Para Siempre
Encyclopedia
Para siempre is the 79th studio album
released by Mexican singer Vicente Fernández
on September 18, 2007 by Sony BMG. Written and produced by Joan Sebastian
, and co-produced by Jesús Rincón, the album is a successful mariachi
record. It has sold two million copies worldwide, and is one of the biggest-selling albums by Fernández. It spawned four singles: "Estos celos
", "La derrota
", "Un millón de primaveras" and the title track
, the latter of which was used as the main theme to the Mexican telenovela
Fuego en la sangra
, which brought the album wider exposure and helped it to stay in the charts for over two years. It was named the best-selling Regional Mexican Album of the decade by Billboard
.
Originally conceived as a banda music
project, the album earned Fernández a Latin Grammy Award for Best Ranchero Album
, four Premios Oye!
and a Grammy nomination. Para siempre is considered responsible for bringing Mexican traditional music to a younger audience that had never listened to the singer before. Fernández released music videos for the twelve tracks and recorded a TV special on his ranch in Guadalajara, Jalisco
. A sold-out promotional tour led to the recording of the live album
Primera fila
, Fernández' follow up album.
, the "king" of Mexico's traditional ranchera music and one of that country's most recognizable and influential cultural icons, and singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian
. Since Fernández's emergence in the mid-'60s, his popularity among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans has been likened to that of Frank Sinatra
and Elvis Presley
in the United States. His concerts both in Mexico and the United States routinely sell out and his 100-plus albums (including compilations
) have reportedly sold 50 million copies. Sebastian has been celebrated by critics for his contribution to Mexican culture, thanks to his successful singer career and his work producing artists such as Antonio Aguilar
, Pepe Aguilar
, Lucero and Rocío Dúrcal
; he is also a three time Grammy winner. Para siempre, the 79th studio album by Fernández, was released in September 2007 in several countries. It was recorded to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his singing career, and is, according to Fernández's record label, one of his most important albums. Nevertheless, Sebastian said that the label did not have high expectations for the album.
album with original music by Sebastian, a first for the singer; before this, in 1993, he included a cover
of a song written by Sebastian titled "Verdad que duele" ("It Hurts") on his album Lástima que seas ajena (A Shame You Belong to Another). Fernández' fans kept asking to record banda songs and written by Sebastian, prompting him to record the album. Fernández was not pleased with the idea of trading his classic mariachi style for banda, but agreed to record with Sebastian as a "thank you" to his fans. In the album liner notes the singer dedicated the album to his wife and included a message for this fans: "As long as you keep applauding, I will be singing 'forever'."
In late 2006, on Fernández' ranch in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he asked Sebastian for songs to record on his next album and they agreed that his next project would be to work with Fernández on the album. Sebastian began preparing the demos
along with Beto Jiménez, and in early 2007 he told Fernández that the songs were ready. The singer flew to the producer's studio and recorded them. Fernández has said of working with Sebastian: "He is more than a friend, he is my brother, he writes excellent songs and has a great sensibility."
The album was recorded in Cuernavaca, Morelos at the JS Studios. "I went to one of his houses for a day and in less than seven hours my part of the album was ready, he put everything on the table, its very good and romantic." Fernández kept his mariachi style on the album and the producer only added more tamboras
; the singer was confident that this album was going to be a success, since his audience was demanding his union with Sebastian.
presents a successful love relationship; while Sebastian's lyrics contain popular slang
. Guitars, trumpets, violins and an accordion
create the mariachi
sound. The last track, "El chofer" ("The Driver"), is a resembles José Alfredo Jiménez
lyrical style, since Fernández travels "through Laredo
to Michoacán
." Some inspiration for the tracks came from the writer's crush on the Mexican actress Salma Hayek
.
in Guadalajara, Jalisco
. Due to his dislike of massive tours, Fernández did not hold a large promotional campaign. Despite this, he performed live in the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juárez
, Reynosa
, Ciudad del Carmen
, Lagos de Moreno
, Sahuayo
, Jiménez
, Tijuana
, Ensenada
, San Luis Potosí
, México City
, Guadalajara
, Pachuca
, and the American cities Phoenix
, Denver, Atlanta, New York
, Miami, Chicago
, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nevada
and San Jose
. This short tour garnered a nomination for Latin Tour of the Year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards
. Vicente Fernández recorded a TV special on his ranch in Guadalajara, Jalisco
, which was broadcast in late September 2007 and December 25, 2007, by Televisa
.
