Many might say that Timbiriche 11 is not actually Timbiriche but a completely separate group. The band continued despite losing half of its members and all original members, minus Diego.
Toward the end of the promotional tour of Timbiriche 10, Paulina Rubio announced her departure from the group in order to have a solo career. A few weeks later, Erik Rubin, Biby Gaytan, and Edith Marquez all announced they will follow. The mass exodus of four key members of the group left everyone stunned. It seemed that the key members wanted more than what Timbiriche could provide them.
Silvia Campos had replaced Paty Tanus on the promotional tour of 10. She chose to stay with the band as well as an original member, Diego, and Claudio. The producers and the three remaining members wanted to continue the group, so they hunted down replacements for those who left. During the audition process, Claudio left the group. That left five of the seven spots to fill. Lorena Shelley, Daniel Gaytan, Tannya Velasco, Kenya Hijuelos, and Alexa Lozano (Fandango fame) were selected. This would make the group have 2 males and 5 females. It was a look and dynamic that Timbiriche never had.
The band recorded Timbiriche 11 with all the members in place, but just before the release of the album Kenya decided to leave the group. Since the majority of the album featured songs sung by the entire group instead of the individual members, they replaced Kenya with Jean Duverger, a professional dancer. Unless paying attention to the media like a hawk, people did not even know that Kenya was a part of the group. The band’s promotional photos for the album included Jean.
Musically, the album is close to being superior to anything Timbiriche had released. The updated music, the stronger voices, and the new pop group style choreography made Timbiriche a brand new group. They were still named Timbiriche, but this was not the Timbiriche fans grew up with. This was different, this was not just good, it was seriously great.
Was Timbiriche 11 a success? Yes… and no. The band promoted the hell out of this album. They performed on every show they could book which in turn gathered a new set of fans. Those fans in turn purchased the albums. Die-hard fans bought the album because it still had the Timbiriche name to it and well, Diego is and will always be Timbiriche. So until Diego goes, Timbiriche will always be Timbiriche.
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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