AK-7

Several longtime members of K-Paz de la Sierra departed the chart-topping duranguense outfit during 2007 and established their own successful ensemble, AK-7. Keyboardists Gerardo Ramírez, Rafael Solís, and Oscar Ledesma, along with tambourine player Armando J. Rodríguez, drummer Carmelo Gamboa, and electric tuba specialist Luis Vidales, had all belonged to K-Paz de la Sierra, a band that achieved repeated dominance on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart in both Mexico and the United States beginning in 2004. On May 28, 2007, these musicians parted ways with the group over conflicts involving lead singer Sergio Gomez, who was later kidnapped and brutally murdered on December 2, 2007, after exiting a dance hall in Morelia, Michoacán—an incident unrelated to the split. The musicians subsequently launched AK-7, an acronym for Antes K-Paz (“After K-Paz” in English). Vocalists Alfredo Hernández and Adolfo Rizo completed the lineup. Under contract with Univision, the group issued El Avion de las Tres in 2007, an album featuring contributions from Joel Solís and Eusebio Cortéz of Los Bukis. The title track served as the lead single and was succeeded by “La Llamada.”