Ojos Tristes

"Ojos Tristes" (English: "Sad Eyes") is a song by American singer Selena Gomez, American record producer Benny Blanco, and American band the Marías. It appears as the fourth track on Gomez and Blanco's collaborative studio album, I Said I Love You First. The song was written by Gomez, Benjamin Levin, María Zardoya, Manuel Álvarez-Beigbeder Pérez, and Josh Conway, and produced by Benny Blanco, Josh Conway, María Zardoya and Bart Schoudel. In March 2025, the song was serviced to Spanish contemporary hit radio in the United States as the record's third single.^[2][3][4] "Ojos Tristes" interpolates the song "El muchacho de los ojos tristes" by English-born Spanish singer Jeanette. The track became the first-ever number-one song on Billboard Hot Latin Pop Songs chart.

In the narrated edition of Gomez and Blanco's album, I Said I Love You First, made available through Gomez's official store on March 23, 2025,^[5] the singer recounted that the collaboration with the Marías originated from a date with Benny Blanco, where they attended an outdoor concert by the band. She described being "mesmerized" by the performance and praised the vocalist María Zardoya's artistry. She added that she had been aiming to include a Spanish-language song on each of her albums and felt that Zardoya's tone was a perfect fit for the track. Gomez concluded by expressing how honored she was to have Zardoya featured on the song.^[6]

"Ojos Tristes" has been described as a glam pop and indie pop track that blends nostalgic 1980s influences with modern production.^[7][8] The song interpolates Jeanette’s 1981 "El muchacho de los ojos tristes", originally written and produced by Manuel Alejandro, notably incorporating its chorus while altering the narrative in the verses.^[6] While Jeanette's version centers on a lonely man in need of love and comfort, "Ojos Tristes" reimagines the theme through the perspective of an "unwanted breakup".^[7][9] The track features bilingual lyrics, with an added English verse performed by Gomez and a second Spanish verse by María Zardoya of The Marías, offering a different viewpoint and evoking the passage of time.^[7]

Jeanette responded positively to the reinterpretation. When asked about the song by Rolling Stone, she commented:^[9]

"At first, I was like, 'What is this?' But once I listened to all of it, I thought it was beautifully done. It’s a classic cover but [Gomez] has added a modern twist to it while respecting the essence of the original song."

"Ojos Tristes" debuted at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at number 56 the following week.^[10] On the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart, the song entered at number four on the issue dated April 5, 2025, with 1,000 downloads sold and 8.2 million streams in its first week, peaking at number three the following week.^[10][11] The single marked Benny Blanco and The Marías' first top ten entry on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while it became Gomez's fifth, following her 2021 collaboration "Selfish Love" with DJ Snake.^[10] The track also topped the then-recently created Hot Latin Pop Songs chart, becoming the first number-one song in the chart's history.^[11]

The Marías performed "Ojos Tristes" live for the first time at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, held on April 11.^[12]

• List of Billboard number-one Latin pop songs of 2025