A short history on the best of the best boy bands
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
Boy bands. Every teenage girls’ craze. With all the excitement of boy bands happening as of late, why not discuss some boy bands?
The first official boy band is still up in the air, as The Ink Spots were the “boy band” before it ever really became a thing. However, it seems that Michael Jackson may have started the trend for those to come. Jackson 5 and the Osmonds emerged in the late 1960’s as the former released the hit ABC in 1970.
In the 1980’s, the New Kids on the Block and New Edition came onto the scene, with the NKOTB having “We Got it On” as their first single. They then followed up with Step by Step in 1990. New Edition had their moments in both the 80’s and the 90’s.
Speaking of the 90’s, the Boy Band craze was perhaps brought to an apex with the Backstreet Boys and N’SYNC. The Backstreet boys had two of the greatest hits in music history with, “I Want it That Way” and “Everybody.” They turned back the clock recently, having released “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” in mid-May. It is currently #82 on the Billboard Hot 100. It got as high as the mid-30’s globally. N’SYNC had “Bye, Bye, Bye” and breakout star Justin Timberlake.
The boy bands would fade away for a while and it wasn’t until 2011 that the craze was resurrected. This was when the international boy band One Direction debuted after appearing on the X Factor. They would finish third but that didn’t matter, because One Direction came out with a plethora of hits. The first, and possibly most famous, being “That’s What Makes You Beautiful.” It hit #1 in the UK and peaked at #4 in the USA. The three songs higher than that (USA) are Drag Me Down, Live While We’re Young (3), and Best Song Ever (2).
In a bitter-sweet take, the group would break up for good, following Zayn Malik’s departure in March of 2015. All have solo careers and one can see why they broke up: each has a different taste in music. Zayn is pop and r&b, Liam hip-hop, Louise EDM, Harry rock, and Niall, well… My brother says he does the same stuff One D used to do, so I guess he kept with the old fans. Ask me, and I would say Zayn has it best, even with Styles’ presentation.
Lastly, I want to give a new boy band some spotlight. If you don’t know them, you’re missing out. I am talking about Why Don’t We. Consisting of (from left to right) Daniel Seavy, Zach Herron, Corbyn Besson, Jonah Marais, and Jack Avery. Debuting in 2016 with Taking You, they keep it coming.
Most recently, they released I’m Hooked and Talk. The first about each of them being “Hooked” on a girl, who may be cheating on all of them. The second is about them having problems with girls because both parties can’t communicate. They even filmed the video while on tour in Europe!
I discovered them in their music video Something Different and it was unique. My favorite member is Jonah: he’s got the swag, voice, and presence.
Boy bands have become a league all in their own, especially since their fans seem to be insanely loyal and intent on only raising their favorites up to the stars. Everyone’s got their favorite artist, but boy bands definitely have their own kind of fans.
In all, boy bands have been a staple in music for years, and they won’t be going away any time soon.
Without boy bands, half our music wouldn’t even exist, really. Again, think back to the most iconc boy bands like N’SYNC and The Backstreet Boys. Their hits are known worldwide. Where would we be without them and their music?
Boy bands like them have influenced many artists and bands for generations to come.
So if you don’t have at least some respect or appreciation for boys bands, take a second to rethink that opinion.
Feature photo courtesy of Flickr.