2008–2009: Empezar Desde Cero and Para Olvidarte De Mí
On 2 March 2007, Chávez revealed he is gay after pictures were discovered of him marrying another man in Canada. In a letter on the group's website, he asked fans for understanding and acceptance. After this, the group worked two side-projects; Sálvame, an organization that helps homeless youth get an education and shelter, and RBD: La Familia, their new sitcom. The group was nominated four times in three categories for the 2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
In early 2007, the group began to rehearse for their upcoming concert tour called Tour Celestial, which started in Ecuador on 20 April 2007. On 28 May 2007, Donald Trump invited the group to perform three songs at the Miss Universe 2007 finals in Mexico City. They performed a medley of "Wanna Play", "Cariño Mio" and "Money Money" at the event. In June 2007, the group recorded the accompanying music video for their single "Bésame sin miedo" in Transylvania while on tour in Romania where Celestial was released. It was the same year they were chosen to headline a series of Pepsi commercials with The Black Eyed Peas to air in South America and Spanish-speaking countries. On 19 July 2007, the group performed "Bésame sin miedo" at the Premios Juventud 2007 ceremony and won seven awards that night, including "Voice of the Moment" and "Favorite Concert". RBD broke the record for most albums in the top 20 in Brazil, having three different albums in the top 20 for the week ending 20 January 2007. Their single "Tu amor" was nominated for Best International Song in France. In an interview in Mexico, Christopher von Uckermann stated that it has always been an honor to be compared to Menudo and Timbiriche, but mentioned that RBD surpassed those groups by accomplishing much more in only five years, being the only Mexican group to gain worldwide fame.
The first worldwide "RBD Day" was held on 4 October 2007. The group celebrated the day with fans in Houston, Texas. During their press conference, they confirmed that their fifth album would be titled Empezar Desde Cero, produced by Carlos Lara and Armando Ávila. The first single from Empezar Desde Cero, "Inalcanzable", debuted in October 2007 and peaked at number two on Mexican charts. Empezar Desde Cero was released on 20 November, debuting at number one on the Billboard Latin Albums chart and peaking within the top-ten in a variety of countries such as Brazil (their first album that did not top the charts in that country, peaking at number three) and Mexico. As of November 2008, Empezar Desde Cero had sold over a million copies worldwide. It was voted by Billboard readers as the third best album released in 2007.
In April 2008, the group performed at a concert in Brazil's capital city. The free concert was held at the city's main park and had 500,000 fans in attendance. RBD was said to be the first music act in the history of Slovenia charts to have six different albums in the top ten in the same weekend. In August 2008, the 2008 Latin Grammy nominations were announced; the group was nominated for Best Pop Album By a Duo or Group with Vocals for Empezar Desde Cero. On 14 August 2008, they released a compilation album of their greatest hits titled RBD The Best Of.
On 15 August 2008, the group announced through a press release that they would disband in 2009. The group's manager, Pedro Damián, explained that although there weren't any fights among the members, it was best that they should disband for the ones who were already planning different solo activities. Herrera and Perroni were occupied with their television projects (the former with the TV series Terminales, and the latter as the protagonist of Cuidado Con El Ángel). Chávez was in the middle of a tour with the musical Avenue Q's Mexican stage production, and was planning to build his career as a solo artist, actor and producer. Anahí managed her own clothing store in Mexico City and began an organization to help those who have eating disorders. Dulce María was involved with shooting a film Alguién a visto a Lupita and a variety of projects, such as dubbing a cartoon character in a Mexican film. Later, Uckermann starred in the TV show Kdabra, produced by Fox in Colombia. On 25 November, RBD released Best Of (in Brazil: Hits Em Português; in the United States: Greatest Hits), which was a CD/DVD that features their singles and a DVD with music videos as part of their goodbye.
Para Olvidarte De Mí (2009) was the sixth and final album to be released by the group. The album is preceded by the only single "Para Olvidarte De Mí". On 2 December 2009, the live concert DVD, Tournée do Adeus, recorded in São Paulo was released, containing the group's last show in Brazil.
