'Macarena’ still gets people dancing 25 years after its release

While Los Del Río first released 'Macarena' in 1993, it was the 1995 Bayside Boys Remix that really made this party anthem take off in music charts around the world. Photo: AFP Relaxnews

To this day, Antonio Romero Monge and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones still struggle to put words to the worldwide success that Macarena brought them, even 25 years after its release in the United States.

It must be said that there was nothing in particular about how the song came about that hinted that it would become one of the most popular hits of the 20th century. Monge, now 73, was at a party in Caracas, Venezuela, when a dancer inspired him to write the lyrics “Dale alegria a tu cuerpo” (“Give joy to your body” in English). Thirty minutes later, the Spanish singer-songwriter had composed what was set to become Los Del Rio’s biggest hit.