"It's over for now." Those were the words Kevin Jonas told People Magazine nearly three weeks after the Jonas Brothers announced they were canceling their tour on Oct. 9, two days before it was slated to begin, due to "a deep rift within the band" and a "disagreement over their music direction." A week later, the Jonas Brothers' Twitter account disappeared, but Nick and Joe Jonas later asked fans to "bear with us." Although it's official now, Nick says that they don't know what the future might bring them. "It's really hard to say 'forever,'" the youngest Jonas said. "We're closing a chapter, for sure." Joe added, "It was a unanimous decision."
It all happened after a meeting on Oct. 3, where Nick Jonas was the first to voice his worries about the band's future. "I was feeling kind of trapped," he said. "I needed to share my heart with my brothers." At the time, Kevin Jonas had just announced that he and wife Danielle were expecting their first baby, a girl and rumors started circulating that the unborn child was the reason of the cancellation of the tour, but when it all went down, the band's rep said that the impending baby had nothing to do with the band's troubles.
And just like the Jonas Brothers marked an era in boy band history, so were a few of our favorite Latin boy bands who we're still a little sad (well, heartbroken really) that they broke up. Starting with Menudo. It's almost impossible to track this band to the beginnings since it had so many changes because the whole concept was a band that would remain young, so a member would be replaced when he reached his 16th birthday, his voice changed, he grew facial hair or grew too tall. This Latin boy band started in the late 70's, but it was in 1981 that the group launched into stardom with their album "Quiero Ser." The lineup at the time was: René Farrait, Johnny Lozada, Xavier Serbiá, Miguel Cancel and Ricky Meléndez, the only remaining original member.
The album included hit songs like "Quiero Ser," "Súbete A Mi Moto," "Rock En La TV," "Claridad" and "Mi Banda Toca Rock." The band became popular all throughout Latin America and they were the first boy band ever with its own private jet that had Menudo's name on both sides of the fuselage. Their American fan base started to grow as well, especially among the young, as evidenced by "Menudo on ABC", a series of four-minute music spots that aired during the Fall 1983 season of ABC's youth-oriented Saturday morning programming block. But it wasn't until 1984 when two of the most famous members joined the band. Robi Draco Rosa and Ricky Martin. During that time, Menudo made English commercials for Pepsi, Scope, McDonald's and Crest. They also did a guest appearance on the popular American children's program Sesame Street.
Through the years, more changes followed, including an image and sound makeover, transitioning from bubble gum pop to pop rock. By the late 90's the group changed their name to MDO, until 2007, when in a Reality MTV series, producers were looking for the new Menudo. The selected members stuck together until 2009, when they finally called it quits and the group dissolved.
You can't talk about Menudo without mentioning Los Chicos. This boy band was created in the early 80's to rival Menudo's success. They started off as "Encuentro," but due to a political campaign slogan, the name was changed to Los Chicos. They enjoyed huge success during the early 1980s, particularly in Puerto Rico, South America and Central America. Many of their songs, including "Puerto Rico son Los Chicos," "Ave María" and "Mamma Mia" sung by Jorge Lopez also known nowadays as salsa sensation Giro, became radio favorites, and memorabilia items like posters were mass-produced. Los Chicos became national sponsors for Malta Corona and Mahones Savage. After a lineup switch wasn't well accepted by their fans, the band finally dissolved. While they never achieved Menudo's level of popularity, it gave them a run for their money in Puerto Rico and Latin American countries, especially Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panamá, and to this date, besides Giro, Chayanne, who was also one of the founding members, has also achieved massive levels of international popularity.
Continuing with the Latin American boy band craze, Magneto can't be left out. This Mexican boy band emerged in 1983. Their first record "Dejalo que gire" came in 1984, followed by "Super 6 Magneto." They suffered several lineup changes until they finally got their much wanted success and received a gold record in 1986. Their dance-pop style made them climb the charts with "Todo esta muy bien" and "Soy un soñador," however, their breakthrough came after issuing a Spanish-language version of Desireless' "Voyage Voyage," a French pop hit from the 80's. The band was recipient of a Premio Lo Nuestro for Pop New Artist of the Year and two nominations for the same awards for Pop Album and Pop Group of the Year. Magneto disbanded in 1996 after a sold-out show at Mexico City's Auditorio Nacional.
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