RBD was a Mexican pop vocal group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela Rebelde (2004–2006). It was composed of Anahí, Dulce María, Maite Perroni, Alfonso Herrera, Christopher von Uckermann and Christian Chávez. The group achieved international success from 2004 until their separation in 2009 and sold over 15 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.
In November 2004, the group released their debut studio album, Rebelde, to mainstream success. In September 2005, the group released their second album, Nuestro Amor, receiving their first Latin Grammy Award nomination at the 2006 ceremony. In 2006, the group released their third album, Celestial; this was their first album to be released simultaneously in all countries. The album's lead single, "Ser o Parecer", topped the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for two consecutive weeks. In the same year, the group released their fourth album, and first English-language project titled Rebels. In 2007, the group released their fifth album Empezar Desde Cero, which was nominated at the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2009, the group released their sixth and final album, Para Olvidarte De Mí.
RBD officially formed on 30 October 2004, and announced on 15 August 2008, through a press release, that they would disband on 10 March 2009. In September 2020, the band announced they would reunite through a virtual show in December, and their music was released on digital platforms the same month. Four of the original members returned: Anahí, Perroni, Uckermann and Chávez. Over two years later, on 19 January 2023, they announced that all members would return for a one-off tour, titled Soy Rebelde Tour, with the exception of Herrera.
History 2004–2005: Rebelde and Nuestro Amor
RBD (abbreviation for "ReBelDe" • ) was formed on 30 October 2004, following the premiere of Mexican soap opera Rebelde (produced by Pedro Damian and adapted from the original Argentinian creation of Cris Morena's Rebelde Way). The members were Anahí, Alfonso Herrera, Dulce María, Christopher von Uckermann, Maite Perroni and Christian Chávez. The band released their debut single, "Rebelde", one month before the group officially formed, on 30 September. Their debut album of the same name was released on 11 November 2004, by EMI. All four singles from the album were number-one hits in Mexico.
Rebelde sold well in the United States, reaching number 95 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Latin Albums chart. In July 2005, a live CD/DVD, Tour Generación RBD En Vivo, was released. The CD/DVD documented their tour around Mexico that included 45 sold-out concerts across the country, including sixteen in Mexico City. In Spain, Rebelde spent five weeks on the top of the charts and was certified 3× Platinum for having sold over 240,000 copies.
With the success of the telenovela, the group used the hiatus between the first and second season to release their second album, Nuestro Amor, on 22 September 2005. This album included twelve songs, plus "Una Canción", a live recording, and "Liso, Sensual", a studio version of a song previously performed on their last tour. The album set record sales in Mexico, selling 127,000 copies on its release day and 160,000 copies in its first week. In the U.S., the album topped the Latin Albums chart for three weeks and peaked at number 88 on the Billboard 200. The four singles reached number one in Mexico. In the U.S., "Nuestro Amor", "Aún hay algo" and "Este corazón" charted on the Hot Latin Songs chart at numbers six, 24 and 10, respectively. Nuestro Amor was certified 2× Platinum in Spain. In November 2005, a Portuguese version of their debut album was released, titled Rebelde (Edição Brasil).
2006–2007: Celestial and Rebels
In early 2006, the group went on tour across the United States for the first time, which was recorded and released as a CD/DVD in April 2006, titled Live in Hollywood. It peaked at number six on the Latin Albums chart. Since that year, former singer Lynda Thomas, who had been uncredited with the group since their debut, officially became a recurring contributor for them. The first song credited to her was "No Pares", performed by Dulce María.
In May 2006, the group released a Portuguese-language version of Nuestro Amor, titled Nosso Amor Rebelde, targeted 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. The album, however, did not have a full week of album sales because of its Friday release. Despite this, it became their first album to peak or chart in the top 20 of the Billboard 200. RBD was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards in 2006 in the category Best Pop Album by a Group or Duo for Nuestro Amor. They performed a new version of "Tras de mí" at the ceremony.
In November 2006, the group released their third album, Celestial, produced and directed by Carlos Lara and Armando Ávila. The album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 with over 137,000 copies sold in the United States in its first week. The album spawned three hit singles, "Ser o Parecer", "Celestial" and "Bésame sin miedo". In Spain, Celestial was certified Platinum.
One month later, in December 2006 a Portuguese-language edition of the album was released for the Brazilian market called Celestial (Versão Brasil). This third album in Portuguese was the first to be recorded in Brazil. From their tour in Brazil, the group released a DVD titled Live in Rio (2007). The group were also honored for selling over 2.5 million copies of their albums and DVD's in the country. That same month, the group released their fourth album and first English-language album, Rebels, which debuted at number 40 on the Billboard 200 with 94,000 copies sold in its first week. Rebels was certified Gold in Japan for having sold over 250,000 copies.
