O Boy Band Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou?

By Laura Ferreiro Posted Nov 6th 2009 05:00PM

Those synchronized dance moves, color-coordinated outfits, four-part harmonies and emotive solos -- who does them better than boy bands? With the Backstreet Boys (photo, left) in the midst of a "comeback" tour and Robbie Williams' recent announcement that he plans to perform again with Take That (photo, right), we thought it only fitting to find out what their contemporary boy bands have been up to lately, starting with ...

98 Degrees: 1997-2002

'The Hardest Thing' | Watch 98 Videos

We all know that certain members of the group haven't strayed too far from the spotlight. Brothers Nick and Drew Lachey's starred in reality TV and Nick was involved in a high-profile marriage and subsequent split with Jessica Simpson. But what ever happened to Justin Jeffre? The pop singer has turned political, running for mayor of Cincinnati in 2005. Although his bid was unsuccessful, it didn't stop him from seeking a seat on the City Council (again without glory) or campaigning for Ralph Nader in last year's presidential election. Not one to be deterred by defeat, he's now he's tackling a column for the political blog, 'The Cincinnati Beacon.'

98 Degrees' founding member Jeff Timmons launched a solo career and landed a Top 20 spot on the, ahem, Adult Contemporary Chart with the tune 'Whisper That Way.' He also appeared on the VH1 reality series 'Mission: Man Band', which saw him attempting to form a "man band" made up of fellow former boybanders Bryan Abrams of Color Me Badd, Rich Cronin of LFO and Chris Kirkpatric of *NSYNC. On a heavier note, he was arrested for alleged drunk driving in 2006 and sentenced to a year of probation after pleading no contest to reckless driving charges.

O-Town: 2000-2003

'All or Nothing' | Watch O-Town Videos

Then there's O-Town, the group borne out of the MTV reality series "Making The Band' in 2000. Of all the quintet's members, Ashley Parker Angel has found himself back in the spotlight most frequently. His attempt to launch a solo career was documented on yet another MTV reality series in 2006, which resulted in the surprisingly lauded album, 'Soundtrack to Your Life.' Meanwhile, the singer did a successful turn on Broadway, playing the role of teen heartthrob Link Larkin in the musical 'Hairspray.' He's also appeared as the voice of the main character in the video game 'Lunar: The Silver Star.' Most recently, Angel signed on for the part of Sam Lombardo (originally played by Matt Dillon) in an upcoming remake of the film 'Wild Things.'

*NSYNC: 1995-2005

'Bye Bye Bye' | Watch *NSYNC Videos

While *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake has gone on to achieve uber-stardom and his bandmates Joey Fatone and Lance Bass had their own star turns on 'Dancing with the Stars,' what happened to the remaining members of the famed five-piece?

Chris Kirkpatrick offered up his Orlando home for the aforementioned reality show 'Mission: Man Band', which chronicled his unsuccessful attempt to create a "man band" with members of other boy bands (they were booed off the stage when they performed during an Orlando Magic half-time show). He also starred in CMT's show 'Gone Country,' competing to become a country crooner alongside Jermaine Jackson and the show's ultimate winner, heavy metal singer Sebastian Bach. He can now be heard on the Orlando radio show, "Johnny and Jayde," which airs Friday mornings.

Meanwhile, JC Chasez went on to release a solo album, 'Schizophrenic,' in 2004, and has found himself writing and producing for artists including Girls Aloud, Basement Jaxx and David Archuleta. He currently serves as a judge on the MTV show 'America's Best Dance Crew.'

BBMak: 1999-2003

'Out of My Heart' | Watch BBMak Videos

BBMak, known as England's answer to the Backstreet Boys, racked up six Top 10 singles and sold millions of albums worldwide during their four-year heyday ending in 2003. Since then, they've all pursued solo careers with varying degrees of success.

Christian Burns churned out a couple of solo albums, collaborated with famed trance DJ Tiesto and is currently fronting the band The Bleach Works. Meanwhile, Stephen McNally went the way of many an ex-boybander and did the reality show thing, auditioning for Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne on Britain's answer to 'American Idol,' 'The X Factor.' He got as far as the boot camp round, and now sings lead for the band 10 Reasons to Live. Not much is known about Mark Barry, aside from the fact that he has racked up a few bag-piping champ titles in England.

Tags: 98 degrees, 98Degrees, Backstreet Boys, BackstreetBoys, BbMak, boy bands, BoyBands, drew lachey, DrewLachey, jc chasez, JcChasez, nick lachey, NickLachey, NSync, o-town, Take That, TakeThat

Comments

(25)

Friday 06 November

By Jazz

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I LOVE Take That(mmm Mark) and I love Robbie Williams. TT has had a very successful comeback with The Circus and Beautiful World. And Robbie is releasing his new album, Reality Killed the Video Star, next week. I hope the boys (Rob included) see that they have a big enough following in the United States. I would love to see them in concert!!!

By Roxy

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Add on to what *N SYNC members are doing now-- Chris Kirkpatrick now has his own band named Nigels 11.

