Bandana (pop group)

Bandana
Bandana performing in Buenos Aires
Background information
Origin	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Genres	Pop dance-pop teen pop
Years active	2001–2004 2016–present
Labels	Sony BMG
Associated acts	Mambrú
Members	Lourdes Cecilia Fernández Valeria Gastaldi María Elizabeth Vera
Past members	Ivonne Guzmán Virginia Da Cunha

Bandana is an Argentine pop girl group formed in 2001. Following the international trend of teen pop girl groups established by the Spice Girls, the five members of Bandana — Ivonne Guzmán, Lourdes Cecilia Fernández, Valeria Gastaldi, Virginia Da Cunha and María Elizabeth Vera — were selected on the TV show Popstars and were a carefully marketed product that became a phenomenon in the country, particularly among young girls. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2001 on Sony BMG Records, led by the hit single "Guapas", and was certified four-times platinum by the CAPIF. Despite being initially snubbed by many critics and artists, Bandana emerged as Argentina's best-selling act since 2001.

At the time of their disbandment in 2004, the combined sales of Bandana's three studio albums were estimated to be 450,000 copies sold. Their career was marked by several landmarks for Argentine musicians — specially bearing in mind the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression: 280 thousand tickets were sold to see them perform in the Teatro Gran Rex (with a total of 86 concerts in the venue); they performed twice for a total of 90 thousand people in the Vélez Sársfield Stadium; and released Vivir intentando, a film starring themselves that was seen by over 1 million people.

In 2016, Bandana announced a reunion concert (without Ivonne Guzmán) at the Lola Membrives Theatre in Buenos Aires; due to the high demand for tickets, the group has added five more dates. The concerts sold out within an hour and a half. The band also released a new album, titled La Vuelta which contains new versions of some of their biggest hits. On January 16, 2017, the band released their first original song ever since 2003 entitled "Bombón". The following day, da Cunha announced her departure from the band. In March, 2017 the 3 Bandana members, Lourdes, Valeria and Lisa, flew to the US to record the music video for their first single since their comeback, "Bombón" featuring Wisin. The music video was produced and directed by Lourival Rodriguez and co-directed by Ruslan Shakirov. It was shot in a Mansion in Miami Beach, FL.