Aventura (band) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Aventura
Aventura group members
Background information
Also known as	Los Reyes de la Bachata The Kings of Bachata Tu Grupo Favorito
Origin	The Bronx, New York
Genres	Bachata Dancehall Rap Reggaeton Salsa
Years active	1994 –2011, 2016, 2019–present
Labels	Premium Latin Sony Music Latin
Associated acts	Akon Antony Santos Don Omar Ludacris Nina Sky Thalía Wisin & Yandel
Members	Anthony "Romeo" Santos Lenny Santos Henry Santos Max Santos
Past members	Toby Love Judy Santos

Aventura was a Dominican-American bachata group that broke into the mainstream with their 2002 hit "Obsesión (featuring Judy Santos)". With a line-up comprising Romeo Santos, Lenny Santos (Len Melody), Henry Santos and Max Santos (Max Agende), they are regarded as one of the most influential Latin groups of all time. The group were integral to the evolution of bachata music and are the pioneers of the modern bachata sound. Aventura released five studio albums in a decade, spawning many top 10 hits like "Cuando Volverás", "Un Beso", "Mi Corazoncito", "Los Infieles", "El Perdedor", "Por Un Segundo", "Dile Al Amor", among others. They have sold out many arenas including the world famous Madison Square Garden. Aventura has been nominated for awards such as American Music Awards, the Latin Grammy Awards, Billboard Latin Music Awards, and Premio Lo Nuestro. Aventura is one of the most internationally recognized Latin groups of the last two decades and frequently refer to themselves as "K.O.B.", or "Kings of Bachata".

History

Formation, Los Tinellers and Aventura

In 1993, Lenny Santos and his brother Max Santos formed La Banda Sueño. The group's lead singer at the time was a close friend who was not good. He did the job and was also a bit of a jokester in the group. He was soon kicked out of the group as Lenny and Max were looking for a replacement singer who could help them take their music career more serious. Lenny didn't know anybody in their neighborhood who could sing. He was later introduced to Anthony Santos via one of the group's musicians who attended the same school as Anthony. They clicked instantly, and the two started working on songs together. Anthony was a singer and composer who would sing with his cousin Henry at their local church choir. Anthony later introduces Lenny to his cousin Henry, who also joins the group. The group would perform for their neighbors, at local stores and in the streets for free in the Bronx. The group decided to change the name to Los Tinellers, a play on the word teenager. The group consisted of lead members Lenny and Anthony.

In 1995, the group was discovered by Elvin Polanco when Lenny and Anthony asked him if they could perform at a local parade he was hosting. Elvin, seeing potential in the group, became their manager. He helped them record their first studio album despite having no funds. They released their debut album in 1995 titled "Trampa de Amor" under Elca Productions.The album did not do well commercially, selling a total of five copies. Elvin Polanco ran into some health problems and the group was left without a manager at that time.

In 1996, with the help of new manager Julio César García, the group created a new image. Julio added Henry and Max as lead members. He made the group to resemble popular American boy bands. He renamed the group to Aventura. They signed a record deal with Premium Latin Music, Inc. They made their big break in 1999, with the hopes of breaking bachata music into the mainstream from its traditional base. They slowly began to gather fans in the cities of Boston and Lancaster. The group was the first to experiment with bachata by fusing the genre with R&B, hip hop & rap, reggae and rock. Aventura broke bachata rules. They were the first bachata act to sing a whole bachata song in English. Anthony innovated bachata with fresh lyrics that incorporated songs with different themes, instead of just singing about heartbreak. Lenny innovated bachata guitar with his use of electric guitars. He also innovated the tone of bachata guitar by adding guitar effects such as wah, phaser, distortion, tremolo and harmonizer. Max innovated the bachata bass with his use of bass techniques such as slapping and bass slides. Max incorporated a lot of rock bass riffs into bachata. Their sound helped make the genre mainstream, as showed with the success of their 2002 hit song "Obsesión". The song achieved huge success in many countries, topping many international charts like France, Germany and Italy. Since then they have blown up internationally with hits such as "Su Veneno", "Todavia Me Amas", "El Malo", "Te Invito", "Por Un Segundo", among others. Toby Love began his music career with Aventura and left in 2005 to pursue a solo career in bachata. They have been inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame.

