Christian Chávez

José Christian Chávez Garza (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse ˈkɾistjan ˈtʃaβes ˈɣarsa], born August 7, 1983), most often known as Christian Chávez, is a singer and actor best known for his role as Giovanni Méndez López in the telenovela Rebelde and its spin off pop group RBD.

In 2002, Chávez was cast as Fernando 'Fercho' Lucena in the telenovela Clase 406. The series had four seasons and 350 one-hour episodes in total.

In 2004, Chávez joined a new telenovela Rebelde as Juan "Giovanni" Méndez López, a mischievous and rebellious student at a private boarding school in Mexico. Chávez became widely known for his ever-changing hair colors. The soap opera was transmitted in 65 other countries, including the United States, Mexico, Serbia, Peru, Romania, Brazil, Spain, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia and Albania. A major plot line of the show revolved around a group of six students forming a pop band. A notable aspect of the series is that Chávez and five of his other co-stars (Maite Perroni, Dulce María, Anahí, Alfonso Herrera and Christopher Uckermann) became actual members of a real life band RBD. RBD created most of the music used on the show, and the six quickly became one of the most popular music acts in Latin America.

As part of RBD, Chávez went on to receive two Latin Grammy nominations, achieving multi-platinum status with more than 22 million digital downloads and more than 17 million albums sold worldwide. He has performed concerts in 23 countries in 116 cities, selling more than 3,000,000 concert tickets and 4 million DVDs.

RBD's first album Rebelde, was released on November 30, 2004 by EMI. The first three singles ("Rebelde" (lead single), "Sólo Quédate En Silencio" and "Sálvame") were all number one hits in Mexico, with the fourth single, "Un Poco De Tu Amor" reaching number two.

RBD's first national tour, Tour Generación RBD, included 45 sold out dates in Mexico including three visits in Monterrey performing for more than 150,000 fans. The tour was certified by OCESA as the fourth most rapidly sold tour in Mexican history. In July 2005 a live CD/DVD, Tour Generación RBD En Vivo was released, documenting their tour around Mexico (45 sold-out concerts across the country, including sixteen in Mexico City alone).

In 2005 RBD released their second studio album, Nuestro Amor. This album set new record sales in Mexico, selling 127,000 copies on its release day, and 160,000 copies within its first week. In the U.S., the album topped the Latin Albums Chart for 3 weeks and peaked at #88 on the Billboard 200. The first four singles reached number one in Mexico. In the United States "Nuestro Amor", "Aún Hay Algo" and "Este Corazón" charted on the Hot Latin chart at #6, #24 and #10 respectively. Nuestro Amor also brought RBD a nomination for the Latin Grammy Awards in the category "Best Pop Album by a Group or Duo". They performed a new version of "Tras de Mí" at the ceremony.

RBD's concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum is one of the fastest selling concert in the venue's history, beating megastar Madonna - 70,000 tickets were sold within 30 minutes. In 2006, RBD sold 750,000 tickets becoming the 14th top selling act of 2006 worldwide.

In November 2006, RBD released their third studio album Celestial, produced and directed by Carlos Lara, which debuted at number 15 in the Billboard 200, marking first-week sales of over 137,000 copies in the U.S. The album however did not have a full week of album sales, due to its Friday release. Despite this, it became their first album to peak or chart within the top 20 of the Billboard 200

In December 2006, RBD released their first English album Rebels,which debuted at number 40 on the Billboard 200 album chart with first-week sales of 94,000 copies. Included on the album was "Tu Amor" a ballad written by Diane Warren and sung by Chavez.

In 2007, RBD became spokespeople for Pepsi and appeared in numerous ads televised throughout Latin America. In 2008, RBD performed for over 500,000 fans in Brazil, breaking the record previously held by the Rolling Stones. On August 14, 2008, RBD announced through a press release that they would disband in 2009. To this day, RBD is considered the most successful pop group in Mexican history.

In June 2007, Chávez appeared briefly in the stage show Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, and in May 2008 he participated in Avenida Q (the Mexican version of Avenue Q), where he played the main puppet characters Eugenio (Princeton) and Rodri (Rod); his presence on the shows was intended to be one of the main box office attractions.