", was one of his best performances, along with "Niña hechicera" ("Wicked Girl"). Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic gave the album four stars; he described it as "near-perfect" and "stellar". He praised the singing, the songwriting, and the instrumentation. Tijana Ilich of About.com
gave the album a four and a half stars calling "Para siempre for a melody as lovely as the story".
For the Grammy Awards of 2008 the album received a nomination for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
which it lost to 100% mexicano by Pepe Aguilar
. For the Latin Grammy Awards of 2008
Para siempre won for Best Ranchero Album
, and the first single "Estos celos
" won a Latin Grammy as Best Regional Mexican Song. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year
, which was awarded to La vida...es un ratico
, by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes
. In México, the album won four Premios Oye!
in the following categories: Album of the Year, Song of the Year ("Estos celos"), Best Ranchero Solo Artist and Best Telenovela, Movie or Series Song ("Para siempre
"). Joan Sebastian also received two awards by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for the title track: Song of the Year and Best Regional Music Song.
Vicente Fernández received five nominations for the 11th Billboard Latin Music Awards
for his work on this album: Hot Latin Songs Artist, Hot Latin Song, Male ("Para siempre"), Top Latin Albums Artist and Regional Mexican Airplay Song, Male ("Para siempre" and "La derrota"); Joan Sebastian is nominated for both Songwriter and Producer of the Year. On April 23, 2009, Fernández won the awards for Top Latin Albums Artist and Regional Mexican Airplay Song for the title track.
, September 25, 2007 in United States and on February 26, 2008 in Spain with an album cover featuring the performer on a red background. On April 15, 2008, a CD/DVD
format, with a black background on the cover was released, which included music videos for the 12 tracks recorded on Para siempre, directed by Benjamin Hidalgo. A karaoke
version of the album, with a yellow background, was released in April 2008.
Mexican Album Chart in October 2007 and climbed to the top position 21 weeks later; it spent a total of 14 weeks (non-consecutive) at the top of the chart. Para siempre was certified diamond in Mexico for sales of 600,000 units. The sales were, according to Sony BMG Marketing Vice-President and A&R
Nir Seroussi, a "phenomenon" because "the music market in Mexico is completely pirated" and Fernández's albums usually sell only 50,000 units per album.
In October 2007, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and spent almost its entire chart run in the Top Ten; it topped the chart for five non-consecutive weeks, three weeks in 2008 and two in 2009, when it replaced Primera fila
, Fernández' follow-up live album, at the top of the chart, being the first time that a male performer replaces himself at number-one, and the first time since Selena
did it in 1995. According to Sony BMG Norte, with over one million copies sold worldwide, Para siempre is the most successful release by Vicente Fernández since 2000. Only seven other recordings by Fernández sold more units in the United States. It was the best-selling Regional Mexican album of 2008 and at the Billboard Top Latin Albums Year-end chart
the album ranked at number two, behind Los extraterrestres
by Wisin & Yandel
. Para siempre was purchased on 50,000 mobile phones in Mexico, a "novelty" for a regional Mexican album. The album's success is attributed to a change in the sound; instead of employing multiple composers and producers as in previous albums, Para siempre was written and produced entirely by Joan Sebastian. Miguel Trujillo, Sony BMG México CEO, commented about the album, "This album connected to a new generation that probably never listened to Vicente before." Para siempre was named the best-selling Regional Mexican album of the decade in the United States.
