Las Ketchup is a Spanish

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of wh ...

founded by

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura a ...

record producer Manuel "Queco" Ruiz. The group, which consists of sisters Lucía, Lola, and Pilar Muñoz (later to be joined by a fourth sister Rocío), is best known for the 2002 hit single, "

The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" () is the debut single by Spanish pop group Las Ketchup, taken from their debut studio album ''Hijas del Tomate'' (2002). The song is about a young man who enters a nightclub while singing and dancing. In addition t ...

", a single that sold over seven million copies worldwide. The group's debut studio album, ''

Hijas del Tomate ''Hijas del Tomate'' ( en, "Daughters of the Tomato") is the debut studio album by Las Ketchup, released in 2002. It gained popularity particularly thanks to the number-one hit " The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)". The album received a nomination for a ...

'', has sold over two million copies worldwide, but the second did not achieve the same success. They represented Spain at

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song " My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcast ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

with the song " Un Blodymary". The group has not released any singles since 2006, but still performs together publicly around Spain and other countries.

History

2001–02: Formation

All members of the group are daughters of flamenco musician Juan Manuel Muñoz Expósito, best known by his stage name, El Tomate (Spanish for "The Tomato"). Las Ketchup were originally discovered by the flamenco record producer Manuel "Queco" Ruiz, who signed them to his newly formed, independent Córdoba label Shaketown Music, that he ran together with Manuel Illán.

2002–05: ''Hijas del Tomate''

In the middle of 2002, they had a major flamenco

Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

fusion hit with "Aserejé" (released as "

The Ketchup Song ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries), which reached the top of the charts in many countries, including: Spain, Portugal, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Albania, France, Finland, Turkey, Syria, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, and Australia. However, it failed to hit the top 40 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The title and part of the lyrics were in Spanish. The hit also had an accompanying dance. The second single was "

Kusha Las Payas "Kusha Las Payas" is a song performed by the Andalusian-Spanish pop group Las Ketchup. It was released in November 2002 as the second single from their debut studio album, '' Hijas del Tomate''. It is a follow-up to their most successful single, ...

" and garnered moderate success. The group re-released "The Ketchup Song" later in the same year, with a new video, as a Christmas song.

2006: ''Un Blodymary'' and addition of Rocío

The group took an extended absence from the public eye to write songs for a new album and, during the same period, Pilar had a baby. In 2006, they were joined by Rocío, a fourth sister, and came back as a four girl group to represent Spain in the

. The girls said themselves that Rocío had always been a member of "Las Ketchup", but that had not appeared in the promo material or performances because she was pregnant. They released their second studio album, titled ''Un Blodymary''. The album release was delayed until the beginning of 2006. They planned to release one million copies and their record producer Queco, who also produced and wrote their worldwide single, "Aserejé", indicated that the album displayed their original sound. Their first single from the album was also titled " Un Blodymary" for the Spanish entry in the

. The song finished twenty-first with only 18 points.

2006–present

In 2016, the group performed their hit "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" as an interval during the first semi final of the Swedish pre-selection to the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song C ...

. In 2017, they performed at the Pal Norte in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...

, Mexico.

Discography

Albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards

*2002 Ondas Awards – Best New Artist/Group *2004 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards – Best Pop Album from the New Generation (''

'') – Most Played Tropical-Salsa Song by a Duo or Group ("

") *2003

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 ...

– Best Pop Album By a Duo or Group with Vocals ''Hijas del Tomate'' (Nominated, lost to Bacilos's ''Caraluna''.) *2003 MIDEM (Cannes) – Best New Artist/Group *2003 Amigo Awards – Best New Group – Best New Artist *2004 MIDEM (Cannes) – Border Breakers (Best-selling album out of its country and within Europe with ''Hijas del Tomate'')

Parodies

In 2002, the German comedian Elmar Brandt wrote (using the tune of Aserejé) a

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

parody called "Der Steuersong" (The Tax Song) for the radio program '' The Gerd Show''. In 2002, a satirical version to the tune of Aserejé by ''El Grupo Mayonesa'' circulated in Gibraltar prior to the referendum on a proposal of joint sovereignty, entitled 'Vota Que No, Que No, Que No No No'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ketchup, Las People from Córdoba, Spain Spanish dance music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Spain Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2006 Sibling musical groups Spanish girl groups Musical groups established in 2002 Spanish pop music groups 2002 establishments in Spain Latin pop music groups Women in Latin music