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Menudo marks 50 years with tour featuring seven former members, without Ricky Martin Image: EFE
🇨🇱 Chile /Culture & Society

Menudo marks 50 years with tour featuring seven former members, without Ricky Martin

From Cooperativa · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • Seven former members of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo will reunite for a 50th-anniversary tour from California in October to Puerto Rico in December.
  • The singers said they adapted the group’s songs to their adult voices while keeping Menudo’s characteristic sound; Ricky Martin and Draco Rosa will not take part.
  • The tour will feature songs including “Súbete a mi moto” and “Claridad” and is aimed at multiple generations of fans.

Menudo is returning to the stage for its 50th anniversary, but the reunion will not include the group’s most internationally famous former member, Ricky Martin, or Draco Rosa.

a repertoire of hundreds of songs

— Ralphy RodríguezHis description of Menudo’s catalogue while discussing how the reunion setlist was selected.

Seven ex-members will take the tour from California in October to Puerto Rico in December. In an interview with EFE, they said the songs have been adjusted for their adult voices without losing the sound that defined the Puerto Rican group.

The band, created in 1977 by producer Edgardo Díaz, became one of Latin American popular music’s biggest phenomena, particularly during the 1980s. Its former members said they held extensive discussions to choose songs from a repertoire that ran into the hundreds and decide who would sing each one.

The songs are adapted to our tones now as men.

— Raymond AcevedoHe explained how the former members adjusted Menudo songs for their adult voices.

“Súbete a mi moto,” performed by René Farrait, and “Claridad,” which Farrait called the group’s classic, are among the songs expected in the show. Raymond Acevedo said the arrangements now fit their lower voices, while Ralphy Rodríguez explained that some songs were simply lowered by one tone. Robert Avellanet said Sergio Blass is the only member whose voice has not changed since the group’s youth.

It is a generational and family show.

— René FarraitHis description of the audience expected for the anniversary concerts.

The performers described the concerts as a family and generational event. They expect longtime fans, their children and grandchildren, as well as younger listeners drawn to 1980s and 1990s culture through the internet, cassettes and vinyl records. The former members also linked the reunion to renewed interest in boy bands and pop nostalgia.

It sounds like Menudo because they are the same voices.

— Raymond AcevedoHe said the group’s original vocal identity remains recognizable despite the rearrangements.
About this summary

Originally published by Cooperativa in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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