" ("This Jealousy") was released in México and United States as the lead single
from the album. It peaked at number three in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, spent 40 weeks on the chart,. "Estos celos" ranked 28th in 2007 and 5th in 2008 in the Billboard Hot Regional Mexican Songs Year-end charts and its ringtone has been one on the top two sellers for Sony BMG Norte since the album release. In Colombia
, broadcast of a cover version of this single performed by 'El Cape' Medina and Sneider Geles—recorded in vallenato
style and included on the album Por Siempre y Para siempre—was not allowed by the Colombian Music Association. The song was recorded without a planned commercial release, and the album recorded by Medina and Geles was only given to their friends, but the song unexpectedly achieved success on the Internet and some radio stations in Colombia. 'Cape' Medina said that the song may have been restricted out of the original Mexican publisher's jealousy. This version can still be found on file sharing
websites and in the video sharing
website YouTube
. The second single released, "La derrota
" ("The Defeat"), peaked at number seven in the Hot Latin Tracks chart and number one in México and Colombia. The third single, "Para siempre
", was featured as the main theme for the Mexican telenovela
Fuego En La Sangre
and hit the number two spot in the Latin charts in United States and number one in México and Colombia. The fourth single yielded from the album was "Un millón de primaveras" which did not chart in United States, but peaked at number one in México and Colombia. On the Billboard Year-end charts of 2008, Vicente Fernández appeared three times within the Top 25 with three singles from this release: the title track ranked at number six, "Estos celos" at number 10 and "La derrota" ended at number 25. The ringtones for "Estos celos" and "Para siempre" received a platinum certification for sales over 25,000 units.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
released by Mexican singer Vicente Fernández
Vicente Fernández
Vicente Fernández Gómez is a Mexican singer, producer and actor. Known as Chente or El rey de la canción ranchera throughout the Latin world, Vicente Fernández, who started his career singing for tips on the street, has become a cultural icon, recording more than 50 albums and contributing to...
on September 18, 2007 by Sony BMG. Written and produced by Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian is a popular Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a mixture of Latin pop, ranchera and grupera music...
, and co-produced by Jesús Rincón, the album is a successful mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
record. It has sold two million copies worldwide, and is one of the biggest-selling albums by Fernández. It spawned four singles: "Estos celos
Estos Celos
"Estos Celos" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
", "La derrota
La Derrota
"La Derrota" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
", "Un millón de primaveras" and the title track
Para Siempre (song)
"Para Siempre" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
, the latter of which was used as the main theme to the Mexican telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
Fuego en la sangra
Fuego En La Sangre
-DVD release:*Fuego En La Sangre was released in a 4 disc DVD set in Mexico in mid-2009. It contains all 200 episodes in abridged version. A 2 disc US version was released on September 1, 2009.-Awards:...
, which brought the album wider exposure and helped it to stay in the charts for over two years. It was named the best-selling Regional Mexican Album of the decade by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
.
Originally conceived as a banda music
Banda music
Banda is a brass-based form of traditional music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas, and boleros. Bandas are most widely known for their rancheras, but they also play modern Mexican pop, rock, and cumbias...
project, the album earned Fernández a Latin Grammy Award for Best Ranchero Album
Latin Grammy Award for Best Ranchero Album
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Ranchero Album 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 United States and internationally...
, four Premios Oye!
Premios Oye!
Premios Oye! are presented annually by the Academia Nacional de la Música en México for outstanding achievements in the Mexican record industry...
and a Grammy nomination. Para siempre is considered responsible for bringing Mexican traditional music to a younger audience that had never listened to the singer before. Fernández released music videos for the twelve tracks and recorded a TV special on his ranch in Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
. A sold-out promotional tour led to the recording of the live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
Primera fila
Primera Fila
-Disc two:-Personnel:This information from Allmusic.*Gustavo Borner – didjeridu, engineer, mastering, realization*Pedro Ramírez – arranger, musical direction*Josué "Ciclón" García – production assistant*Juan Carlos Rodríguez – production assistant...
, Fernández' follow up album.
Background
Two recognized artists worked together for the first time on Para siempre: Vicente FernándezVicente Fernández
Vicente Fernández Gómez is a Mexican singer, producer and actor. Known as Chente or El rey de la canción ranchera throughout the Latin world, Vicente Fernández, who started his career singing for tips on the street, has become a cultural icon, recording more than 50 albums and contributing to...
, the "king" of Mexico's traditional ranchera music and one of that country's most recognizable and influential cultural icons, and singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian
Joan Sebastian is a popular Mexican singer and songwriter. He has composed hundreds of songs and been a regular staple on the top-40 charts in Mexico since his career began in 1977. His music is a mixture of Latin pop, ranchera and grupera music...
