Belanova
is a Latin Grammy-award winning Mexican synth-pop band from the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. The group consists of lead vocalist Denisse Guerrero, programmer and keyboardist Edgar Huerta, and Ricardo "Richie" Arreola on bass. The band was formed in 2000, but they were not signed under a record company until 2002, signing under Virus Records, Mexican Dance Label, owned by Universal Music.
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BELANOVA TICKETS
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History
All three members of the band have had a special taste for music since childhood. Ricardo says he developed his interest in music because he idolized
The Beatles member
Paul McCartney as a child. Edgar's brother received a little
keyboard as a
Christmas present when he was ten. His brother showed little interest in it, preferring to play with his other toys, and so Edgar simply began playing it one day. Denisse came from the city Los Mochis, Sinaloa. Denisse has liked to sing since she was five-years-old, and was previously a member of the band
40 Grados, literally "40 degrees." The trio met in Guadalajara at a bar where both Edgar and Denisse were working.
Recently Belanova has introduced a new member of the band, Campanita, who plays the
drum set. Although he is not an official member, some fans speculate that he will be one by the time the third album is released. He has appeared in some videos and plays along with them on live performances.
Cocktail
Their first album was titled
Cocktail
and was released in 2003. The first single off the album was "Tus Ojos", which became popular due to a
Mitsubishi publicity campaign, just after the
Japanese car maker's arrival in
Mexico, the song reached number-one on the Mexican Top 100 and stayed there for 3 consecutive weeks, the album reached number-five on Mexican Albums Chart
[1] and sold over 50,000 copies being certified Gold, the album was named one of the Top Five albums of 2003 by
Rolling Stone Mexico.
Apart from "Tus Ojos", the album also spawned two more top-twenty hits, "
Suele Pasar" and "
Aún Asi Te Vas".
The band spent 2003 and 2004 on a 100-Concert Tour around Mexican Territory, after the success of the album,
Universal Music Mexico wanted a more commercial sound, the band flew to Argentina to record their second album, this time with a more
poppy
sound and the record label moved Belanova from the Dance Label,
Virus Records to the mainstream label,
Universal.
Dulce Beat
In 2005 they released a new album called
Dulce Beat
, which gained popularity in the
Latin American music market thanks largely to television stations such as
MTV. The album was released on June 21, 2005 in Mexico, reaching the number-one spot staying there for four non-consecutive weeks, the album has sold over 200,000 copies in Mexico alone.
The first single of the album was "
Me Pregunto", which was followed soon after by "
Por Ti", both songs reached number-one in Mexico becoming top five songs of the year in the country. The third single was "
Rosa Pastel", released in July 2006. The album has enjoyed much success around
Latin America, with sales of over 500,000 copies and the same year they released their first live album called "
Dulce Beat Live", which went Gold in Mexico only few hours after it was released. The album includes a set of 16 songs performed live at the Foro Expo in
Guadalajara,
Jalisco,
Mexico on March 10, 2006.
Belanova's video "Por Ti" holds the record for the most weeks on MTV Mexico's Top 20, peaking at number-one for twenty-nine weeks.
When the album was released in the
United States in the spring of 2006, it hit number fifty-nine on
Billboard's Top Latin Albums Chart and reached the top ten on the Top Electronic Albums Chart.
[2] Disney Latin America picked the band to make the
Spanish version of the song "
What I've Been Looking For" ("
Eres Tú") for the Latin American release of the
High School Musical Soundtrack.
[3] The band earned a Grammy Nomination for "Mejor Álbum Vocal Pop Dúo o Grupo" ("Best Pop Vocal Album by a Group or Duo"), but
La Oreja de Van Gogh won the award.
The band also became the most nominated Mexican Act on the 2006's
MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, but they only won "Mejor Artista Norte" ("Best Northern Artist"). In October 2006, Belanova signed a contract with
Pizza Hut Mexico, to promote Cheesy Pops and their single "
Niño", the band filmed the commercials on November 7, 2006 and the first of the three different commercials was premiered on November 15.
Fantasía Pop
Alex Enríquez, the band's manager sent a press release announcing Belanova's new album,
Fantasía Pop
. The album was released on September 10, 2007 in
Mexico, and the rest of
Latin America and on September 11, 2007 in the
United States. The album was recorded in
Argentina.
