A new version of the Latine boy band Menudo will be debuting this month. Yesterday (March 6), Mario Lopez announced the date for the group’s debut, which will include their new single “Mi Amore.”
In July of last year, Lopez revealed that he teamed up with Menudo Productions to find the members for a new version of the band. Live auditions started taking place last Sept. in San Juan, PR. The identity of the five members have been kept under wraps. The press release mentioned that the members’ ages range from 10 to 15.
“Everyone involved in this project, including the producers, choreographers, photographers, vocal coaches and management, were required to sign NDAs and go through background checks to assure both the safety and anonymity of the boys,” said Menudo Production’s Angel Zamora in a statement. “Each of the boys are extremely talented, and they are now ready to usher in a new era of Latin pop for the global music market.”
The new version of Menudo will be unveiled by Lopez on Mar. 20 on ABC’s Good Morning America. That day, the band’s debut single, “Mi Amore,” will be released in Spanish and English. Also, there’s a documentary in the works about how this latest iteration of the group came together.
“Deciding on the final five was harder than we ever imagined because there was so much great talent to choose from,” Lopez added. “The five boys we selected gelled together instantly, and the music they’ve created has exceeded all of our expectations. I think we have several massive hits, and I’m more excited than ever to introduce these boys to the world in two weeks.”
Last year, Menudo: Forever Young was released on HBO Max. The documentary covered the darker side of the group’s history, including sex crime allegations against founder Edgardo Díaz. After denying the claims, he has since reportedly distanced himself from the Menudo franchise. “I am not going to spend the rest of my life defending myself and responding to allegations,” he told Primera Hora in 2014. “I live in peace.”