. Since Fernández's emergence in the mid-'60s, his popularity among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans has been likened to that of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
in the United States. His concerts both in Mexico and the United States routinely sell out and his 100-plus albums (including compilations
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
) have reportedly sold 50 million copies. Sebastian has been celebrated by critics for his contribution to Mexican culture, thanks to his successful singer career and his work producing artists such as Antonio Aguilar
Antonio Aguilar
José Pascual Antonio Aguilar Barraza most commonly known as Antonio Aguilar, nicknamed "El Charro de México", was a Mexican film actor, singer, producer and screenwriter. During his career, he made over 150 albums, which sold 25 million copies, and made 167 movies...
, Pepe Aguilar
Pepe Aguilar
José "Pepe" Aguilar Jiménez is a popular singer-songwriter of ranchera, mariachi and pop music. Pepe is the son of Mexican icon Antonio Aguilar and folkloric actress Flor Silvestre.-Career:...
, Lucero and Rocío Dúrcal
Rocío Dúrcal
Rocío Dúrcal , born as María de los Ángeles de Las Heras Ortíz, was a Spanish singer and actress, known artistically as Rocío Durcal. Spanish is the best selling solo albums with more than 80 million to date...
; he is also a three time Grammy winner. Para siempre, the 79th studio album by Fernández, was released in September 2007 in several countries. It was recorded to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his singing career, and is, according to Fernández's record label, one of his most important albums. Nevertheless, Sebastian said that the label did not have high expectations for the album.
Recording
Fernández has stated that the album was conceived as a bandaBanda music
Banda is a brass-based form of traditional music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas, and boleros. Bandas are most widely known for their rancheras, but they also play modern Mexican pop, rock, and cumbias...
album with original music by Sebastian, a first for the singer; before this, in 1993, he included a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a song written by Sebastian titled "Verdad que duele" ("It Hurts") on his album Lástima que seas ajena (A Shame You Belong to Another). Fernández' fans kept asking to record banda songs and written by Sebastian, prompting him to record the album. Fernández was not pleased with the idea of trading his classic mariachi style for banda, but agreed to record with Sebastian as a "thank you" to his fans. In the album liner notes the singer dedicated the album to his wife and included a message for this fans: "As long as you keep applauding, I will be singing 'forever'."
In late 2006, on Fernández' ranch in Guadalajara, Jalisco, he asked Sebastian for songs to record on his next album and they agreed that his next project would be to work with Fernández on the album. Sebastian began preparing the demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
along with Beto Jiménez, and in early 2007 he told Fernández that the songs were ready. The singer flew to the producer's studio and recorded them. Fernández has said of working with Sebastian: "He is more than a friend, he is my brother, he writes excellent songs and has a great sensibility."
The album was recorded in Cuernavaca, Morelos at the JS Studios. "I went to one of his houses for a day and in less than seven hours my part of the album was ready, he put everything on the table, its very good and romantic." Fernández kept his mariachi style on the album and the producer only added more tamboras
Tambora (Mexican drum)
A tambora is a percussion instrument, resembling a bass drum in Mexican brass bands, mainly in Banda sinaloense and Tamborazo Zacatecano.It is a double headed membranophone with a diameter of 20 - 26 inches, a fixed cymbal on the frame that is struck with another cymbal and a stand for the drum. A...
; the singer was confident that this album was going to be a success, since his audience was demanding his union with Sebastian.
Composition
From the 12 tracks included, only the title trackPara Siempre (song)
"Para Siempre" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
presents a successful love relationship; while Sebastian's lyrics contain popular slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
. Guitars, trumpets, violins and an accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
create the mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
sound. The last track, "El chofer" ("The Driver"), is a resembles José Alfredo Jiménez
José Alfredo Jiménez
José Alfredo Jiménez was a Mexican singer-songwriter in the ranchera style whose songs are considered an integral part of Mexico's musical heritage....
lyrical style, since Fernández travels "through Laredo
Laredo, Texas
Laredo is the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, located on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 236,091 making it the 3rd largest on the United States-Mexican border,...
to Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
." Some inspiration for the tracks came from the writer's crush on the Mexican actress Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...
.
