D’Zrt

D’ZRT was a Portuguese pop group formed in 2004, integrated in the teen soap opera Morangos com Açúcar, broadcast by TVI. The group is composed by Paulo Vintém, Cifrão and Edmundo Vieira, initially integrating Angélico Vieira, who perished during the existence of the boyband. It is the most successful Portuguese boy group of the 21st century and, along with Excesso (1997-2002), they are also the most successful Portuguese boy group ever.

In Portugal, the group became representative of the power of commercial television to generate highly successful pop music products, especially among children and young people, at a time when the Anglo-Saxon “manufactured” pop scene in the country was still it was quite incipient. The five albums released by the group surpassed the mark of 500,000 copies sold in Portugal.

The band’s debut single, “Para Mim Tanto Me Faz” (one of several covers of the song “Teenage Superstar” (2003), by Dutch singer Kim-Lian), released in late 2004, topped Portuguese radio airplay for 33 consecutive weeks. The first album, self-titled, was the best-selling album of 2005, leading the Top 30 of Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa for 65 weeks, and received 19 platinum awards. In the same year, they released Ao Vivo no Coliseu, which spent 34 weeks at number one in Portugal and received 16 platinum awards.

The release of the albums took place at more than 250 concerts, which took place over the space of two years. In 2006, the second studio album, Original, received the triple platinum award. At the end of 2007, they announced the end of the group, a hiatus that would last a year and a half. As a gift for fans, they released A Despedida, the group’s last concert, recorded at MEO Arena.

Angélico, Cifrão, Edmundo and Vintém teamed up again to release Project, in 2009. The album debuted directly at the top of the list of best selling albums in Portugal.

On June 28, 2011, Angélico would die, aged 28, following neurological injuries caused by a car accident.