RBD - Rebelde

RBD was a two time Latin-Grammy nominated Mexican pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's teen drama series Rebelde. RBD sold over 15 million albums worldwide in four years since their formation, according to EMI. The band was officially formed on November 30, 2004 and announced their separation on March 10, 2009.

Biography
2004-2005: Rebelde

Their first album Rebelde, was released on November 30, 2004 by EMI. The main writers and producers for the project were Carlos Lara (aka D.J. Kafka) and Max di Carlo. The first three singles ("Rebelde", "Sólo Quédate En Silencio" and "Sálvame") were all number one hits in Mexico, with the fourth single, "Un Poco De Tu Amor" reaching number two.

Although the album was released in different languages, no English language version was released. However, Rebelde sold well in the United States, reaching #95 on the Billboard 200 and reaching number two on the Latin Albums chart. In July 2005 a live CD/DVD, Tour Generación RBD En Vivo was released documenting their tour around Mexico (35 sold-out concerts across the country, including six in Mexico City alone).

2005: Nuestro Amor

They released their second studio album, Nuestro Amor in 2005. This album set new record sales in Mexico, selling 127,000 copies on its release day, and 200,000 copies within its first week. In the U.S., the album topped the Latin Albums Chart for 3 weeks and peaked at #88 on the Billboard 200. The first four singles reached number one in Mexico. In the United States "Nuestro Amor", "Aún Hay Algo" and "Este Corazón" charted on the Hot Latin chart at #6, #24 and #10 respectively.

With the success of Rebelde on TV, the group used the hiatus between the first and second season to release Nuestro Amor, which included twelve brand-new songs plus "Una Canción" (a live recording), and "Liso, Sensual" (a studio version of the song previously performed on their last tour).

2005-2006: Rebelde (Edição Brasil)

In November 2005 a Portuguese language version of their debut album was released under the title Brazilian Edition.

On February 4, 2006, while touring around Brazil, a 38-year-old woman and her two sons, age 11 and 13, were trampled during a rush to an autograph session in the parking lot of a shopping mall in São Paulo, Brazil. All three of them died, while 42 people were injured in the incident.

In early 2006, RBD went on tour around the U.S. for the first time. The tour was recorded and released as a CD/DVD in April under the title Live In Hollywood. It peaked at number 6 on the Latin Albums Chart.

2006: Nosso Amor Rebelde

In May 2006, they released a Portuguese version of Nuestro Amor, entitled Brazilian Edition, intended for the Brazilian market. Nosso Amor Rebelde is their second album in Portuguese. Released only in Brazil, the album contains Portuguese versions of 11 songs from Nuestro Amor.

2006 also brought RBD a nomination for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category "Best Pop Album by a Group or Duo" for Nuestro Amor. They performed a new version of "Tras de Mí".

2006: Celestial

In November 2006, they released their third studio album Celestial produced and directed by Carlos Lara which debuted at number 15 in the Billboard 200, marking first-week sales of over 137,000 copies in the U.S.
The album however did not have a full week of album sales, due to its Friday release. Despite this, it became their first album to peak or chart within the top 20 of the Billboard 200.[1]

Celestial is the 3rd album in Spanish of the Mexican group RBD, and also the first to be launched simultaneously in all the countries in which the group is known. Three singles were released: "Ser o Parecer", "Celestial" and "Bésame Sin Miedo"

2006-2007: Celestial (Versão Brasil)

One month later, in December 2006 a Portuguese language edition of the album was released for the Brazilian market called Celestial (Versão Brasil).This 3rd album in Portuguese was the first to be recorded in Brazil.

From their tour of Brazil, RBD released a DVD entitled Live in Rio. They were also honored for selling over 2.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs in Brazil. Meanwhile, in Spain, Rebelde spent 5 weeks on the top of the charts going 3× Platinum for sales over 240,000, Nuestro Amor sold enough to be certified 2× Platinum, while Celestial, has been certified Platinum.[2]

On March 2, 2007, Christian Chavez revealed that he is homosexual after pictures of him getting married to another man in Canada surfaced on the Internet. In a letter on the group's website, he asked fans for understanding and acceptance.[3]. After this the group worked two side-projects; Sálvame, an organization that helps homeless youth get an education and shelter, and RBD: La Familia, their new sitcom. RBD was also nominated four times in three categories for the 2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
[edit] 2006-2007: Rebels