Presentation
The album debuted on September 15, 2007, in a live concert at the Arena VFGArena VFG
Arena V.F.G. is an indoor arena located in Guadalajara, Mexico. The arena can accommodate between 3,500 and 15,000 people. It is mainly used for sporting events and concerts.-Name:...
in Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
. Due to his dislike of massive tours, Fernández did not hold a large promotional campaign. Despite this, he performed live in the Mexican cities of Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Reynosa
Reynosa
Reynosa is a border city in the northern part of Tamaulipas, in the country of Mexico. It is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from McAllen, Texas in the United States. As of 2010, the city of Reynosa counts with a population of 607,532...
, Ciudad del Carmen
Ciudad del Carmen
Ciudad del Carmen is a city in the southwest of the Mexican state of Campeche. Ciudad del Carmen is located at on the southwest of Carmen Island, which stands in the Laguna de Términos on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The 2005 census population was 154,197 people...
, Lagos de Moreno
Lagos de Moreno
Lagos de Moreno is a city and its surrounding municipal area of the same name, located in the extreme northeastern part of the state of Jalisco in Mexico...
, Sahuayo
Sahuayo
Sahuayo is a city in the state of Michoacán, in western México, near the southern shore of Lake Chapala. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name...
, Jiménez
Jiménez
Jiménez [archaic Ximénez/Ximenes] is a surname of Iberian origin, first appearing in the Basque lands. Jiménez is a patronymic construction from the modern-styled given name Jimeno, plus the Spanish suffix -ez, meaning "son [of]". The root appears to stem from Basque seme , attested in the...
, Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Ensenada
Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
, San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
, México City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
, Pachuca
Pachuca
Pachuca, formally Pachuca de Soto is the capital of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of which the city serves as municipal seat...
, and the American cities Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, Denver, Atlanta, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Miami, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. This short tour garnered a nomination for Latin Tour of the Year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
. Vicente Fernández recorded a TV special on his ranch in Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, which was broadcast in late September 2007 and December 25, 2007, by Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
.
Reception
On his review for Billboard en Español, Joel Brito declared that the tracks, "Un millón de primaveras" ("A Million Springs") and "El último beso" ("The Last Kiss"), are tender and desperate, with Vicente's voice powerful, sweet and cheerful; while "Estos celosEstos Celos
"Estos Celos" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
", was one of his best performances, along with "Niña hechicera" ("Wicked Girl"). Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic gave the album four stars; he described it as "near-perfect" and "stellar". He praised the singing, the songwriting, and the instrumentation. Tijana Ilich of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
gave the album a four and a half stars calling "Para siempre for a melody as lovely as the story".
For the Grammy Awards of 2008 the album received a nomination for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album
The Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album was an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Mexican music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
which it lost to 100% mexicano by Pepe Aguilar
Pepe Aguilar
José "Pepe" Aguilar Jiménez is a popular singer-songwriter of ranchera, mariachi and pop music. Pepe is the son of Mexican icon Antonio Aguilar and folkloric actress Flor Silvestre.-Career:...
. For the Latin Grammy Awards of 2008
Latin Grammy Awards of 2008
The 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards took place on November 13, 2008 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and were aired on Univision. The Brazilian Field awards were presented on the same day at the Ibirapuera Auditorium in São Paulo. The Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year was Gloria...
Para siempre won for Best Ranchero Album
Latin Grammy Award for Best Ranchero Album
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Ranchero Album 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 United States and internationally...
, and the first single "Estos celos
Estos Celos
"Estos Celos" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
" won a Latin Grammy as Best Regional Mexican Song. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year
Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Latin Grammy Award for Album 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 United States and internationally...
, which was awarded to La vida...es un ratico
La Vida... Es un Ratico
La Vida... es un Ratico is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes, which was released on October 23, 2007.-Album history:...
, by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes
Juanes
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...
. In México, the album won four Premios Oye!
Premios Oye!
Premios Oye! are presented annually by the Academia Nacional de la Música en México for outstanding achievements in the Mexican record industry...
in the following categories: Album of the Year, Song of the Year ("Estos celos"), Best Ranchero Solo Artist and Best Telenovela, Movie or Series Song ("Para siempre
Para Siempre (song)
"Para Siempre" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
"). Joan Sebastian also received two awards by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for the title track: Song of the Year and Best Regional Music Song.