The group was nominated twice in the category "Latin Pop Album of the Year By a Duo or Group", with Celestial and Live in Hollywood. They also received a nomination for "Top Latin Albums Artist of the Year" and "Latin Tour of the Year" for Tour Generación RBD. The show was held on 26 April in Miami, Florida. They won in all categories they were nominated in. Celestial won the former award.Billboard Latin Music Awards winners
2008–2009: Empezar Desde Cero and Para Olvidarte De Mí
On 2 March 2007, Chávez revealed he is gay after pictures were discovered of him marrying another man in Canada. In a letter on the group's website, he asked fans for understanding and acceptance. 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. The group was nominated four times in three categories for the 2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
In early 2007, the group began to rehearse for their upcoming concert tour called Tour Celestial, which started in Ecuador on 20 April 2007. On 28 May 2007, Donald Trump invited the group to perform three songs at the Miss Universe 2007 finals in Mexico City. They performed a medley of "Wanna Play", "Cariño Mio" and "Money Money" at the event. In June 2007, the group recorded the accompanying music video for their single "Bésame sin miedo" in Transylvania while on tour in Romania where Celestial was released. It was the same year they were chosen to headline a series of Pepsi commercials with The Black Eyed Peas to air in South America and Spanish-speaking countries. On 19 July 2007, the group performed "Bésame sin miedo" at the Premios Juventud 2007 ceremony and won seven awards that night, including "Voice of the Moment" and "Favorite Concert". RBD broke the record for most albums in the top 20 in Brazil, having three different albums in the top 20 for the week ending 20 January 2007. Their single "Tu amor" was nominated for Best International Song in France. In an interview in Mexico, Christopher von Uckermann stated that it has always been an honor to be compared to Menudo and Timbiriche, but mentioned that RBD surpassed those groups by accomplishing much more in only five years, being the only Mexican group to gain worldwide fame.
The first worldwide "RBD Day" was held on 4 October 2007. The group celebrated the day with fans in Houston, Texas. During their press conference, they confirmed that their fifth album would be titled Empezar Desde Cero, produced by Carlos Lara and Armando Ávila. The first single from Empezar Desde Cero, "Inalcanzable", debuted in October 2007 and peaked at number two on Mexican charts. Empezar Desde Cero was released on 20 November, debuting at number one on the Billboard Latin Albums chart and peaking within the top-ten in a variety of countries such as Brazil (their first album that did not top the charts in that country, peaking at number three) and Mexico. As of November 2008, Empezar Desde Cero had sold over a million copies worldwide. It was voted by Billboard readers as the third best album released in 2007."2007 Billboard Readers Choice". Billboard. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
In April 2008, the group performed at a concert in Brazil's capital city. The free concert was held at the city's main park and had 500,000 fans in attendance."RBD se presenta ante casi 500 mil admiradores en Brasil" . Esmas. Retrieved 21 April 2008. RBD was said to be the first music act in the history of Slovenia charts to have six different albums in the top ten in the same weekend."RBD impone récord en Eslovenia". Esmas. Retrieved 23 April 2008. In August 2008, the 2008 Latin Grammy nominations were announced; the group was nominated for Best Pop Album By a Duo or Group with Vocals for Empezar Desde Cero. On 14 August 2008, they released a compilation album of their greatest hits titled RBD The Best Of.
On 15 August 2008, the group announced through a press release that they would disband in 2009.Comunicado official Retrieved 12 August 2009. The group's manager, Pedro Damián, explained that although there weren't any fights among the members, it was best that they should disband for the ones who were already planning different solo activities. Herrera and Perroni were occupied with their television projects (the former with the TV series Terminales, and the latter as the protagonist of Cuidado Con El Ángel). Chávez was in the middle of a tour with the musical Avenue Q'''s Mexican stage production, and was planning to build his career as a solo artist, actor and producer. Anahí managed her own clothing store in Mexico City and began an organization to help those who have eating disorders. Dulce María was involved with shooting a film Alguién a visto a Lupita and a variety of projects, such as dubbing a cartoon character in a Mexican film. Later, Uckermann starred in the TV show Kdabra, produced by Fox in Colombia. On 25 November, RBD released Best Of (in Brazil: Hits Em Português; in the United States: Greatest Hits), which was a CD/DVD that features their singles and a DVD with music videos as part of their goodbye.Para Olvidarte De Mí (2009) was the sixth and final album to be released by the group. The album is preceded by the only single "Para Olvidarte De Mí". On 2 December 2009, the live concert DVD, Tournée do Adeus, recorded in São Paulo was released, containing the group's last show in Brazil.
2020: Social networks, streaming relaunch and Ser O Parecer Virtual Concert After years with the music of RBD out of online streaming platforms (after Universal Music bought EMI), in August 2020 the former members announced on their social media that their six studio albums and the Brazilian versions would be available in all streaming services on 3 September 2020. It was also announced that the albums will be available in stores.