"Whenever, Wherever" is a Latin pop song written by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira for her first English album, Laundry Service (2001). It is the second most successful song in her career, behind only "Hips Don't Lie" (2006), the sixth most successful song since 1999 and the sixty-fourth most successful song in music history (According to Media Traffic). There is also a version of "Whenever, Wherever" in the Spanish language, "Suerte", meaning 'luck'.

Song information

"Whenever, Wherever" is a Latin pop song composed in they key of C# minor. The song takes heavy influence from Andean music, including the charango and panpipes in its instrumentation. Remixes were made, the most famous in the USA being the Tracy Young "Spin Cycle" mix.

The track was produced by Shakira, and was released as the first single from the album in the autumn of 2001. It was an international success, peaking at number one in Colombia, the rest of Latin America, almost all the European countries, Australia and New Zealand. In the Netherlands the song kept the number one position for nine weeks. It reached number two in the United Kingdom, number four in Canada, and number six in the U.S.. In addition, it held the top spot on the United World Chart for 12 consecutive weeks.

"Whenever, Wherever" is Shakira's most successful song in Europe, where it topped big market charts as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. "Hips Don't Lie" which is considered the most successful song in her career, wasn't able to top these charts.

Other Versions & Live Performances

*Shakira recorded a live version of this song, for English and Spanish version called "TV EDIT". She sang the cd version only once, in the RADIO MUSIC AWARDS from 2001, where she performed for the first time ever this song in live. *Also she made a remix version included in the Laundry Service: Washed & Dried cd, where she sang the new chorus for the song, performing in the Tour of the Mongoose that version with a long Arabic dance intro. *To promote the dvd Live & Off the Record, she used this song as a second single of it, editing the original live version to a Radio Edit Version and Video Edit Version, included in the Poem to a horse promo.

Official Remixes

*Acapella 121 Bpm --- 3:38 *Andy And The Lamboy Circuit Dub --- 5:40 *Andy And The Lamboy Circuit Mix --- 9:34 *Dark Side Of The Moon Mix --- 8:16 *Dark Side Of The Moon Mix --- 7:45 *Dataluxe Club Mix --- 8:51 *Dj John Rizzo & Blue Room Remix --- 9:09 *Hammad Belly Dance Mix --- 3:48 *Jonathan Peters 'Unreleased' Club Mix --- 6:16 *Nic Mercy's Epic Anthem Vocal --- 9:39

*Sahara Mix --- 3:57 *Tee's Blue Dub --- 8:40 *Tee's Blue Dub New Version --- 7:40 *Tee's Radio Edit --- 3:28 *Todd Terry American Club Mix --- 5:20 *Tracy Young's Spin Cycle Mix --- 7:05 *Tracy Young's Spin Cycle Video Edit Mix --- 4:01 *Tracy Young's Tribal Mix --- 9:34 *Tracy Young's Tribal Mix Radio Edit --- 3:14

Official Live Performances

*TV Edit --- 3:40 *Live --- 5:28 *Live Radio Edit --- 3:31 *Live Video Single Edit --- 4:15

Music video

The music video was directed by Francis Lawrence, and features Shakira barefoot surrounded by the earth's natural wonders, including the mountains and deserts. She is also seen dancing amid a stampede of horses. When the horses are gone, Shakira walks into mud, and begins rolling around in it. At the end of the video, she is on top of a snowy mountain, and jumps off, descending into water.

The video became an instant hit on several music programs. It became Shakira's first video to retire on MTV's Total Request Live, and reached number one for a single week on the MuchMusic program Countdown. It won the 2002 Latin Grammy Award for "Best Music Video".

Singles & Promos

Singles

*;Japan (EICP 53) #Whenever Wherever 3:17 #Objection 3:43

*;Europe (671913 3) #Whenever Wherever 3:16 #Suerte 3:14

*;Suerte Europe (671913 9) #Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) 3:14 #Whenever, Wherever 3:16

*;Australia (672196 2) #Whenever Wherever 3:16 #Suerte (Whenever Whenever) 3:14 #Whenever Wherever (TV Edit) 3:39 #Inevitable 3:13

*;Europe (671913 8) #Whenever Wherever - Album Version 3:16 #Whenever Wherever Tv Edit 3:39 #Suerte - Album Version 3:14 #Suerte Tv Edit 3:38

Maxi Singles

*;Europe CD Maxi single (EPC 671913 2) #Whenever Wherever 3:16 #Suerte 3:14 #Estoy Aqui 3:55 #T? 3:36

*;Europe 4-track WW (672426 2) #Whenever Wherever 3:16 #Suerte (Whenever Wherever)3:14 #Whenever Wherever - Tracy Young's Spin Cycle Mix 7:03 #Whenever Wherever - Video

*;WW/Suerte Europe (671913 7) #Whenever, Wherever (TV Edit) 3:39 #Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) 3:14 #Estoy Aqui 3:52 #T? 3:36 #Whenever Wherever (Tracy Young's Spin Cycle Mix) 7:03 #Whenever Wherever (Dark Side Of The Moon Mix) 7:45

