"" (

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 ...

: "The Torture") is a song by Colombian singer

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 ...

, featuring Spanish singer

Alejandro Sanz Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. Sanz has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Awar ...

, from Shakira's sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 ''Fijación Oral, Vol. 1'' (English: ''Oral Fixation, Vol. 1'') is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira. It was released on 3 June 2005 by Epic Records. After attaining international success in 2001 with her fifth st ...

'' (2005). It was released on 13 April 2005 by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the album. The song was written and produced by Shakira, with additional writing and production from longtime collaborators Luis Fernando Ochoa and

Lester Mendez Lester Mendez is a multi-platinum, Grammy award-winning record producer, songwriter and composer. His production/writing credits include a multitude of successful hits with Shakira, Jewel, Nelly Furtado, Jessica Simpson, Enrique Iglesias, and ot ...

respectively. "La Tortura" is a song with prominent influences of

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American Hip hop m ...

, and lyrically tells the story of a woman who has been emotionally "tortured" because her boyfriend cheated and eventually left her for another, and has now returned begging forgiveness. After its release, the song received generally positive reviews by

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 ...

, who agreed that the song was a prominent part of ''Fijación Oral, Vol. 1''. "La Tortura" was also well received commercially, leading the lists of the US

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

Latin Pop Songs Latin Pop Airplay (also referred to as Latin Pop Songs) is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine and a subchart of the Latin Airplay chart. The chart focuses on Latin pop music, namely Spanish-language pop music. It was established ...

and

Tropical Songs The Tropical Airplay chart (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa and Tropical Songs) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine introduced in 1994. The first number-one song on the chart was "Quién Eres Tú (Luis Enri ...

, in the United States. In the rest of the world, the song topped the charts in Venezuela, Spain and Hungary where it was the most played song of the year, spending a total of 8 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts. An 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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was released for the promotion of the single, and was directed by Michael Haussman. The song received multiple awards and nominations, including two awards at the

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

s at the 2006 Ceremony for Song of the Year and

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

. "La Tortura" is one of the best selling singles of all time, with more than 5 million copies sold worldwide, being certified gold in the United States by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for 500,000 digital copies sold, and the certification has been updated to 32 times platinum (1,920,000 units sold). It was also recognized as the best-selling Spanish song worldwide at all the times, with almost three million digital sales and ringtones combined sold in the United States alone to date. To promote "La Tortura", Shakira made a number of live performances in several television and award shows.

Background and composition

The single is a duet between Shakira and Spanish singer

, both of whom also composed it alongside

Luis Fernando Ochoa Luis Fernando Ochoa (born August 16, 1968) is an American musician, composer, record producer, art producer, sound engineer, arranger and backing vocalist known for his works with artists such as Shakira, Chayanne, and Ricky Martin. Biography L ...

. It was mixed by Gustavo Celis. "La Tortura" is a

-inspired track which lyrically tells the story of a woman who has been emotionally "tortured" because her boyfriend cheated and eventually left her for another, and has now returned begging forgiveness. He apologises extravagantly, but is ultimately of the thinking that infidelity is natural for men and for the woman not to forgive him would be tiresome and unreasonable. However, at the end of the song, Shakira's character humiliates him and says that she is not going to cry over him.

Remixes

The single and the album also included a remix of the song by Gustavo Celis entitled "The Shaketon Mix", merging a

rhythm. A separate music video (also directed by Michael Haussman) was also made for this remix. This video also entered on ''TRL'''s countdown. There is another official reggaeton remix called "Eddie Arroyo Reggaeton Remix". Another official mix has surfaced, the "Tracy Young Special According Mix" and other remixes have also been made by independent DJs. An alternative version of this song, is featured as a bonus track in the re-release of '' Oral Fixation Vol. 2'', with the chorus sung partially in the English-language.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from most music critics. Matt Cibula from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' wrote an extense review, saying that "The big single isn't quite reggaetón, although it makes full use of the reggaetón beat. What really matters are these two overheated voices working with and against each other, and the way that undeniable beat really comes alive when there is actually a beautiful melody underneath it." Spencer D. from

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

wrote that "the more 'ethnic' musical implements on "La Tortura" (accordion, Spanish guitar flutters, jostling rhythms, and the complementary male vocals of Alejandro Sanz) make for one of the more enjoyable and distinct inclusions on the album; a slice of Shakira being Shakira and eschewing the affectation of anybody else's vocal stylings."

Commercial performance

Since its release as a single, the song has become one of the most important

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

songs to move into the mainstream

-speaking culture in the US and Canada. "" reached a position of number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in less than twenty weeks after its release and was ranked number 60 in the Year-End Chart. The song was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

(RIAA) for over 500,000 digital sales. The song also held the record for the longest-run on the ''Billboard'''s

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

chart a total of 25 non-consecutive weeks until it was broken by

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

's song " Bailando" in 2014. At ''Billboard'' magazine's year-end chart (that shows the hottest songs of the year); "" was the number-one song on the Hot Latin Tracks chart and ranked third at the Hot Latin Songs 25th Anniversary chart. In 2020, ''Billboard'' revealed that "La Tortura" was the 5th most successful Latin song of all time on the Hot Latin Songs chart. The track was also successful in Europe, reaching the top ten in almost all countries it charted. It debuted at number one on the

Spanish Singles Chart Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, while in Switzerland, the song was in the top five for fifteen consecutive weeks, although it never reached the top position. In Hungary, the song spent eight consecutive weeks at number-one position. "La Tortura" was not released as an official single in the United Kingdom until December 2006, bundled with the release of "

Illegal Illegal, or unlawful, typically describes something that is explicitly prohibited by law, or is otherwise forbidden by a state or other governing body. Illegal may also refer to: Law * Violation of law * Crime, the practice of breaking the ...

