Menudo (group)

Menudo is a Puerto Rican boy band formed by producer Edgardo Díaz.^[1] Referred to as the "most iconic Latino pop music band",^[2] they have been ranked as one of the biggest boy bands of all time by several publications, including Billboard, Us Weekly, Seventeen, and Teen Vogue, being the only Latin band on their lists.^[3][4][5][6]

The band had several radio hits during its career. They acted in a television film (1979's Leyenda de Amor^[7]) and two feature films, An Adventure Called Menudo (Una aventura llamada Menudo) and Menudo: The Movie (Menudo: La Película), in three mini series entitled "I Want to Be", "It's for Love" and "Forever Friends" ("Quiero Ser", "Es Por Amor" and "Por Siempre Amigos") and another television mini-series named Panchito and Arturo (Panchito y Arturo).^[8]

Due to changes in puberty-related vocal range and timbre becoming permanent at around the age of 17, Menudo was distinctive in that members of the band were let go at that age, and younger vocalists took their place. In fact over the course of the band's history, it had run through more than fifty members, for this very reason. At any one time however, the Menudo band was usually, except for two isolated eras, composed of five male teenagers. ^[9]

Menudo's original lineup consisted of five boys: brothers Fernando and Nefty Sallaberry (ages 12 and 13); the Melendez brothers, Carlos Meléndez, (age 12), Óscar Meléndez, (age 11), and Ricky Meléndez, (age 9); the latter three are Díaz's cousins.^[10] The band's golden-era lineup consisted of members Ricky Meléndez, Johnny Lozada, René Farrait, Miguel Cancel, Xavier Serbiá, Charlie Masso and Ray Reyes. It was also a starting point for popular international stars like Ricky Martin (1984–89) and Draco Rosa (1984–87), who were members of the band in the mid-1980s.

Entering the 1990s their popularity started to wane amid allegations of drug use. In 1997, the rights and the name Menudo were sold. The remaining members continued to perform as MDO until their official disbandment in 2002. However, this iteration has continued to perform sporadically since. New management of Menudo formed a new line-up in 2007, releasing an EP but disbanding in 2009. Some of the members of the "golden era" of the band reunited in 1998 under the name El Reencuentro and in 2019 for the "Get on My Motorcycle" ("Súbete a Mi Moto Tour").^[11]

Menudo is estimated to have sold 20 million albums worldwide and has generated over 300 million US dollars.^[12][13]