America's No. 1 Song Isn't in English for 1st Time in 30 Years

And it's only happened 3 times in the past 35 years
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2017 11:31 AM CDT
America's No. 1 Song Isn't in English for 1st Time in 30 Years
"Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee is the first non-English-language song to top the Billboard Hot 100 in 30 years.   (YouTube)

Something pretty dang rare is happening on the American music charts. "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (and featuring Justin Bieber) has been the top song on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in a row. The song, which is in Spanish, is only the third non-English-language track to become the number-one song in America in the past 35 years, the Washington Post reports. In fact, only 15 songs not sung in English have even cracked the top 60 in that time. As the percentage of Americans who speak Spanish has more than doubled since 1980, popular non-English-language songs have followed suit, transitioning from gimmicky dance tracks to Spanish-language songs. Oh, those other two chart-topping, non-English songs? "La Bamba" by Los Lobos and "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco. (More Billboard charts stories.)

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