Thanks Justin for going solo and breaking up the group-- now the world will see that there were four other talented men in that group--not just Justin.

By Zippertheslipper

Tell ya this, those boy bands are just as sickening and nauseating as the commercial comments in this here comments section. nuff said.

By Veronica

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Hmm...I don't agree with the term "comeback tour" concerning the Backstreet Boys. Don't get me wrong, I love them and have been a huge fan for 12 years, but the words, "comeback tour" sounds like they came out of nowhere and decided to tour again. HELLO!!! They've been back since 2005 after taking a 5 year break - please do your research. They've put out three albums since they came back - and sad but true Kevin Richardson (the oldest memeber of the group) did leave the band but it was only because he wanted to start a family. On a side note, I still miss 98 degrees and BBMak!

KTBSPA!!!!!

By bill

They were nothing to begin with, so what's the big deal? Move to Miami now and call yourselves M-Town.

By pam

Where's 5IVE at? I used to like them better than the backstreet boys. They were one of the better boy bands that were out at that time.

By angeyrae

um...anyone want to mention new kids on the block's very successful reunion tour? hello?

i can't believe the author did not mention new kids on the block. they were way more successful than the boy bands mentioned here and they just completed a nearly year-long reunion tour, put out a new album, and are working on solo projects before the next tour. are you kidding me?

By showbizmama2001

The music from the boy bands in the 90's was a lot of fun and great to dance to. New ones are on the rise again for a new generation. Anyone that likes boy bands should check out EastWest Boys from Sony Music Japan and Varsity Fanclub. As Pearlman once said, as long as there are teenage girls, there will always be boy bands.

Saturday 07 November

By Chris

But you must note that the trend of boy bands has declined in recent years. The music industry focuses on solo artists more so now. For instance: Rihanna, Chris Brown, Lady GaGa, Jesse McCartney, Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, Natasha Bedingfield, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Hudson, etc.

The boy band is dead for the moment with no resurgence in sight.

By me

aol writers, i hate you! HELLLLLLLLLLO? New Kids on the Block, people?!?!?!?!? Uh, they were/are one of the most successful boy bands EVER and are STILL entertaining MILLIONS of fans with their tours and new music, 20 years later. you dumb ass writers, do your homework and get a clue if you are going to write about boy bands, DUH! Let's go and omit NKOTB?!?!

Its funny how these fad bands never last. Maybe its because they designed to be a cash crop, a response to what sells. And when it doesn't, they all die. And I shouldn't call them bands. Most of them are not musically inclined at all.

Then one member of the group finds popularity (Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Robbie Williams) while others sink into obscurity until they do a reunion tour that rarely helps spark their past popularity.

Now if we can just get rid of these Top 40 singers who all sound alike and who all seem processed to sound like a computer.

By xtina

i agree i cant wait for all this autotune BS to pass as well as all these skinny jean wearing emo band archetypes that all have the same whiney sound "my lifes so hard" "im so sad" "nobody loves me" if theyre gonna write songs about stuff like that then at least have a unique sound. but like you sad fads sell and sadly at the moment whats selling is emo crap as well as rap/club songs about selling drugs, smacking hoes, and stacking that cheese.

By PN

I like the Backstreet Boys' new album! Fun dance pop songs! But I don't think it will make a return to the boy band trend like in the late '90s and very much throughout 2000. I think that they don't want to see the choreographed dance moves so common with those groups. That worked for that period, but you're not going to see it promoted as much. Because Lou Pearlman founded many of those Orlando-based boy bands and he got arrested for a Ponzi scheme a few years ago, some media just don't feel comfortable doing articles on them. And don't get me started on O-Town--an okay debut followed by a disastrous selling second album that flopped badly and broke the group up. They lacked the punch of Backstreet or NSYNC.

oh to be an 11 year old girl again. boy bands have left me with fond memories of memorizing every lyric, making up dance routines and performing them for family members at get togethers. oh the days of innoncence back when you didnt know all their songs were about sexing up girls.

By Zeus

the phrase "wherefore art thou" does not mean "where are you?". When Juliet said this to Romeo what she was asking was WHY must you be a member of the family that was a rival to her own.

By Elizabeth

Zeus!! I was just thinking the same thing. "Wherefore" means why. I guess that's why she's writing about boy bands..she doesn't have enough command of the English language to be a real journalist.

Monday 09 November

By Three

BBMak was not a boy band. They were a band with amazing harmonies but there was no choreography onstage and no uber-marketing to sell them because they played instruments and wrote the songs they performed. I LOVED BBMak and they were NOT a boy band.

By Mike

Did "Rocko's Modern Life" ever sue them?

By tom m

Well,all these bands are cheap imitations of Kenny Loggins sound,and the best biy band ever was the jackson Five. The best thing that ever came out of any of these mentioned boy bands is Robbie Williams 1997 album THE EGO HAS LANDED.This is one of the best albums made in many many years.A true classic!

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