Menudo is a Puerto Rican boy band formed by producer Edgardo Díaz. Referred to as the "Most Iconic Latino Pop Music Band", 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.
The band had several radio hits during its career. They acted in a television film (1979's Leyenda de Amor) and two feature films, Una aventura llamada Menudo and Menudo: La Película, in a telenovela named "Quiero Ser" and a television mini-series named Panchito y Arturo.
Menudo's original lineup consisted of (five boys) two sets of brothers: Fernando and Nefty Sallaberry (ages 12 and 13); and the Melendez brothers, Carlos Meléndez, (age 12), Óscar Meléndez, (age 11), and Ricky Meléndez, (age 9); the latter three are Díaz's cousins. 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 and allegations of drug use and sexual abuse accusations against Díaz started to surface. 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 "Súbete a Mi Moto Tour".
Menudo is estimated to have sold 20 million albums worldwide and has generated over 300 million US dollars.
Members:
Alejandro Querales
Ezra Gilmore
Gabriel Rossell
Andrés Emilio Pirela
Nicolas Calero
Past members:
Nefty Sallaberry
Carlos Meléndez
Ricky Meléndez
Fernando Sallaberry
Óscar Meléndez
Johnny Lozada
René Farrait
Miguel Cancel
Xavier Serbiá
Charlie Massó
Ray Reyes
Roy Rossello
Robby Rosa
Ricky Martin
Raymond Acevedo
Sergio Gonzalez
Ralphy Rodriguez
Rubén Gómez
Angelo Garcia
Robert Avellanet
Rawy Torres
César Abreu
Adrián Olivares
Edward Aguilera
Jonathan Montenegro
Ashley Ruiz
Alexis Grullón
Andy Blázquez
Abel Talamántez
Ricky López
Anthony Galindo
Didier Hernandez
José Bordonada Collazo
Jose (Monti) Montañez
Emmanuel Vélez Pagán
Chris Moy
Carlito Olivero
Daniel Larze
From: Puerto Rico
Genre(s):
Latin freestyle,
dance,
R&B,
pop rock
Active From: 1977-2009, 2015-2021, 2023-present