Promos

*;UK promo (HPCD 2617 /XPCD 2617) *;USA promo (ESK 16691) #Whenever Wherever 3:16

*;Australia promo (SAMP 2414) *;Brazil promo (900051/2-502605) *;Europe promo (SAMPCS 10588) #Whenever Wherever 3:16 #Suerte 3:14

*;Europe promo (SAMPCS 12236) #Whenever, Wherever - Sahara Mix 3:56 #Whenever, Wherever - Hammad Belly Dance Mix 3:45

*;Suerte Argentina promo (DEP 707) *;Suerte Mexico promo (PRCD 98424)** #Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) 3:14 #Whenever, Wherever 3:16

*;UK 1-track Epic promo (CDR ACETATE) #Whenever Wherever

*;USA 2-track Epic promo (CDR ACETATE) #Whenever Wherever - Tracy Young Tribal Mix 9:40 #Whenever Wherever - Tracy Young Tribal Mix Radio Edit 3:15

*;Australia (CDR ACETATE) #Tracy Young?s Spin Cycle Mix 7:02 #Acapella 121 BPM 3:36 #Tee?s Blue Dub ? New Version 7:37 #The Dark Side Of The Moon Mix 8:14

Vinyl Singles

*;Europe 12" vinyl (671913 6) #Whenever, Wherever 3:16 #Whenever, Wherever - Tracy Young's Spin Cycle Mix 7:03 #Whenever, Wherever - A Cappella 121 Bpm 3:37 #Whenever, Wherever - Tee's Blue Dub New Version 7:37 #Whenever, Wherever - The Dark Side Of The Moon Mix 7:45

*;USA 7" (ZSS79642B)(34-79642) #Whenever Wherever #Suerte (Whenever Whenever)

Vinyl Promos

*;Mexico jukebox 7" vinyl (670037) #Suerte (Whenever, Wherever) 3:14 #Te Aviso Te Anuncio (Tango) 3:47

*;WW Europe 12" (SAMPMS 12235-0122356000) #Whenever, Wherever - Sahara Mix 3:56 #Whenever, Wherever - Hammad Belly Dance Mix 3:45

*;USA 4-track 12" (EAS-16691-S1) #Whenever Wherever - Tracy Young's Spin Cycle Mix #Whenever Wherever - A Cappella 121 BPM #Whenever Wherever - Tee's Blue Dub #Whenever Wherever - The Dark Side Of The Moon Mix

Cassette

*;Cassette (672426 4) #Whenever, Wherever (Album version) 3:16 #Suerte (Album version) 3:14 #Whenever, Wherever (The dark side of the moon mix) 7:45 *Tracks play same both sides

Videos & Box Sets

*;Japan promo (BOX-SET) #Whenever Wherever 3:16 #Suerte (Whenever Wherever) 3:14 #-fold-out biography booklet with great pictures #-10 minute Japanese made NTSC Electronic Press Kit video

*;USA promo (BOX-SET) #-1-track CD #-fold-out biography booklet with great pictures #-10 minute NTSC Electronic Press Kit video

*;UK VHS video promo #Whenever Wherever 3:14

*;Spain VHS video promo #Suerte #Personal greetings from Shakira to the (50 first) buyers of the CD "SERVICIO DE LAVANDERIA"

Chart performance

"Whenever, Wherever" was released as the first single from Shakira's first English album "Laundry Service", in December 2001. The single became the biggest hit of 2002 worldwide.

"Whenever, Wherever" is Shakira's first single reach the Top Ten on the USA Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #6. Despite not achieving a higher peak position in the U.S., the song achieved major cross over success on other ''Billboard'' charts after it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, #1 on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay, at #3 on the Hot Dance Club Play and at #4 on the Top 40 Tracks.

In the UK, "Whenever, Wherever" became Shakira's first Top 3 hit, peaking at #2 for two consecutive weeks, and eventually spent ten weeks in the Top Ten and 19 weeks in the Top 75.

In Switzerland, the song debuted at #9 and the following week, it reached the #1 position where it would stay for 17 consecutive weeks, becoming the 22nd most successful song in that country.

"Whenever, Wherever" became a #1 hit in several countries after it peaked at #1 in Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Europe, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Venezuela. "Whenever, Wherever" also peaked at #1 for twelve consecutive weeks on the United World Chart, becoming Shakira's first worldwide #1 hit and being her first single of the year on that chart.

Meanwhile, Spanish version, "Suerte", also written by Shakira and Mitchell, was released as a single in Spain and in a handful of nations in South America, and Mexico. It was a huge hit, peaking at number one on the ''Billboard'''s Hot Latin Tracks chart and almost all the Spanish-speaking countries.

It was also Shakira's most successful single, until "Hips Don't Lie" was released in 2006.

Charts

Certifications and Sales