Vicente Fernández received five nominations for the 11th Billboard Latin Music Awards
2009 Latin Billboard Music Awards
The 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards was held on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. It is produced and broadcast lived on Telemundo network...
for his work on this album: Hot Latin Songs Artist, Hot Latin Song, Male ("Para siempre"), Top Latin Albums Artist and Regional Mexican Airplay Song, Male ("Para siempre" and "La derrota"); Joan Sebastian is nominated for both Songwriter and Producer of the Year. On April 23, 2009, Fernández won the awards for Top Latin Albums Artist and Regional Mexican Airplay Song for the title track.
Formats
The standard CD tracklisting was released on September 18, 2007 in MéxicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, September 25, 2007 in United States and on February 26, 2008 in Spain with an album cover featuring the performer on a red background. On April 15, 2008, a CD/DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
format, with a black background on the cover was released, which included music videos for the 12 tracks recorded on Para siempre, directed by Benjamin Hidalgo. A karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
version of the album, with a yellow background, was released in April 2008.
Album
The recording debuted at number 51 on the AMPROFONAMPROFON
Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in Mexico. Established on April 3, 1963, it groups phonographic companies that represent more than 70 percent of the market in Mexico...
Mexican Album Chart in October 2007 and climbed to the top position 21 weeks later; it spent a total of 14 weeks (non-consecutive) at the top of the chart. Para siempre was certified diamond in Mexico for sales of 600,000 units. The sales were, according to Sony BMG Marketing Vice-President and A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
Nir Seroussi, a "phenomenon" because "the music market in Mexico is completely pirated" and Fernández's albums usually sell only 50,000 units per album.
In October 2007, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and spent almost its entire chart run in the Top Ten; it topped the chart for five non-consecutive weeks, three weeks in 2008 and two in 2009, when it replaced Primera fila
Primera Fila
-Disc two:-Personnel:This information from Allmusic.*Gustavo Borner – didjeridu, engineer, mastering, realization*Pedro Ramírez – arranger, musical direction*Josué "Ciclón" García – production assistant*Juan Carlos Rodríguez – production assistant...
, Fernández' follow-up live album, at the top of the chart, being the first time that a male performer replaces himself at number-one, and the first time since Selena
Selena
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
did it in 1995. According to Sony BMG Norte, with over one million copies sold worldwide, Para siempre is the most successful release by Vicente Fernández since 2000. Only seven other recordings by Fernández sold more units in the United States. It was the best-selling Regional Mexican album of 2008 and at the Billboard Top Latin Albums Year-end chart
Top Latin Albums Year-End Chart of 2008
The Billboard Top Latin albums chart, published in Billboard magazine, is a record chart that features Latin music sales information. This data is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan from a sample that includes music stores, music departments at electronics and department stores, Internet sales and...
the album ranked at number two, behind Los extraterrestres
Wisin vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres
Wisin vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres is the sixth studio album by Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel, released on November 6, 2007 by Machete Music. On November 13, 2008, the album received the Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album...
by Wisin & Yandel
Wisin & Yandel
Wisin & Yandel are a Puerto Rican reggaeton Duo, consisting of Juan Luis Morera Luna and Llandel Veguilla Malavé Salazar . They started their career in 1998 and have been together since, winning several awards during that time....
. Para siempre was purchased on 50,000 mobile phones in Mexico, a "novelty" for a regional Mexican album. The album's success is attributed to a change in the sound; instead of employing multiple composers and producers as in previous albums, Para siempre was written and produced entirely by Joan Sebastian. Miguel Trujillo, Sony BMG México CEO, commented about the album, "This album connected to a new generation that probably never listened to Vicente before." Para siempre was named the best-selling Regional Mexican album of the decade in the United States.
