Maná Achieves First No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay With Eden Muñoz Collab ‘Amor Clandestino’

Pamela Bustios
·3 min read
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Maná achieves a new milestone in its Billboard chart career as the band’s cover of its own 2011 hit “Amor Clandestino,” now with Eden Muñoz, soars 19-1 on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart dated Nov. 11. It’s the first champ on the list for the Mexican group (which has notched 15 leaders on the Latin Pop Airplay chart), while Muñoz secures his third. “Amor,” in its original Maná-only version in 2011, spent two weeks atop the Latin Pop Airplay list.

“It’s the first time that we are at the top of a regional Mexican list, which is one of the most important formats today,” Fher Olvera, lead singer of Maná, tells Billboard. “We feel very proud of the achievement and knowing that our music can transcend times and formats.”

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“Talking about Maná is going back to my childhood when I discovered their music,” Muñoz tells Billboard. “There are no words to describe the feeling of not only collaborating as an artist, as a fan of the band, but above all, as a friend. The band as an act has no comparison for all we know they have achieved, but as human beings they are on another level.”

After three weeks in the top 20, “Amor Clandestino” rallies 19-1 with a 158% gain in audience impressions, to 7 million, earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate. The 18-rank climb marks the biggest jump to No. 1 in over a decade, since Los Huracanes del Norte’s “Volé Muy Alto” flew 20 positions to the top in November 2007.

During the Oct. 27-Nov. 2 tracking week, “Amor Clandestino’s” biggest supports are comprised of Univision stations KSCA-FM (Los Angeles), KLNO-FM (Dallas), KSOL-FM (San Francisco) and WOJO-FM (Chicago).

“The legendary band Maná joined forces with superstar singer-songwriter Eden Muñoz to bring a unique and updated touch to the classic hit ‘Amor Clandestino’,” Ismar Santa Cruz, Senior VP, Radio Content at Univision, tells Billboard. “This sparked a renewed love affair with the song. As we’re seeing more songs resonate simultaneously across formats, the combination of these artists on such a familiar hit allowed it to impact coast to coast across all our Regional Mexican stations, including our flagship shows El Bueno La Mala y El Feo and El FreeGuey, as well as all our Amor stations, including KLove 107.5 in L.A. and Amor 107.5 in Miami.”

“Amor Clandestino” earns Maná its first No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay upon its eighth appearance. Its previous single, “Te Lloré Un Río” with Christian Nodal, took the Mexicans to No. 3 in June 2022. Maná came up just short on its prior visit, as “Ojalá Pudiera Borrarte” achieved a No. 2 peak in October 2007.

“We currently have a duet project in which we have re-recorded our greatest hits with artists such as Christian Nodal, Alejandro Fernández and Sebastián Yatra, among others,” Olvera adds. “What we want is to reach as many audiences as possible with our music. We felt that this song lent itself to a new, very Mexican arrangement, and with Edén it was perfect.”

The original pop version of “Clandestino” dominated Latin Pop Airplay for two weeks in 2011. The song belongs to the Drama y Luz album, Mana’s longest leading set on Latin Pop Albums, with 12 weeks in charge.

For Muñoz, the new song follows two other champs: three-week champ “Chale!” and his featured role in Banda MS’ “Hay Que Hacer Dinero,” for two weeks atop, both in 2022.

Elsewhere, “Clandestino” flies 30-6 on the overall Latin Airplay, the biggest single-week jump to the top 10 since J Balvin and Ed Sheeran’s “Forever My Love” soared 35 rankings in April 2022.

“Eden is genius,” Olvera continues. “A very good friend of the band. He is an all-around guy. Working with him was a pleasure. Together we gave new life to ‘Amor Clandestino’ and we are very happy.”

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