"Perdido Sin Ti" (transl. "Lost without You") is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his fourth studio album, Vuelve (1998). The song was written by K.C. Porter, Robi Rosa, and Luis Gómez Escolar, while the production was handled by Porter and Rosa. It was released by Columbia Records as the fourth single from the album on August 18, 1998. A heart-wrenching, slow ballad, its protagonist is nostalgia. The song received positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its "sweetness" and "dreamy hook".
In 1995, Ricky Martin released his third studio album, A Medio Vivir. On it, he shifted from his traditional ballad-style compositions to a riskier fusion of music focused on traditional Latin sounds, epitomized by the song "María". Taken aback by the starkly different musical style, his record label executives felt the song would ruin Martin's career. Despite this, "María" was chosen as the album's second single and became a breakthrough hit, reaching number one in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Finland, Italy, Turkey, and the whole of South America.[2] As of 2014, A Medio Vivir had sold over three million copies worldwide.[3] While on tour in 1997, Martin returned to the studio and began recording material for his fourth studio album. He said the experience of touring and recording at the same time was "brutal and incredibly intense".[2] On December 7, 1997, Martin confirmed he was completing his next project and that the album would be released in February of the following year.[4] He worked on the album with producers K.C. Porter and Robi Rosa, and recorded it in studios across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Spain.[5][6]
The album's title, Vuelve, was announced on January 25, 1998. In an interview with CNN en Español, he emphasized the album was going to "reaffirm the internationalization of my career and I know that it will help me a lot to destroy the stereotypes that may exist with my culture".[7] The album consisting mainly of "red-hot" Latin dance numbers and "melodramatic" pop ballads.[8][9]
"Perdido Sin Ti" was written by Porter, Rosa, and Luis Gómez Escolar,[8] and runs for a total of four minutes and ten seconds.[10] An "aching, slower-placed" ballad,[11][12] in which nostalgia is the protagonist.[13] In the lyrics, he cites "No me dejes solo quédate en mi casa, sin ti me falta todo, sin ti no queda nada" ("Don't leave alone, stay in my house, I'd lack everything without you, nothing remains you").[14]
Release and promotion
A screenshot from the music video, depicting Martin and a girl, who personifies an angel.
"Perdido Sin Ti" was met with positive reviews from music critics. John Lannert of Billboard magazine mentioned the track as one of the album's potential hits.[11] Writing for Vista magazine, Carmen Teresa Roiz remarked that the song, along with "Casi un Bolero" and "Corazonado, "reflects the most intimate part of the interpreter".[13] The Newsday critic Richard Torres praised the track's "sweetness".[28]The Dallas Morning News reviewer Mario Tarradell labeled it "a bedroom staple with a dreamy hook and a simmering feel".[1] An author of Crónica TV named "Perdido Sin Ti" among Martin's "most important songs" and Melissa Martinez from the El Paso Times named it as one of her favorites.[29][30] In 2015, Univision staff ranked the track as Martin's seventh-best ballad.[31] The following year, Marco Salazar Nuñez from E! Online placed it on an unranked list of "9 Ricky Martin songs perfect to liven up your own wedding", stating: "A wedding is not a wedding without the romantic dance."[32] It was acknowledged as an award-winning song at the 2000 BMI Latin Awards.[33]
The track peaked at number three in both Panama and Puerto Rico.[34][35] In the United States, "Perdido Sin Ti" debuted at number 28 on the BillboardHot Latin Songs on the week of September 5, 1998.[36] The single reached on top of the chart two weeks later, succeeding "Tu Sonrisa" by Elvis Crespo, becoming Martin's second number one on the chart.[37] It was replaced by Carlos Ponce's song "Decir Adios" the following week.[38] The track also reached the top of the Latin Pop Airplay subchart,[39] displacing Martin's own "Vuelve" making him the first artist on the chart's history to replace himself;[40] it spent a total of two weeks in this position.[41]
^Martin, Ricky (1998). Vuelve (Album liner notes). United States: Sony Discos, a division of Sony Music. 7 509948 878922.
^Barquero, Christopher (January 25, 1998). "Ricky Vuelve". La Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020. Es un LP que lo voy a usar para reafirmar la internacionalización de mi carrera y sé que me va a ayudar mucho a destrozar los estereotipos que pueden existir con mi cultura.
^ abLannert, John (February 28, 1998). "Reviews & Previews". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 9. Nielsen Business Media. p. 70. ISSN0006-2510. Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
^ abRoiz, Carmen Teresa (April 4, 1998). "Música". Vista (in Spanish). The Hanford Sentinel. p. 72. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
^Lannert, John (September 19, 1998). "Latin Notas". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 38. Nielsen Business Media. p. 72. ISSN0006-2510. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
^Martinez, Melissa (October 7, 2007). "Shaking bonbons". El Paso Times. p. 21. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^Perdido Sin Ti (Mexican promotional CD single liner notes). Ricky Martin. Columbia Records. 1998. PRCD 97477.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ abPennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 205. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
^Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN84-8048-639-2.