Aventura faced their biggest performance yet when they completely sold out the Madison Square Garden on September 1, 2007. They sold out the arena 360 degrees. They are the first bachata group to have done this. They were accompanied by Don Omar, Antony Santos, Wisin y Yandel, Miri Ben-Ari, Toby Love, and El Torito.

In 2009, Aventura was invited to perform their hit single "Su Veneno" at the White House for the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. They are the first bachata act to ever perform at the White House.

In February 2010, they sold out the Garden once again, but for a legendary four nights in a row. They surpassed american artists such as Lady Gaga and Madonna in ticket sales, being one of the first Latin groups to do so. At one of the concerts they paid homage to Juan Luis Guerra, and even sang some songs with the iconic Dominican singer.

Hiatus

In 2011, the group announced that they would be taking a hiatus to work on individual musical projects. Henry embarked on a respective solo career, looking to be accepted without the group. Romeo took the opportunity to sign with Sony Music Latin, and embarked on his solo career as well. Although Max wanted to focus more on his rap career, he joined his brother Lenny and formed their new bachata group called "D'Element." under Lenny's record label Element Music Group. They then joined Steve Styles from the bachata group Xtreme and renamed the group to Vena.

Reunions

The group reunited to close out the second night of Romeo's sold-out Yankee Stadium concert on July 12, 2014.

On December 1, 2015, it was announced on the band's website and social media that they would have a reunion tour for the whole month of February at the United Palace theater in New York City. Their first concert since their split started with a sold-out crowd on February 4, 2016 with the final concert ending on February 28, 2016. They would've continued on with the tour, but Romeo had to finish the second leg of his Formula Vol. 2 tour.

On April 1, 2019, the group posted an image on their Instagram account teasing a new Aventura single called "Inmortal" slated to be released at 9PM, captioning it "#UTOPIA". At 9PM, Romeo uploaded a video saying that their new song would not be released at 9PM after all, and that it was intended to be an April Fool's joke which led the fans to become upset and lash out on social media. The following day, however, the group apologized and announced that the April Fool's joke was not the song, but was the release date. They then previewed the new single "Inmortal" and its music video, stating that it was being released Friday, as a part of Romeo's fourth upcoming studio album, Utopia. It is their first single in 10 years, and debuted at number 5 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Aventura won for Tropical Duo/Group of the Year for the Billboard Latin Music Awards on April 25, 2019. That same night they performed "Inmortal" alongside Raulin Rodriguez.

On September 21, 2019, the group reunited for Romeo's Utopia concert at the MetLife Stadium. They performed hits such as "Dile al Amor", "Todavia Me Amas", and "Inmortal". The group performed "Obsesión" alongside Cardi B and also performed her hit song "I Like It". On December 8, 2019, an announcement was made regarding the band's upcoming US tour, La Gira Inmortal. It will be their first tour since splitting in 2011, and began in Los Angeles on February 5, 2020.

Members

Principal members

• Anthony "Romeo" Santos – lead vocals, songwriter, composer, co-producer
• Henry Santos – lead vocals, backing vocals, composer, producer
• Lenny Santos – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric guitar, arranger, producer, band director
• Max Santos – bass guitar, rapper

Former members

• Toby Love – backing vocals, congas
• Judy Santos – female vocals

Discography

Studio albums

As Los Tinellers

• Trampa De Amor (1995)

As Aventura

• Generation Next (1999)
• We Broke The Rules (2002)
• Love & Hate (2003)
• God's Project (2005)
• The Last (2009)

Live

• Unplugged (2004)
• K.O.B. Live (2006)
• Kings Of Bachata: Sold Out At Madison Square Garden (2007)

Greatest Hits or Compilation

• 14 + 14 (2011)
• Todavía Me Amas: Lo Mejor De Aventura (2016)

DVDs

• The Love & Hate Concert: Sold Out At The United Palace (2005)
• Kings Of Bachata: Sold Out At Madison Square Garden (2007)

Concert tours

• K.O.B Live (2007-2008)
• The Last Tour (2009-2011)
• Aventura Reunion Live NYC (2016)
• La Gira Inmortal (2020)

Awards and Nominations

American Music Awards

Billboard Latin Music Awards

Latin American Music Awards

Latin Grammy Awards

Premios Juventud

Premio Lo Nuestro

See also

In Spanish: Aventura (banda) para niños