On Sunday July 19, while the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina was being played, millions of people heard The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) playing as the first hydration break began. Pilar Muñoz — one of the members of the Spanish girl group Las Ketchup, which released the song back in 2002 — wasn’t particularly thrilled. “I must be really weird,” she shrugs.
However, her sisters Lola and Lucía were amused. They started receiving messages from friends and acquaintances, asking if they had seen it. “It made me laugh; it’s cool that they remember you,” Lucía adds.
The Muñoz sisters spoke with EL PAÍS via video call from the comfort of their homes. They discussed fame, worldwide success, as well as a level of burnout that almost overwhelmed them.
Their musical career is still going strong. Three days before the interview, they performed at Barcelona Pride. And, for the rest of the summer, several concerts in Spain and abroad await them.
2027 will mark 25 years since The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) – composed by Manuel Ruiz Queco – became a worldwide hit. It’s been quite a while since the producer met Las Ketchup (so named because they are the daughters of the flamenco artist El Tomate) in a bar. “They brought a notebook full of song lyrics,” Ruiz recalls. “[The meeting] didn’t last long, but it was very intense and there was a lot of laughter,” he smiles.
The fame they experienced in those early years, after their formation in 2001 – with their hit song playing everywhere – caught them completely unprepared.
“We went out onto the stage stone cold,” Ruiz notes. “We’ve always kept our feet on the ground. We never said, ‘Oh, how great, how amazing, I hope that this never ends.’”
“We hardly enjoyed anything because of the exhaustion,” Pilar, 44, recalls. “We didn’t ask for [fame], either. It happened… and that’s that,” adds Lucía, 47. Lola, 45, says that, since they started performing, she’s tried to avoid looking at recordings of herself performing, either at concerts or on TV or “doing anything ketchupy.” She’s always avoided this because she tries to stay grounded. And she always wants her feet firmly planted alongside her sisters’.
“We’ve been very badly advised. If I didn’t work with my sisters, I’d have a different job, I’d be doing other things, because it’s exhausting. You may think we’re exaggerating, but [what] we did 24 years ago isn’t how things are done today,” Lola affirms. “It didn’t matter to anyone that you’d woken up in the middle of the night not knowing where you were; it didn’t matter that you hadn’t had time to eat, or that you had your period and your whole body ached. Having each other is what saved us.”
Lucía – who speaks little during the interview, but interjects decisively – says that, back then, the goal was to squeeze every last drop out of them, even if it meant they were exhausted. “And, even so, we went to work wearing our best smiles,” she clarifies. “When I got on the first plane – and then another, followed by another – I told my mother I didn’t know if my body would hold out. But it did,” Pilar adds.
Success has taken them to unexpected places and put them in strange situations. They remember a five-day tour in Japan, when they had to start every day at five in the morning. But, before that, around 3:30 a.m, a group of women would come into their rooms to tell them what clothes to wear, so they’d have time to get ready. They also remember a visit to a Buddhist temple in Thailand, one of those gifts that work brought them. And Pilar hasn’t forgotten the time she met David Bowie: “I still love him today. And I love his music. Being near him was amazing.”
Lucía, however, is most grateful for what they’re experiencing now. “It still surprises me that, so many years later, we can go on stage and still have such a great time; that we can’t go on vacation because we have so much work… and that we know how to enjoy it now more than before, with maturity, while managing everything ourselves.”
Two of them are single mothers. And Lucía is the only one who doesn’t work out. “Let’s see if I can tell you something else next time we talk,” she jokes.
Lucía pokes fun at herself, mentioning something that’s been circulating in the Spanish tabloids. “What’s this about me having a hair salon? I’ve never [owned] anything like that in my life! But hey, maybe we’ll get one someday. [People have been talking about it] so much that I think I want one now… we’ll all look fabulous.”
While they finish up what will be their latest album, for the rest of the summer, they’ll be traveling back and forth to France to perform. They’ll also sing in Switzerland. And in Spain, of course, where there are always gigs. “I’m always dreading the summer tour, but this year, it’s been no different from other months. We don’t stop [touring] in the summer… and lately, we haven’t stopped in the winter, either. And thank goodness,” Lucía says.
The three sisters are more mature and more serene, with a packed schedule. “And zero guilt,” Lola affirms.
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