Mexican pop is a music genre produced in Mexico, particularly intended for teenagers and young adults.
Mexico is the country that exports the most entertainment in Spanish language. Mexican pop was limited to Latin America until the mid-1990s, when an interest towards this type of music increased after Selena's, Luis Miguel's, Paulina Rubio's, Thalía's and Angélica María's debuts before the mainstream USA audience.
In the southwestern United States, Spanish guitar rhythms and Mexican musical influences may have inspired some of the music of American musicians Ritchie Valens, Danny Flores (of The Champs), Sam the Sham, Roy Orbison and later, Herb Alpert. Initially, the public exhibited only moderate interest in them, because the media attention was focused on La Ola Inglesa (British Invasion). Mexican artis of the time were Lucha Reyes, María Luisa Landín, Fernando Fernández, and Luis Pérez Meza in the 1940s. Agustin Lara is recognized as one of the most popular songwriters of his era together with Consuelo Velázquez.
In 1954 Andy Russell, relocated to Mexico where he became a star of radio, television, motion pictures, records and nightclubs. During the 1960s and 1970s, most of the pop music produced in Mexico consisted on Spanish-language versions of English-language rock-and-roll hits. Singers and musical groups like César Costa, Angélica María, Enrique Guzmán, Alberto Vázquez, Manolo Muñoz, Johnny Laboriel, Julissa or Los Teen Tops performed cover versions of songs by Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, Paul Anka, Joan Baez and others. However, after the substantial success of Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana in the United States in the late 1960s, a large number of bands sprang up. Most of these bands sang in both Spanish and English, keeping foreign commercial exposure in mind.
1970s and 1980s
On September 13, 1969, Televisa, a Mexican company and the world's largest Spanish-language television network launched the variety show Siempre en Domingo (Always on Sundays) hosted by Raúl Velasco. Siempre en Domingo became one of the most popular TV shows in Latin America with about 420 million television viewers around the world (according to Televisa and their partners). Siempre en Domingo was a TV show where many artists performed and debuted. At the time, an appearance was a hallmark of success and performers considered an appearance on the program as a guarantee of stardom similar to The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States. Velasco encouraged many Mexican singers such as Lucía Méndez, Lucero, Emmanuel, Mijares, Gloria Trevi, Timbiriche, and Lorenzo Antonio, and helped many of these to become full-fledged stars within the county. Moreover, Velasco presented foreign artists such as Julio Iglesias, Raphael, Miguel Bosé, Chayanne and Ricky Martin. Artists that would bring pop music to Latin America, were, in part by Siempre en Domingo, helped in that effort thanks for their appearances in the program.
In 1970 Jose Jose jumped to fame when he sang "El Triste" at the Festival de la Canción Latina. He didn't win the prestigious singing contest but his performance was so memorable that fans across Latin America considered him the actual winner.
The romantic balada, which gained popularity in the 1970s, continued to dominate the Latin music charts in the 1980s. Veteran balladeers who continued to be popular in this decade include Julio Iglesias, José José, Roberto Carlos, and Juan Gabriel. The Latin balada is characterized by its bolero origin by fusing music from the United States with pop, R&B, and rock.
Female balada singers that became topped the Latin music charts includes Ana Gabriel, Daniela Romo, Rocío Dúrcal, Gloria Estefan, and Marisela. Notably, several baladas were Spanish-language covers of songs originally performed in Italian. Notable Spanish-language covers of Italian songs include "Maldita Primavera" by Yuri, "Toda la Vida" by Emmanuel, "Yo No Te Pido la Luna" by Daniela Romo, and "Tan Enamorados" by Ricardo Montaner.