Joel Pimentel is leaving CNCO after five and a half years together.
The 22-year-old singer has decided to part ways with the ‘Reggaetón Lento’ hitmakers – which includes Christopher Vélez, Erick Brian Colón, Zabdiel De Jesús and Richard Camacho – to pursue “new opportunities”, but he has vowed that the group will always be like “brothers”.
Taking to Twitter they shared a statement, which read: “We’re sad to tell you that after five and a half unforgettable and life changing years together, Friday, May 14th will be Joel’s last day as a member of CNCO. We want you all to know that while Joel is leaving and will be pursuing new opportunities, we are and will always be brothers. We support him in his next chapter, and will always, most importantly, remain a family. We know this news is saddening and is going to be as hard for all of you as it is for us but we appreciate you sticking with us. While it will be different, we are so excited to continue into this new era of CNCO, and can’t wait for all of you to see what we have in store for you!
“You guys are what keep us going and have us so excited to continue together stronger than ever. For that reason, we wanted to give you a final gift all together. On Friday, we will perform, the five of us, one last time for our global livestream concert event.”
Joel also took to social media to share his own tribute to his soon-to-be former bandmates.
He wrote: “It’s time for me to grow an explore new artistic avenues, it’s time to start building my own path and career. This is why I’ve decided to leave the band. To Erick, Chris, Richard and Zabdiel, I truly wish you the best as you continue on with the CNCO legacy. We’ve lived through so much together that we’re family now. I can’t wait to share my new project with y’all. This is just a new beginning.”
CNCO is a Latin American boy band based in Miami. They won a five-year recording contract with Sony Music Latin after becoming the winning competitors of the first season of La Banda. The band toured with Ricky Martin. Their debut and second singles “Tan Fácil” and “Quisiera”, charted well soon after their debut. They released their first album, Primera Cita on August 26, 2016, which included the hit “Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)”
CNCO will perform together for a final time as a five-piece during their live stream concert event on May 14.