Calibre 50 () is a

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...

band founded in the city of

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding '' municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip ...

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and ...

in 2010. Their style is Norteño-Banda, a hybrid of Norteño, which uses an

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

or tololoche for the low notes and replaces it with a

sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...

(tuba), which is typically used in

Banda Banda may refer to: People * Banda (surname) * Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician * Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor * Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...

for the bass notes.

History

Before establishing Calibre 50, Edén Muñoz had been the accordionist and vocalist in the Norteño-banda group, Colmillo Norteño. With Muñoz, the group scored the hit songs "Sueño guajiro" and "Hotel El Cid" in 2009, among others. Nevertheless, conflicts with the other members of the band led Muñoz to quit Colmillo Norteño in early 2010, and he founded his own band later that year, recruiting Armando Ramos as guitarist and backing vocalist, Martín López as sousaphonist, and Augusto Guido as drummer. The name of this new band was "Puro Colmillo Norteño", and they recorded their first album, "''Renovar o Morir''", under that name, as well as their first single ("El infiernito"). However, the original Colmillo Norteño sued them over the name, and after a legal dispute Muñoz' band was forced to change their name later in 2010. They chose the name by which they are known today: Calibre 50. The name of the band comes from the comparison "with an element that will symbolize the strength and impact that the project has on the lives of the members, as well as those who like the

genre." Calibre 50 first achieved notoriety for their controversial songs, among them corridos. Their first nationwide hit was "El tierno se fue" ("The nice guy is gone") in 2011, a ranchera written by Lalo Ayala which contains many

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

s and describes a sexual act in detail. Throughout its history, the band has recorded different styles of songs such as rancheras, corridos,

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

, cumbias, charangas, boleros, and huapangos. In January 2014, drummer Augusto Guido left the band to work on his own group, "Los de Sinaloa"; he was replaced by Erick García. Two months later, sousaphone player Martín López also left the band to work on another project, "La Iniciativa". He was subsequently replaced by Alejandro Gaxiola. In March 2017, Calibre 50 made history when the band became the first Regional Mexican act to perform on the Conan show on an episode that took place in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Calibre 50 made their Rodeo Houston debut on 11 March 2018 to a sold out crowd. On 26 April 2018, Calibre 50, along with Colombian Urban singer

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

, received an award from Pandora Radio for being the first artists to surpass a billion streams on that platform. In October 2020, the group broke the record for the most number-one songs on the ''Billboard''

Regional Mexican Airplay Regional Mexican Airplay (also referred to as Regional Mexican Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. It was established by the magazine on October 8, 1994, with "La Niña Fresa" by Banda Zeta being the first number-one so ...

chart with 17 songs. As of 2022, they have since broken their own record with five additional songs reaching No. 1, totaling 22 No. 1 songs on the Billboard Regional Mexican Airplay chart. In late January 2022, Edén Muñoz left Calibre 50 to embark on a solo career. On 1 March 2022, after several auditions, the band presented in a press conference their new lead vocalist, Tony Elizondo. On 8 April 2022, Calibre 50 presented in another press conference their new accordion player and additional backing vocalist, Ángel Saucedo.

Members

*Tony Elizondo,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

*Armando Ramos, backing vocals and

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

*Angel Saucedo, backing vocals and

diatonic accordion A melodeon or diatonic button accordion is a member of the free-reed aerophone family of musical instruments. It is a type of button accordion on which the melody-side keyboard contains one or more rows of buttons, with each row producing the ...

*Alejandro Gaxiola,

*Erick García,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Past members

*Augusto Guído, drums * Edén Muñoz, lead vocals and

*Martín López,

Discography

*2010: '' Renovar o Morir'' (Originally issued under the name "Puro Colmillo Norteño", later reissued as Calibre 50). *2011: '' De Sinaloa Para El Mundo'' *2012: '' El Buen Ejemplo'' *2013: '' La Recompensa'' *2013: '' Corridos de Alto Calibre'' *2014: '' Contigo'' *2015: '' Historias de La Calle'' *2016: '' Desde El Rancho'' *2017: '' En Vivo Desde El Auditorio Telmex'' *2017: '' Guerra de Poder'' *2018: '' Mitad y Mitad'' *2019: '' Simplemente Gracias'' *2021: '' Vamos Bien'' *2022: '' Corridos de Alto Calibre, Vol. II''

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control Mexican musical groups Mexican norteño musical groups Musical groups established in 2010 Mazatlán 2010 establishments in Mexico Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists Musical groups from Sinaloa