This Latin pop quartet is based in the Bronx, New York City, USA, where Anthony ‘Romeo’ Santos (b. 21 July 1981, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA; vocals), Lenny Santos (b. 24 October 1979, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA; guitar), Max Santos (b. 1982, the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA; vocals/bass) and Henry Santos Jeter (b. 15 Decemnber 1979, Moca, Dominican Republic; vocals) were brought up. The quartet first began performing together in 1994. Their stated intention was to modernise bachata, the rural Dominican dance music that Juan Luis Guerra had helped popularise in the mid-90s. Aventura fused bachata with urban R&B to create a very modern form of Latin pop, attracting the attention of several major labels in the process. They signed to BMG in 1999 and made their debut the same year with Generation Next.
The quartet’s major breakthrough came in 2002 with ‘Obsesión’, on which they blended bachata, R&B and hip-hop to hypnotic and highly danceable effect. The song became a major hit in Latin dance clubs and this popularity translated to chart success, with the single topping Latin charts throughout the world. The attendant We Broke The Rules paid testament to the quartet’s vision and was also highly successful. The quartet continued pushing at the boundaries of the genre with 2003’s Love & Hate and 2005’s God’s Project. During this period they also released the acoustic Unplugged and two live albums, the latter of which documented a record-breaking performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden venue.
