Belanova

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Belanova
Origin Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Genre(s) Dance pop
Alternative Dance
Lounge
Synthpop
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Universal Music and Virus Records
Website Belanova Official Website
Members
Denisse Guerrero
Ricardo "Richie" Arreola
Edgar Huerta

Belanova is a Latin Grammy-nominated 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.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Dulce Beat

Dulce Beat (2005), the band's sophomore album became a success in Mexico and Latin America
Dulce Beat (2005), the band's sophomore album became a success in Mexico and Latin America

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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"). The band ended 2006 as the 33rd most played artist/band in Latin America[5] and the 15th most played artist/band in Ibero-America.[6] Also, their single, "Por Ti" ended the year (2006) as the 12th most played song in Mexico.[7] 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.

[edit] 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.[8] The first single, "Baila Mi Corazón" was premiered on July 2 on Mexican radio station Los 40 Principales.[9]

The band filmed the video for the first single on July 13th, the band will tour around Mexico, the rest of Ibero-America and the United States.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] The album entered the Mexican charts at number-eighteen, before climbing to number-one on its third week becoming Belanova's second number-one album,[13] and on October 15 the band scored their fourth number-one single in the country when "Baila Mi Corazón" climbed from number-three to the top for three consecutive weeks.[14] Belanova ended 2007 as the seventh most successful Latin band in the Ibero-American Top 100 Charts.[15] The album's singles, "Baila Mi Corazón" and "Cada Que..." went on to sell over 200,000 downloads in the United States alone.[16][17] When the album was certified Platinum in March 2008 in Mexico, the band made history when it was published that digital sales of the album are five times what it has sold physically.[18][19] In Spain the band released their album in early 2008 where they were named 'Best New Band' by Yahoo! Spain and will start promotion soon.[20][21] 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.[22]

[edit] Other projects

It has been announced that the band is going to be part of the soundtrack for the movie "Cuando Las Cosas Suceden" [23]

The band worked with Aleks Syntek on the track "Laberinto" which was included on Syntek's latest album Lección de Vuelo.[24]

The band signed a contract with Wella Latinamerica to release the new campaign from Wellaton.[25]

The Band also Worked with Moenia in their latest album "SOLAR" in one of their songs.

[edit] Discography

The following list includes all Belanova's album releases. For complete information about charts, sales and single releases, see Belanova discography.

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Live albums

[edit] Number One Singles in México

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Belanova's Biography on Billboard's Website
  2. ^ Belanova's Biography on Billboard's Website
  3. ^ Belanova's US Chart Positions
  4. ^ Universal Music Mexico
  5. ^ Most Played Artists in 2006
  6. ^ Ibero-America's Top 100 Artists of 2006
  7. ^ Mexico's Top 40 of 2006
  8. ^ ¿Listos para la Fantasía Pop? / 30.06.2007
  9. ^ Baila Mi Corazón
  10. ^ Belanova films their video (Spanish)
  11. ^ W580 Edición Belanova / 04.08.2007
  12. ^ Belanova goes Gold (Spanish)
  13. ^ Mexican Albums Chart - October 3rd 2007
  14. ^ Mexican Singles Chart - October 15th 2007
  15. ^ Ibero-American Top 100 Charts - Artists of the Year, Bands
  16. ^ Mexican Singles Chart
  17. ^ "Baila Mi Corazón" and "Cada Que..." sell 200,000 downloads
  18. ^ "Fantasía Pop" certified Platinum
  19. ^ Belanova breaks record in Mexico
  20. ^ named "Best New Artist" in Spain
  21. ^ Belanova named 'best new band' by Yahoo Spain
  22. ^ "Fantasía Pop" certified Oro in the United States
  23. ^ "Cuando Las Cosas Suceden".
  24. ^ "Colaboración con Aleks Syntek"
  25. ^ "Belanova and Wellaton"

[edit] External links


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Belanova