Latin American boy band CNCO was once a quintet but they are assuring fans that they are still the same group their fans fell in love with. Last night at the Premios Juventud 2021Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Zabdiel De Jesús and Christopher Vélez performed on stage for the first time without their former bandmate Joel Pimentel. The group sang their new song “Toa la Noche,” Thursday night and officially released it Friday. As we saw with One Direction, things can start getting different once members leave the band but the group wants to assure fans they’re still the same. They told PEOPLE, “It‘s super exciting. It’s definitely different, but we’re still the same CNCO that we’ve always been!”

Pimental’s departure was a shock and the group announced it in May, explaining that he was pursuing his dreams as a solo artist. “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,” the group‘s statement read at the time. But CNCO let their fans down easily and even let them have some closure with a final performance together.

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The group performed a special, final livestream together for their fans, showing there was amicable respect within the group for his decision. CNCO told the outlet that the sense of brotherhood would never change, “We are and will always be brothers. That means we support and love each other,“ the group said. “One of our brothers wanted to leave to pursue new opportunities, and of course we are going to support him.”

As for what’s next? The group says fans can expect “mature lyrics and edgy visuals” as they continue to grow as people and artists. “We think there is always pressure with releasing new projects,” they explained. “We would feel it regardless of the changes, but we’re so excited to see the reaction to this song and everything we have coming up!.. This is just the beginning.”