" and charted at 34 on 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 ...

. As a result, it was featured in the 2007 edition of ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

''. "La Tortura" was chosen as the fifth favorite song of the world in a global survey made by

Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. I ...

, in which 700,000 music fans of 66 countries contributed.

Legacy

"La Tortura" was "the first Spanish-language video to air on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

without an English-language version". "La Tortura" was the first Spanish song to be added to high rotation on VH1. Shakira and Sanz performed the song at the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

in 2005, and Daddy Yankee performed "Gasolina", making this the first time any Spanish song was performed at the awards ceremony. Further, the book titled ''"Reggaeton"'' published by

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...

credits the song and Shakira for popularizing the genre ''(

)'' in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Music video

The accompanying

for "La Tortura" was

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Michael Haussman Michael Haussman is an American director, writer, and artist, living in Rome, Italy. Career Michael Haussman's music videos have won several awards, including six MTV Video Music Awards and a Museum of Modern Art Award. Past films include: ...

. It has a simple plot: from his new girlfriend's apartment, Sanz spies on Shakira as she is walking down the street holding a bag of onions on her way to her own apartment, which is on the other side of the street from Sanz' girlfriend's apartment. When Shakira enters her apartment, she changes clothes. From that moment on, Sanz remembers things the two had done in the past as a couple, while Shakira reveals her

alter-ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...

dancing erotically on the building's roof, covered with black paint. The

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

of the music video was made by

Jamie King Jamie King (born 1972) is an American creative director, choreographer, and producer. His work directing concert tours for pop stars has grossed over $2 billion. Early career King started his career in entertainment as a dancer. He appeared on ...

and Shakira herself. The music video is notable for being the first Spanish-only video to be aired on

. The channel also showed a whole episode of their ''

Making the Video ''Making the Video'' is an MTV show, consisting of half-hour episodes, which chronicles the process of filming various music videos. Usually the director outlines the concept of the video (or treatment) and the show often includes light-hearted ...

'' series in Spanish, with English subtitles. The remix version of the song, known as "La Tortura (Shaketon Remix)", has its own video (also directed by Haussman) featuring some previously unseen scenes. This video can be seen on '' Oral Fixation Volumes 1 & 2'' bonus DVD. The video was marked " Vevo Certified" by joint venture music video website

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 ...

for reaching more than 100 million views on YouTube. The music video of the song was nominated for

Best Female Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Y ...

Best Dance Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video was first awarded in 1989, and it was one of the original four genre categories that were added to the MTV Video Music Awards that year. With a revamp of the awards in 2007, the category was cut out ...

and Viewer's Choice Award on the

2005 MTV Video Music Awards The 2005 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 28, 2005, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show was hosted by Diddy at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The big winner of the night was Green Day, who ...

Accolades

*Viewer's Choice (''nominated'') *Best Female Video (''nominated'') *Best Dance Video (''nominated'') 2006 Latin Grammy Awards *

Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year The Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence, creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the Uni ...

(won) *

Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year The Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the ...

(won) 2005 MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica *Video of the Year (won) 2005 NRJ Awards *International Song Of The Year (won) 2005 Billboard Music Awards *Hot Latin Song Of The Year (won) 2005 Latin Billboard Music Awards *Song of the Year (won) *Song of the Year, Vocal Duet (won) *Ringtone of the Year (won)

Track listing

*Maxi CD # "La Tortura" lbum version- 3:36 # "La Tortura" haketon Reggaeton Remix- 3:12 # "La Pared" coustic Version- 2:39

Credits and personnel

* Invited artist: Alejandro Sanz (appears courtesy of

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

Benelux, BV) * Lyrics: Shakira * Music: Shakira, Luis F. Ochoa * Vocals: Shakira, Alejandro Sanz * Vocal arrangements: Shakira, Alejandro Sanz Production * Producer: Shakira * Executive producer: Rick Rubin * Co-producer:

for Living Stereo * Additional production: José "Gocho" Torres, Santana "The Golden Boy" * Remixer: José "Gocho" Torres ("Shaketon Mix") Engineering * Recording engineers: Gustavo Celis, Rob Jacobs, Kevin Killen * Assistant engineers: Bryan Gallant, Juan Camarano, Felipe Alvarez * Programming: Pete Davis * Mix engineer: Gustavo Celis Musicians *

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

: Lyle Workman, Luis F. Ochoa *

Acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

: René Toledo, Alejandro Sanz * Keyboards & Programming:

* Bass: Paul Bushnell *

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

: Archie Peña *

Accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

: Umberto Judex, Frank Morocco

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tortura 2005 songs 2005 singles Number-one singles in Romania Number-one singles in Spain Shakira songs Alejandro Sanz songs Spanish-language songs Male–female vocal duets Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year Music videos directed by Michael Haussman Record Report Top 100 number-one singles Songs written by Shakira Song recordings produced by Lester Mendez Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Luis Fernando Ochoa Epic Records singles