Chart performance

"Lambada" became a worldwide summer hit, selling over 5 million copies in 1989 and was part of the

Lambada Lambada () is a dance from State of Pará, Brazil. The dance became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as forró, salsa, merengue, ...

dance craze ''Dance Craze'' is a 1981 American documentary film about the British 2 Tone music genre. The film was directed by Joe Massot, who originally wanted to do a film only about the band Madness, whom he met during their first US tour. Massot later ...

. It reached No. 1 in eleven different charts, as well as No. 4 in both the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and Irish Singles Chart, No. 5 on the Australia ARIA Singles Chart, and in 1990 it reached No. 46 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming one of the best known Brazilian songs of all time. As of 1991, combined sales of the album and the single have reached one million records sold in Italy. "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" was the 37th best-selling single of the United Kingdom during 1989. In France, where it topped the chart for 12 weeks and sold almost two million copies, the single was No. 1 on the year-end list.

Music video

The accompanying

for "Lambada" was filmed on stage on Tago Mago Island in the Mediterranean Sea and on Cocos Beach in the city of Trancoso, Bahia, Brazil. It featured the Brazilian child duo Chico & Roberta as love interests. As a semi-plot, Roberta's father does not want her to hang out with Chico, but Loalwa mends the situation among the three.

Motion picture

The song was licensed by producer Richard L. Albert for his film ''

The Forbidden Dance ''The Forbidden Dance'' (also released as ''The Forbidden Dance is Lambada'') is a 1990 drama film starring former Miss USA Laura Harring. Made to cash in on the Lambada dance craze by Menahem Golan's 21st Century Film Corporation, it opened o ...

'' after he saw Kaoma perform in a Los Angeles club. Not only was Kaoma's rendition used, but the song was also performed by

Kid Creole and the Coconuts Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin American, Caribbean ...

on screen, with English lyrics.

Cover versions, samples and mentions

The song "Sochna Kya" from the 1990

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

film '' Ghayal'' copied the melody of "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)". Also in 1990,

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

band Sun City Girls covered the song for their album Torch of the Mystics with the title "The Shining Path." The Japanese singer Akemi Ishii released a cover version in Japanese on 21 March 1990. It peaked at No. 16 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

charts and was re-recorded in 2011. The Hong Kong DJ Aling Choi Ling Ling released a cover version ”人生嘉年華“ in Cantonese on 1990. In 1994, the song was used in the

Arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

'Best of Best' by the korean company SunA.

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

released Hate Mi in 2004 which copies the melody of "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" In France, "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" was covered by another group,

Carioca Carioca ( or ) is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the City of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. The original meaning of the term is controversial, maybe from Tupi language "''kari' oka''", meaning "white house" as the whitewashed stone ...

, which peaked only at No. 22 on 9 September 1989 and remained in the charts for nine weeks. It was also covered, around that time, by other Brazilian singers, such as

Fafá de Belém Fafá de Belém, born Maria de Fátima Palha de Figueiredo in Belém do Pará on August 9, 1956, is a Brazilian singer considered one of the great female singers of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira). She took her stage name from the city of her ...

, whose 1985 album ''Aprendizes da Esperança'' was an early exponent of the lambada rhythm. In that same year, a cover by Regina appeared on the album ''Lambada Tropical'' (credited to Chico Mendés) and on the compilation albums ''Max Mix 9'' and ''Hits '89''. The Turkish singer Cengiz Coşkuner recorded a version of "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)", with lyrics written by Ülkü Aker, it featured on his album ''Seni Gidi Seni & Kapris Yapma'', which was released in 1990. Another Turkish singer, Rüya Çağla, wrote and recorded a version for use as the title track of her album ''Lambada'', also released in 1990. Ivete Sangalo recorded a version of "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" for her album ''As Super Novas'', released as its third single, becoming number 1 in Brazil. She also recorded the song on her second live album.

Mariana Seoane Mariana Seoane (born Mariana Alejandra Seoane García on June 10, 1976 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican actress, model and singer. Biography Seoane was born June 10, 1976, from an Argentinian mother and a Cuban-Mexican father, Seoane demons ...

recorded "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" in Spanish for her 2007 album ''Está de Fiesta... Atrévete!!''. Seikima-II frontman Demon Kakka recorded "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" in Japanese/Spanish for his 2008 album ''GIRLS' ROCK Hakurai''. The 2011 Jennifer Lopez single "

On the Floor "On the Floor" is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez for her seventh studio album, '' Love?'' (2011). Featuring American rapper Pitbull, it was released by Island Records on February 8, 2011, as the lead single from the album. ...

" sampled either "Lambada" by Kaoma, or the original "Llorando Se Fue" by

. "On The Floor" reached No. 3 in the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

. "On The Floor" itself would later be sampled by

UK drill UK drill is a subgenre of drill music and road rap that originated in the South London district of Brixton from 2012 onwards. Initially borrowing heavily from the style of Chicago drill music before creating its own unique sound, UK drill artist ...

rappers A1 x J1 and

Tion Wayne Dennis Junior Odunwo (born 1 September 1993), known professionally as Tion Wayne, is a British rapper and DJ from Edmonton, North London. He appeared on three top-10 singles on UK Singles Chart as a guest – NSG's " Options", "Keisha & Becky" ...

for their song "Night Away (Dance)", released in March 2022.

Formats and track listings

7" single CBS # "Lambada" – 3:28 # "Lambada" (instrumental) – 3:48 # "Lambada" (DJ Petro Panayoti aka Mixmaster Remix) 1989 – 4:50 12" maxi CBS # "Lambada" (extended version) – 6:44 # "Lambada" (instrumental version) – 3:48 # "Lambada" (DJ Stigma-Berveni Remix) – 3:55 # "Lambada" (DJ Petro Panayoti Club Remix) 2019 – 6:00

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Lambada 3000 (Gregor Salto remix)

In July 2009, a new Summer remixed version of the track by house and

latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

Gregor Salto Gregor van Offeren (born 21 April 1979 in Haarlem, Netherlands), better known as Gregor Salto, is a Dutch DJ and record producer. Biography Dominating the Dutch club scene for over a decade, Haarlem native Gregor Salto has become famous amon ...

called "Lambada 3000" (billed as Gregor Salto & Kaoma) was released in the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...

. Loalwa Braz, the original singer of the song, was asked to provide new vocals for the remix. The track became Salto's second Top 20 hit in the Dutch Top 40, and third entry in the chart, peaking at #12. Its music video was shot on Curaçao and premiered in June 2009.

Track listings and formats

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1988 debut singles EMI Records singles Kaoma songs CBS Records singles Epic Records singles Number-one singles in Austria European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Italy Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Portugal Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Portuguese-language songs 1988 songs fr:Llorando se fue#Version de Kaoma