2006-2007: Rebels

In December 2006, they released their first English album, Rebels which debuted at number 40 on the Billboard 200 album chart with first-week sales of 94,000 copies.
They have were nominated twice in the category for "Latin Pop Album of the Year By a Duo or Group", with Celestial and Live in Hollywood, which were both released in 2006. They also received a nomination for "Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year" and "Latin Tour of the Year" for Tour Generación 2006.[4] The show was held on April 26 in Miami. They won in all categories they were nominated in; Celestial was the one for which they won the "Latin Pop Album of the Year By a Duo or Group" award.[5] The group also prepared their 2007 world tour called Tour Celestial 2007, starting in Ecuador on April 20. They were invited by Donald Trump to perform 3 songs at the 2007 Miss Universe final in Mexico City, on May 28, 2007. The group performed a medley of "Wanna Play", "Cariño Mio" and "Money Money" in the event. In June 2007, RBD recorded the video for "Bésame Sin Miedo" in Transylvania, while touring in Romania, where Celestial was also released. It was the same year they were chosen to headline, along with Black Eyed Peas, a series of Pepsi commercials to air on South America and Spanish-speaking countries. On July 19, 2007, RBD performed their single "Bésame Sin Miedo" at Premios Juventud 2007, and also won 7 awards that night, including "Voice of the Moment" and "Favorite Concert". They had won a total of 24 Premios Juventud awards by then. The group has become such a phenomenon they have been nominated as best international song of "Tu Amor" in France proving their huge success. In a recent interview with Christopher in Mexico he stated that it has always been an honor to be compared to Menudo and Timbiriche but mentioned that RBD over passed those 2 groups accomplishing a lot more in only 5 years, being the only Mexican group ever to expand through out the world.(RBD: World Wide Phenomenon)

2007-2008: Empezar Desde Cero

The first worldwide "RBD Day" was held on October 4, 2007. RBD celebrated the day with many fans in Houston, Texas, and during their press conference they confirmed that their fourth Spanish studio album would be titled Empezar Desde Cero, produced again by Carlos Lara and Armando Avila. The first single from Empezar Desde Cero, Inalcanzable, debuted on October 2007 and peaked at #2 in Mexican charts. Empezar Desde Cero was released November 20, debuting on #1 on the Billboard Latin Charts, and peaking at the top 5 in a variety of countries such as Brazil (being their first album not to top the charts in that country, peaking at #3) and Mexico. As of November 2008, Empezar Desde Cero had sold over 1 million copies worldwide. It was also voted by Billboard Readers as the third best album released in 2007. [6]

Meanwhile, in April 2008, RBD performed a concert for Brazil's capitol city, Brasilia's 48th Birthday Celebration Party. The free concert was held at the city's main park and had an audience of over 500,000 fans. [7] Still on April, RBD was stated to be the first artist ever in the history of Slovenia charts to have 6 different albums in the Top 10 at the same weekend.[8]

On August, 2008, the 2008 Latin Grammy nominations were announced, with RBD being nominated for Best Pop Album with Empezar Desde Cero
[edit] 2008-2009: Best Of RBD

On August 14, 2008, RBD announced through a press release that they would disband in 2009.[9] The group's manager, Pedro Damian, explained that, although there weren't any fights among the members, it was decided to be the best that they should disband, for the members were already planning different solo activities.

Alfonso and Maite were occupied with their TV projects (Maite as the protagonist of Cuidado con el ángel and Alfonso with TV Series Terminales). Christian was in the middle of a tour with the musical Avenue Q's Mexican stage production. Anahi manages her own clothing store in Mexico City and has begun an organization to help those who have eating disorders. Dulce was involved with the shooting of a movie and a variety of projects such as dubbing a cartoon character in a Mexican motion picture, while Christopher has said he plans to build a career as drummer and musical producer.

On November 25, RBD released Best Of RBD (in Brazil: Hits Em Português; in U.S.: Greatest Hits), a CD/DVD featuring their singles and a DVD with music videos, as part of their goodbye.[10] A Portuguese version of the album was also released.[citation needed]
[edit] 2009: Para Olvidarte De Mí

Para Olvidarte De Mí was the last RBD CD to be released. It was released March 10, 2009. The album is preceded by the first single "Para Olvidarte De Mí". Although it had no kind of promotion, since the group had already split up, to date, the album has sold 150,000 copies worldwide.