The musician known as Maximilian "Max" Rebo, originating from the planet Orto, was a male Ortolan and a celebrated Jizz-wailer. He was the leader of the Max Rebo Band. His primary instrument was the red ball jett organ, which he operated using his feet. He and his band frequently provided entertainment for criminals and members of the underworld.
On the cold planet Orto, Maximilian Rebo came into existence. At some point, Rebo established a musical group known as the Max Rebo Band, which would become known for performing Jizz-style tunes for the notorious crime boss Jabba the Hutt. In addition, Rebo had a sibling named Azool Phantelle.
Azool, at one point, defrauded several residents of the spaceport of Mos Eisley on the desert planet Tatooine. The victims confused Rebo with Azool and started to pursue the musician. While fleeing towards Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, Rebo bumped into two Imperial stormtroopers. Before the troopers could reprimand him for the collision, Azool, riding by on a speeder bike, noticed Rebo and rescued his brother from danger, pulling him onto the bike.
As the pair sped away from the irate stormtroopers and locals, Rebo scolded Azool for his life of crime. He worried that Jabba the Hutt, who employed Rebo, would punish both brothers for Azool's misdeeds, because they had occurred within the crime lord's territory. Unfazed, Azool dodged a missile fired by Boushh, but Rebo ended the chase by seizing Azool's bag of stolen money and throwing the contents to their pursuers. Rebo and Azool then dismounted the speeder, with Azool dejected as he watched his money being taken by those chasing them. Jabba the Hutt then approached them, questioning Rebo about what had transpired. Rebo explained that Azool had been causing problems in Jabba's territory, and Azool claimed ignorance of the territory's owner. Consequently, Jabba punished Azool by making him a server on the Khetanna.
In 4 ABY, Rebo and his band entertained Jabba with their music. Their performance was disrupted by the scream of Jabba's slave dancer Oola as she was dropped into the Hutt's rancor pit below his throne room for defying him, which interrupted the band's performance. Later, the band was present when Leia Organa entered the palace disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh. At night, several members of the band accompanied Jabba into hiding as Organa freed the smuggler Han Solo from carbonite.
Max Rebo subsequently traveled on Jabba's sail barge, the Khetanna, to the Great Pit of Carkoon, the location planned for Solo's execution. After Daladit-Chan sent a message to his son, Umpass-stay, to assassinate Jabba, Rebo was tasked with carrying out the assassination of Jabba, using some kind of poison. Max was discovered, but was fortunate when Luke Skywalker broke into the sail barge, and created a distraction for Jabba. At the end of the day, Max Rebo remained alive. The Khetanna was destroyed by Solo and his allies, however, causing the sail barge to explode in flame all over the desert. Nevertheless, Rebo managed to escape the destruction.
By 9 ABY, the Ortolan found employment at Garsa Fwip's Sanctuary, the establishment run by the Twi'lek Garsa Fwip during the New Republic Era. At the Sanctuary, Rebo continued his performances on the red ball jet organ (although it was a new model), and was playing when the cantina was visited by the former bounty hunter and Daimyo of Mos Espa Boba Fett on several occasions. Rebo was accompanied by a Bith playing the guitar and a droid playing the drum. The Pyke Syndicate later bombed the Sanctuary, but Rebo survived.
Max Rebo made his debut in the 1983 Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Despite being occasionally described as such, Rebo was not a puppet but rather a costume; the performer Simon Williamson had to sit inside the suit to portray the character. Williamson secured the role after the character he was originally slated to play, Sic-Six, was removed from the film. After being shown the Rebo costume as an alternative role he could claim by Phil Tippett, Williamson described seeing Rebo as a "blue vision of loveliness" and felt a great need to play him. The 2016 young reader's Canon reference book The Amazing Book of Star Wars misspells his last name as "Reebo."
Rebo's design in the non-canon 2022 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga re-uses the design for his minifigure in the Star Wars Legends-era LEGO Classic Star Wars set 75020 Jabba's Sail Barge. Consequently, the character is depicted with a pair of arms instead of only legs, in line with Ortolans from the Legends continuity, as opposed to Canon Ortolans which possess only legs.