"" (English: "The Torture") is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, from Shakira's sixth studio album Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (2005). It was released on 13 April 2005 by Epic Records as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Shakira, with additional musical composition and production from longtime collaborators Luis Fernando Ochoa and Lester Mendez respectively. "La Tortura" is a song with prominent influences of reggaeton, and lyrically tells the story of a woman who has been emotionally "tortured" because her boyfriend cheated and eventually left her for another, and has now returned begging forgiveness. After its release, the song received generally positive reviews by music critics, who agreed that the song was a prominent part of Fijación Oral, Vol. 1. "La Tortura" was also well received commercially, leading the lists of the US Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Songs and Tropical Songs, in the United States. In the rest of the world, the song topped the charts in Venezuela, Spain and Hungary where it was the most played song of the year, spending a total of 8 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts. An accompanying music video was released for the promotion of the single, and was directed by Michael Haussman. The song received multiple awards and nominations, including two awards at the Latin Grammy Awards at the 2006 Ceremony for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. "La Tortura" is one of the best selling singles of all time, with more than 5 million copies sold worldwide, being certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for 500,000 digital copies sold, and the certification has been updated to 32 times platinum (1,920,000 units sold). It was also recognized as the best-selling Spanish song worldwide at all the times, with almost three million digital sales and ringtones combined sold in the United States alone to date. To promote "La Tortura", Shakira made a number of live performances in several television and award shows. Background and composition The single is a duet between Shakira and Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, both of whom also composed it alongside Luis Fernando Ochoa. It was mixed by Gustavo Celis. "La Tortura" is a reggaeton-inspired track which lyrically tells the story of a woman who has been emotionally "tortured" because her boyfriend cheated and