After RBD's breakup, Chávez launched his career as a solo recording artist. His first studio album Almas Transparentes, peaked at number 56 on the Mexican pop charts.

In 2011, Chávez turned heads with the provocative music video for his single "Libertad" featuring singer Anahi which became an instant sensation on YouTube with more than 1,000,000 views within three days of its upload. The video featured Chávez in a church confessional telling a priest he was not sorry for his sexual preference. The video featured a cameo by Perez Hilton. "The video looks super sexy", gushed Hilton on his blog. "It's inspired us to unleash our own LIBERTAD." "Libertad" continues to be an anthem for gay youth throughout Latin America.

On August 14, 2012, Chávez released the highly anticipated album Esencial, an acoustic compilation of songs performed at his show in São Paulo, Brazil in January 2012. People magazine called the album's release "the return of Christian Chávez". A red carpet presentation of Esencial was held in Mexico City in June. Chavez performed duets with RBD co-star Maite Perroni and Mexican pop/rock singer Ana Victoria.

"Sacrilegio", a track on Esencial also released as a single, immediately landed in the top 10 on Mexican pop charts. Other notable songs on the album include "No Me Olvides", written for Chávez by Mexican singer Juan Gabriel, and a remake of "¿En Donde Estas?" sung as a duet with Indonesian pop star Agnes Monica.

A DVD version of Esencial was released in late 2012.

In March 2007, a magazine published pictures of Chávez signing documents and exchanging rings with another man, allegedly his Canadian boyfriend (and later identified as B.J. Murphy), outing Chávez with them. The pictures had been taken in 2005, the year in which same-sex marriages became legal in Canada. Chávez declared in March 2007, that the photos showed a part of him that he had not been willing to discuss previously. There was significant speculation over how the photos were obtained as the ceremony had only included immediate family. Chavez released an official press statement on March 30, 2007, where he came out as gay. In 2007, People en Español published a report claiming that Chavez and then-husband BJ Murphy maintained a physically abusive relationship. They divorced in 2009. The reason for their separation has been the subject of much speculation, but Chávez insists that their relationship did not end on bad terms: "[Murphy] is a person I love and respect; I also admire him as a professional."

In 2009, Chavez was arrested in Central Park in New York after attempting to buy illegal narcotics from an undercover police officer, which turned out to be a false accusation. In March 2012, Chávez confirmed dating Los Angeles real estate agent Ben Kruger after photos of them together were published in the tabloid TV Notas. and later People en Español. In late April 2013, Chavez was arrested in their Beverly Hills apartment for alleged domestic violence. Kruger also noted that while Chavez's false claims had been defamatory, libelous and slanderous, he had no intentions of pursuing a claim. He has not released further comment since. Chavez released a single titled "Buenas Noches" shortly after the incident, and performed the song on talk shows after sit-down discussions about his arrest.

In October 2013, Chavez published multiple pictures on his Twitter account showing his bloodied wrists in what appeared to be a suicide attempt. Chavez reportedly immediately returned to Mexico from Los Angeles to enter a rehabilitation program. On October 10, 2013, Chavez released a video of himself which was uploaded to his YouTube channel, where he exaplained that he had attempted to commit suicide, and the photos he had uploaded were real. On October 11, 2013 the Latin Times published what they called a "heartfelt letter" from Chavez's ex-boyfriend Ben Kruger on their website noting that in the immediate aftermath of the arrest, the press failed to provide both sides of the story.In 2015, he revealed that shortly after the photos were uploaded by him, his former bandmate and close friend Anahí rushed to his apartment and "saved his life".

Chávez was recognized in 2010 as one of People en Español's 50 most beautiful and in 2011, he received the GLAAD media award for Outstanding Spanish Language Music Artist for his album Almas Transparentes.

Telenovelas

Reality show

Studio albums

• 2010: Almas Transparentes
• 2014: TBA.

Live album

• 2012: Esencial

Singles

• 2010: ¿En Dónde Estás?
• 2010: Almas Transparentes
• 2011: Libertad (con Anahí)
• 2012: Sacrilégio
• 2012: Mas Vale Tarde Que Nunca (con Ana Victoria)

Tours

• 2009: Christian Pocket Show
• 2010: Libertad World Tour
• 2012: Esencial Tour