Luis Fonsi's "Despacito" is a critical cornerstone of our pop culture of the 2010s. The charming reggaeton Latin pop ode to romance took the world by storm back in 2017. It was played everywhere: in the cars, in the clubs, in the houses, everywhere. A vocal instrument in popularizing Spanish-language pop music to the mainstream market, "Despacito" was the first Spanish-language song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart since "Macarena" in 1996, and it's a big, big deal.
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But, what happened to the artist's life after the song hit the mainstream? It's a common theme in music for an artist who gets a shot at stardom, and then they fall into obscurity, or as everyone calls it the "one-hit wonder" phenomenon. Here's what "Despacito" singer Luis Fonsi's life looked like before and after the song, and what's next in his musical journey.
To reggaeton and Latin pop aficionados, Luis Fonsi was already a household name before "Despacito." Hailing from Puerto Rico, the singer started his career back in the late 1990s after dropping out of the Florida State University School of Music and signing a contract under Universal Music Latin. His debut album, Comenzaré, peaked at number11 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.
He became the hottest, most exciting talent to watch in Latin music at that time, and followed it up with his sophomore platinum-certified album Eterno in 2000. He received his first-ever Latin Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year for his 2008 hit "Aquí Estoy Yo" from his seventh album, Palabras del Silencio.
Fast-forward to 2017, Luis Fonsi released his biggest breakthrough, "Despacito," and made himself the most watched person on YouTube of all time with over 7 billion views until it was topped by "Baby Shark Dance."
A definitive slow-jam to love and sex, "Despacito" achieved a plethora of milestones at the Guinness World Records, including the most streamed song of all time the most liked video online, the first YouTube video to receive 5 billion views, and more!
Thanks to the song, Luis Fonsi landed another Latin Grammy victory for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and more. It also helped boost Fonsi's debt-riddled nation, Puerto Rico, to prosper from the 45% increase in tourism. The singer also helped a lot of various charitable projects, especially when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in 2017, and contributed to raising millions of dollars in aid.
"Right now, there are a lot of people suffering, and it's time to unite," Fonsi tearfully pleaded during his Love and Dance Tour stop in Miami, according to Billboard. "It's time to help."
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The song's Spanglish version, featuring Justin Bieber, also took off immediately, but it was nothing compared to what he did with Demi Lovato in "Échame la Culpa." Another platinum-certified single of the year for the singer, "Échame la Culpa," the second single of his Vida album, amassed a whopping 2.2 billion views on YouTube and won Song of the Year at the Latin America Music Awards in 2018.
Luis Fonsi has always been keeping it under the wraps. The singer is a proud father of two kids from his relationship with Spanish model Águeda López: Rocco (born in 2011) and Mikaela (born in 2016). "Here, in my home, we try not to talk about work; I am not the singer, and we don't talk about 'Despacito,' " the singer said during an interview for ¡Hola! USA cover story in 2018, as noted by People. "I am a dad, a husband and I try to enjoy the small and simple things in life."
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Luis Fonsi's tenth album, Vida, was released in February 2019. It contains some of his best hits in recent years, including "Despacito," "Échame la Culpa," "Calypso," and "Imposible."
Hailed as one of the most hotly-anticipated albums of the year, Vida did live up to the expectation - after debuting atop the Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts, it was nominated for Best Latin Pop Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards.
In 2019, Fonsi joined the likes of Wisin, Alejandra Guzman, and Carlos Vives to coach the first Spanish season of The Voice (La Voz). Aired on Telemundo, the competition's winner would receive a $100,000 cash prize and a Universal Music Group recording contract.
"It's super exciting to be able to rejoin my family in La Voz to be able to physically see my team and the contestants who have been patiently waiting to start the show again," he told Billboard about resuming the second season of La Voz in 2020 amidst the health crisis. "It was something that was not decided by us. A lot went into if it was safe enough for us to come back and how it was going to be done."
So, what's the next chapter in Luis Fonsi's career? Well, back in March this year, the singer released his latest album, Ley degravida, which incorporates elements of tropical and ballad and features some of the big names like Nicky Jam, Farruko, Cali and El Dandee, and more.
Its lead single, "Date la vuelta," has amassed almost 150 million views on YouTube up to this writing, and he's not going to stop anytime soon. ​​​​​​​