"Tu Amor," the first single released to U.S. radio by Virgin Records international pop phenomenon RBD, is proving itself to be a mainstream smash -- in a matter of days, not weeks. Within just three days of release, the song was all over the four most-listened-to Top 40 stations in the country, among a nationwide crowd of 30 leader stations in Top 40 and Rhythmic formats. Based on heavy first-week spins, "Tu Amor" is already the 16th most-played record on New York's powerhouse WHTZ/Z-100. It is also No. 8 in airplay, and the No. 1 request by e-mail on Los Angeles' KIIS-FM, which leaked the song ahead of its official airdate. The song is expected to make an immediate national Top 40 debut, on both mainstream and rhythmic radio charts.

In a unique show of total belief in the song and RBD, Riverside, Calif. Rhythmic station KWIE/Wild 96 played "Tu Amor" continuously last weekend, putting the song on 'repeat' and tallying almost 500 plays, immediately putting the song in the top 20 most-played songs of the year on the station. With other airplay hotspots throughout Texas, Illinois, Florida and California, the song was played over 1700 times in its first week of national radio availability.

RBD has already sold over two million copies of their Spanish-language albums in the United States, and their U.S. tour of spring 2006 was a complete sell-out of such arena-sized venues as the L.A. Coliseum, Miami's American Airlines Arena, and New York's Madison Square Garden. Rebels, the group's English language debut, will be released on Virgin Records on December 26. It reprises six of the biggest RBD hits from their previous Spanish albums in English, and adds six newly-recorded tracks, including "Tu Amor," written by master tunesmith Diane Warren ("Un-Break My Heart," "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing," "Because You Loved Me").

RBD comprises the six lead actors of the Mexican telenovela Rebelde, which debuted on Televisa in October 2004, and became a national obsession, drawing a massive viewership of 23 percent of all Mexican households. Following the release of an album in January 2005, the show's musical element became so popular that artists ranging from Lenny Kravitz to Hilary Duff appeared on Rebelde to promote their music in the Latin market; Gorillaz even chose to debut their "Dare" video on Rebelde, rather than on MTV Mexico. Fan demand in Brazil lead the group to re-cut both of their first two albums in Portuguese, resulting in multi-platinum sales, and RBD is to headline Rio de Janeiro's 120,000-seat Maracana Stadium, the world's largest venue, in October.

Rebelde wrapped in summer 2005 as the country's longest-running telenovela ever, with 440 episodes, which continue to air in the U.S., Asia, Indonesia, and in over a dozen other countries. RBD's debut Spanish album Rebelde won Best Pop Album of the Year at the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards – and two other 2005 releases, Nuestro Amor and the live Tour Generación RBD en Vivo took three of the four nominations in the category. A feature film and a new spin-off show with the RBD stars are currently in development.

Give a listen to "Tu Amor" here:
http://boss.streamos.com/real/virg001/rbd/audio/rebels/rbd_tu_amor_radio_00.ram
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/virg001/rbd/audio/rebels/rbd_tu_amor_00.asx

Find lots more about RBD here on Starpulse!

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