[4] The first single, "
Baila Mi Corazón" was premiered on July 2 on Mexican radio station
Los 40 Principales.
[5]
The band filmed the video for the first single on July 13, the band will tour around Mexico, the rest of
Ibero-America and the United States.
[6] The band signed a contract with
Sony Ericsson México to release the model
W580 on July 30, 2007, the release was named the
Belanova Edition
and it includes three new tracks from the album as well as a music video, websites and a dance game.
[7] On August 18, 2007, the band shot the video for what would be the second single from their album that also will serve as the soundtrack for the Mexican film "Hasta El Viento Tiene Miedo". On September 12, 2007, it was reported the album sold over 50,000 copies of their album
Fantasía Pop
in just three days in
Mexico being certified
Gold by
AMPROFON.
[8] In
Spain the band released their album in early 2008 where they were named 'Best New Band' by
Yahoo! Spain and promotion started soon after with the first single "Baila Mi Corazón" reaching the top of the airplay charts but album sales never took off.
[9] [10] The album was certified Oro (Latin Gold) in the United States after selling over 100,000 copies and the band announced their first headlining tour across the United States with 20 dates.
[11] Promotion for the third single to be lifted from the album, "
One, Two, Three, Go! (1, 2, 3, Go!)" began in summer 2008 and has been well received in Mexico and Latin America, receiving heavy airplay amongst the country's pop radio stations.
[12] [13] Rotation for the single's music video on MTV began 10 July. "One, Two, Three, Go! (1, 2, 3, Go!)" was also featured as a free "Single of the Week" in the Apple's iTunes music store in the United States beginning the week of 29 July.
[14] In September the nominees for the
Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2008 were announced, Belanova becoming the second most nominated band along with
Babasonicos with six nominations each, just behind
Juanes, becoming the most nominated Mexican act at the ceremony.
[15] The band has also been nominated for the Lunas del Auditorio Nacional and a Latin Grammy.
[16] [17] The band ended as the most played act in Mexico in 2008 with the song "Cada Que..." topping the Year-End Charts.
[18]
Other projects
It had been announced that the band is going to be part of the soundtrack for the movie "Cuando Las Cosas Suceden", although this never materialised.
[19] The band worked with
Aleks Syntek on the track "Laberinto" which was included on Syntek's latest album
Lección de Vuelo
.
[20] The band signed a contract with Wella Latin America to release the new campaign for Wellaton, the TV Ads began airing upon the release of their third album "Fantasía Pop".
[21] The Band also worked with
Moenia in their latest album "Solar" in their song "Me Equivoqué".
Discography
for detailed information about Belanova's releases please go to:
Belanova discography
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Studio albums
- 2003: Cocktail
- 2005: Dulce Beat
- 2007: Fantasía Pop
- 2009/2010: ''TBA
Live albums
- 2006: ''Dulce Beat Live
- 2008: ''Tour Fantasia Pop
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Number One Singles in México
- 2003: Tus Ojos
- 2005: Me Pregunto
- 2005: Por Ti
- 2005: Rosa Pastel
- 2007: Baila Mi Corazón
- 2008: Cada Que...
- 2008: One, Two, Three, Go! (1, 2, 3, Go!)
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Notes and references
- Belanova's Biography on Billboard's Website
- Belanova's US Chart Positions
- Universal Music Mexico
- ¿Listos para la Fantasía Pop? / 30.06.2007
- Baila Mi Corazón
- Belanova films their video (Spanish)
- W580 Edición Belanova / 04.08.2007
- Belanova goes Gold (Spanish)
- named "Best New Artist" in Spain
- Belanova named 'best new band' by Yahoo Spain
- "Fantasía Pop" certified Oro in the United States
- Belanova's concert for Los 40 Principales
- EXA FM - Belanova at number four - week 30, 8th August 2008
- Belanova featured as the Single of the Week
- Premios MTV Latinoamerica 2008
- Lunas del Auditorio Nacional en México
- Latin Grammy 2008
- Belanova encabeza la lista de mejor música pop 2008
- "Cuando Las Cosas Suceden"
- "Colaboración con Aleks Syntek"
- "Belanova and Wellaton"