José José and the history of the romantic ballad in Latin America The romantic ballad is a musical genre that emerged in the 1960s and gained popularity in some countries in Latin America and Europe. It is characterized by being a genre performed at a slow tempo, always addressing themes of love. In Mexico, romantic ballads were listened to at the beginning of the 1960s due to American influence; this was inevitable because of the geographic proximity to the United States and the frequency with which this music was played on youth radio stations of that time (See: Los Teen Tops, Los Camisas Negras, and related artists such as Enrique Guzmán and César Costa). His rise in Spain coincided with the country's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 with the song 'Llámame.' In Eurovision 1966, Raphael represented Spain with the song 'Yo soy aquél,' with which he achieved seventh place. The genre "ballad," of cultural origin among European immi...