Los Super Reyes
The Quintanilla family was naturally devastated after Selena’s death; except for some co-writing credits, A.B. withdrew from music for the next 4 years. In 1999, he reappeared with his own group, A.B. Quintanilla y Los Kumbia Kings.
Unlike Selena y Los Dinos, Los Kumbia Kings was a large band and no one member was the ’star’ performer. In fact, the major figure was A.B. himself. While he played bass and sang background vocals in the group, he did start promoting himself with the ‘A.B. Quintanilla’ label before many of the album names.
The King’s first album, Amor, Familia y Respeto was both a popular and critical success. It sold over 1/2 million copies and was nominated for a Grammy, Latin Grammy and Billboard Latin Music Awards. Their second album Sshhh! was released in 2001 and quickly hit #1 on the charts.
Concerns and accusations about money seemed to foment in the group from it’s inception. In 2002/2003, band members starting leaving the group amidst claims that they were underpayed (or not being paid). Members who were asked to leave the group included Baby Drew, both Ramirez brothers and Frankie Aranda, who started their own band, Kingz One (K1).
But the critical loss was that of lead vocalists, DJ Kane and Frankie J, who both went on develop their own individual careers.
At the end of 2003, A.B. brought on replacements for the old band members. Chris Perez (Selena’s husband) and Abel Talamantez (from Menudo) came on board. But the big surprise was the new lead vocalist, 15 year old Pee Wee Gonzalez (Irvin Salinas), who became an instant teenage heartthrob with the release of 2004’s Fuego.
The new Los Kumbia Kings were more popular than ever, and 2006’s A.B. Quintanilla Presents Kumbia Kings Live! won a Latin Grammy.
Then, those pesky money matters came up again, this time with A.B. accusing co-founder Cruz Martinez of stealing money from the group. The arguments were bitter and public; accusations were hurled on television and in the press.
This was followed by an unfortunate video on YouTube of A.B. denigrating Mexicans and legal suits over ownership of the “Kumbia Kings” name.
As a result of the rift with Martinez, A.B. left the Kumbia Kings and regrouped under the name Kumbia All Starz, taking the main attraction, PeeWee, with him.
Martinez regrouped and took what was left of Los Kumbia Kings to Warner Brothers Music Group Latino. In late June it was announced that the new venture would be named “Cruz Martinez Presenta Los Super Reyes”.
The single “Muevelo” was released to the public over the internet and radio. The “Super Reyes” ensemble includes cast-offs from the last edition of “Los Kumbia Kings”; And in a surprising move, Martinez lured original Kumbia Kings members Alex and Roy Ramirez (who are currently still in Kingz 1 promoting their new CD) to help him out with the project.
“They are original Kumbia Kings, so I thought it would be great to have them back, plus their family.” stated Martinez to Univision.
Los Súper Reyes is now composed of 10 members including Cruz “CK” Martinez, Abel Talamantez, Nando, Pangie, Nino B., Juan “JP” Pena, Joseph “Jojoe” López, Megga Velasquez, Anthony “Papi Joe” Galindo, and a old returning Kumbia King member Alex Ramirez.
Their new release album “El Regreso de Los Reyes” dropped in stores August 14, 2007 including their new hit single “Muevelo” which was a hit among audiences making them a group to be reckoned with once again.
In early 2008, the lead vocalist Nando Dominguez left the group pursuing his dream to own his own group. He now owns a group called the Solja Kingz that is set to premiere the debut album this June.
Los Super Reyes are currently on tour promoting their debut album as LSR. They currently are searching for a new lead vocalist. A special new fan version of “El Regreso De Los Reyes” is set to be in stores soon including the music videos. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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