Songfacts®:

• This was used in the movie of the same name in which Madonna starred. The film was a flop, but the soundtrack did well, with the title track going to #1 in the UK and US and another Madonna track, "Causing A Commotion," reaching #2 in the US. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France
• Patrick Leonard, who wrote and produced many of Madonna's hits, wrote this song. He explained in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: "Madonna rang me up one night and told me she wanted an uptempo song and a downtempo song. She came over one night. I had already put down the chorus for a song on a cassette, she took it into the back room, while I worked on the rest of the lyrics. Soon after, she came out and said, 'We'll call it 'Who's That Girl.'' The backing track was recorded in one take and Patrick Leonard added the guitars and percussion the next day."
• The refrain of "Quien es esta nina?" is Spanish for "Who's that girl?" Madonna was dabbling in Latin culture at the time, including the song "La Isla Bonita," which she also wrote with Patrick Leonard.
• The 1987 film was originally called Slammer, but was changed to "Who's That Girl" based on this song. James Foley, who directed the romantic comedy, also worked with Madonna on the music videos for "Live To Tell," "Papa Don't Preach" and "True Blue."
• Madonna used the "Who's That Girl" moniker for her 1987 world tour because it hints at her dynamic nature. She explained to Smash Hits magazine: "That's why I called my tour 'Who's That Girl,' because I play a lot of characters and every time I do a video or a song people go 'oh that's what she's like.' And I'm not like any of them. I'm all of them. I'm none of them."
• Madonna talked about her vision for the music in the film and her character, Nikki Finn: "I had some very specific ideas in mind, music that would stand on its own as well as support and enhance what was happening on screen and the only way to make that a reality was to have a hand in writing the tunes myself ... (the) songs aren't necessarily about Nikki, or written to be sung by someone like her, but there's a spirit to this music that captures both what the film and the character are about, I think."
• The music video for this song, directed by Peter Rosenthal, did not promote the film of the same name, but instead borrowed the Latin theme of the "La Isla Bonita" video with Madonna wearing a wide-brimmed Spanish hat and bolero jacket.
• This song was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Song From A Motion Picture" and a Golden Globe Award for "Best Original Song." The Grammy went to "Somewhere Out There" from the 1986 animated film An American Tail and the Golden Globe went to "(I've Had) The Time of My Lifefrom Dirty Dancing.