Singles
On August 10, 2007, "Estos celosEstos Celos
"Estos Celos" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
" ("This Jealousy") was released in México and United States as the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
from the album. It peaked at number three in the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, spent 40 weeks on the chart,. "Estos celos" ranked 28th in 2007 and 5th in 2008 in the Billboard Hot Regional Mexican Songs Year-end charts and its ringtone has been one on the top two sellers for Sony BMG Norte since the album release. In Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, broadcast of a cover version of this single performed by 'El Cape' Medina and Sneider Geles—recorded in vallenato
Vallenato
Vallenato, along with cumbia, is currently a popular folk music of Colombia. It primarily comes from the Colombia's Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in...
style and included on the album Por Siempre y Para siempre—was not allowed by the Colombian Music Association. The song was recorded without a planned commercial release, and the album recorded by Medina and Geles was only given to their friends, but the song unexpectedly achieved success on the Internet and some radio stations in Colombia. 'Cape' Medina said that the song may have been restricted out of the original Mexican publisher's jealousy. This version can still be found on file sharing
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
websites and in the video sharing
Video hosting service
A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. The video host will then store the video on its server, and show the individual different types of code to allow others to view this video...
website YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The second single released, "La derrota
La Derrota
"La Derrota" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
" ("The Defeat"), peaked at number seven in the Hot Latin Tracks chart and number one in México and Colombia. The third single, "Para siempre
Para Siempre (song)
"Para Siempre" is the title of a song written and produced by Mexican singer-songwriter Joan Sebastian and recorded by Mexican performer Vicente Fernández...
", was featured as the main theme for the Mexican telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
Fuego En La Sangre
Fuego En La Sangre
-DVD release:*Fuego En La Sangre was released in a 4 disc DVD set in Mexico in mid-2009. It contains all 200 episodes in abridged version. A 2 disc US version was released on September 1, 2009.-Awards:...
and hit the number two spot in the Latin charts in United States and number one in México and Colombia. The fourth single yielded from the album was "Un millón de primaveras" which did not chart in United States, but peaked at number one in México and Colombia. On the Billboard Year-end charts of 2008, Vicente Fernández appeared three times within the Top 25 with three singles from this release: the title track ranked at number six, "Estos celos" at number 10 and "La derrota" ended at number 25. The ringtones for "Estos celos" and "Para siempre" received a platinum certification for sales over 25,000 units.
Track listing
Personnel
The following information is from Allmusic and from Para siempre liner notes.- Joan Sebastían – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, arrangerArrangerIn investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Miguel Trujillo – executive producerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
- Dennis F. Parker – engineer/mixer, mastering engineerMastering engineerA mastering engineer is one skilled in the practice of taking audio that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distribution, whether by physical media such as a CD, vinyl record, or as some method of...
- Rigoberto Alfaro – arranger
- Manuel Cázarez – arranger
- Mara Esquivel – A&RA&RArtists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
- Javier Alfaro – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Dave Rivera – violin
- Javier Carrillo – violin
- Hugo Colula — violin
- Francisco Cedillo – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Monica Del Aguila – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Cesar Martínez – cello
- Ildefonso Cedillo – cello
- Iván Namash – cello
- Bernardino De Santiago – guitarrónGuitarrónSee also: Guitarrón ChilenoThe guitarrón mexicano or Mexican guitarron, is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass played in mariachi groups...
- Moisés Garcia – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Javier Serrano – trumpet
- Erick Mora – guitar
- Santiago Turianzo – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Ivonne Castañeda – graphic designGraphic designGraphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
Chart performance
| Chart (2007)/(2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Mexico (Top 100 Mexico Top 100 Mexico Top 100 México is a record chart which accounts for sixty percent of the albums sold in Mexico. The chart has the support of major record distributors in Mexico and is issued by the Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, A.C. since 2005 on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
| Spain (Top Albums Chart PROMUSICAE Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry... ) |
95 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
38 |
| US Top Latin Albums (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
| US Regional Mexican Albums Regional Mexican Albums Regional Mexican Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. Established in June 1985, the chart compiles information about the top-selling albums in genres like mariachi, norteño, banda and Duranguense, which are frequently considered regional Mexican. The chart features only... (Billboard) |
1 |
Album certifications
See also
- Music of MexicoMusic of MexicoThe music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of different musical styles. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably indigenous Mexican and European, since the Late Middle Ages...
- List of number-one albums of 2008 (México)
- List of number-one Billboard Top Latin Albums of 2008
- List of best-selling Latin albums in the United States