Renegade is an American rock n' roll band composed of
Luis Cardenas, Kenny Marquez and Tony De La Rosa. Although all the band members hail from the United States, the band were among the most successful
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or "
Chicano rock" acts founded in the United States during the 1980s. Throughout
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, the band is known as Los Renegados.
Background
Renegade was formed by drummer Luis Cardenas and the band's manager/producer Kim Richards. Deney Terrio, host of ''
Dance Fever'', introduced Renegade in what is believed to be their first national television appearance as being from "Whittier, California". The band members were unusual in being ethnic
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
s playing rock music, and this proved to be a barrier for Renegade during their early years. Manager Richards, a music industry veteran, was unable to get the band booked at local
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
clubs as a result of their skin color and a perception that a group of "Mexicans" would bring in spray cans and knives. He told ''Performance'' magazine:
" ere used to be a place called Flippers Roller Disco in West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757.
History
Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...
that booked bands and had a lot of industry people hanging out. I played Renegade's demo tape for the booker, and he said, 'great, sure, your guys are booked for next Wednesday. Got a picture? "Well, I gave him a group photo and he looks at it and says, 'Oh ... Latino, huh? Let me just check the book here a second. Oh, I made a mistake, we already had a booking for that night .. sorry.' "I said cut the jive. I know what's happening. He finally admitted he didn't want the spray paint and knife carriers coming in to see the group. I was truly surprised by this, especially in this so-called enlightened age. I found that another very key club owner in town had the same attitude about us. But this increased my determination to make Renegade work. If they didn't make it, it wasn't going to be because of discrimination.." said imRichards. He finally went to Bill Gazzarri, a longtime friend of Richards and owner of a teen dance club that helped establish "video go-go dancing" in the 60's on the Sunset Strip. "I said Bill, you're the only one left. I want this band booked. Bill said, 'You can put em on every Wednesday night. This is my joint, and I do what I want with it.'" Said Richards ... "They egan doing SRO business ith Renegadeevery Wednesday night ... Suddenly, that big club owner who'd turned me down contacted me about booking the band. I decided if Renegade was to play a club that turned the group down when we needed the club, the group was going to get 100 percent of the door plus 20 percent of the bar. I eventually got 100 percent of the door and 10 percent of the bar.
Renegade's original record label wanted the band members to change their names to more "
Americanized
Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...
" names, but Richards supported their refusal, ultimately prevailing. Richards opted to go the opposite direction and promoted the band's ethnicity, persuading the then head of WEA Distribution
Nesuhi Ertegün to release the band's single, "Girls, Girls, Girls" in
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
. Its popularity resulted in a worldwide release of the band's first album, ''Rock N' Roll Crazy!''. "Los Renegados", as the band is known throughout Latin America, became a household name based on a combination of the band's teen idol appearance and the fact they were Latin.
Success (1985–1990)
Renegade was the Saturday night headline attraction for the Los Angeles Street Scene Festival in both 1985 and 1986, with audiences of 150,000 in attendance. The band released four albums: ''Rock n' Roll Crazy'', ''Renegade II – On the Run'', ''Nuns on Wheels'' and ''Renegade Live''. The band sold well in Mexico, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and locally in California, but did not enjoy the same level of success throughout the United States as they did internationally. In the United States, Renegade was widely viewed as teen idols, appearing in ''
Tiger Beat
''Tiger Beat'' was an American teen fan magazine published by The Laufer Company and marketed primarily to adolescent girls. The magazine had a paper edition that was sold at stores until December 2018, and afterward was published exclusively o ...
'', ''
16 Magazine'', ''
Bop'' and on television programs, such as ''Dance Fever''. The band played music festivals alongside bands such as
38 Special
38 Special or 0.38 Special or .38 Special, may refer to:
* .38 Special, a revolver cartridge
Music
* 38 Special (band), an American rock band
** ''38 Special'' (album), the 1977 debut album of the band 38 Special
* .38 Special (song), a 2022 ...
,
Foreigner,
Journey and
Night Ranger
Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. The band formed in 1982 and experienced a surge of popularity during the 1980s with the release of several successful albums and hit singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and ...
, and was popular enough in the late 1980s to be asked by
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...
to appear on the Texas-New Mexico Border with
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...
and
Lee Greenwood
Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer. Active since 1962, he won a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award and he has charted 33 singles on the Hot Country Songs with seven singles reaching the number one. He has ...
to support Rogers'
Hands Across America effort. In 1990, the band was featured in a 98-minute television special aired on MTV International, entitled ''Renegade MTV Special''. The band was honored in August 2001 at a
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on the soap ...
-hosted event at the
Conga Room in Los Angeles for record sales in excess of 30 million units worldwide.
Reformation and current activities (2000 to present)

In 2001 Renegade reformed and headlined a performance at the Los Angeles
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...
for
Infinity Broadcasting
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Im ...
shortly after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
to raise funds for victims. In 2002, the band announced another charity concert at the Hollywood
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...
to benefit the Music Cares effort to put music back into schools. Renegade invited a number of their industry friends, such as
Vivian Campbell
Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). C ...
(
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
),
Mike Pinera (
Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly was an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1966. They are best known for the 1968 hit " In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", providing a dramatic sound that led the way towards the development of hard rock and heavy metal m ...
,
Blues Image and
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
) and
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John Mc ...
(
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
) to join them. The show was filmed and released on DVD.
In an interview with the band in April 2001, ''Ritmo Beat'' magazine described Renegade as the “first internationally successful rock band Mexican-Americans” and "Chicano rock-gods".
Luis Cardenas solo projects
In 1986 Cardenas held the world record for having the world's largest drumkit and released a solo album entitled ''Animal Instinct''. The album's lead single, a cover of the
Del Shannon
Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit " Runaway", which was covered la ...
song "
Runaway", reached number 83 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and its video, featuring cameo appearances by Shannon and
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...
, was nominated for
Best Music Video, Short Form at the
29th Annual Grammy Awards.
However, further singles and the album failed to match the success of "Runaway".
References
External links
Renegade official websiteLuis Cardenas official websiteKenny Marquez official websiteTony De La Rosa official websiteAllied Artists International website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renegade (Band)
Rock music groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1985
Musical quartets from California
Chicano rock musicians
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
1985 establishments in California