With all this talk about One Direction, let’s revisit some of the boy bands from yesteryear that never quite took off.
5. Guys Next Door
Despite having their own sketch comedy show, which ran for one season on NBC in the early ’90s, Guys Next Door had the misfortune of coming onto the scene just when New Kids on the Block fever was taking over the country. The band pretty much faded into obscurity after their show was cancelled, and eventually went their separate ways. Do a quick Google search, however, and you’ll see that they still have a devoted fanbase on the Internet.
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4. 5ive
Formed by the same marketing team that put together the Spice Girls, 5ive was a minor hit in their native England for a brief period during the late 90s. However, they could never equal the colossal international success of their far more famous female counterparts. 5ive disbanded in 2001 after four years.
3. 911
Sure they were the U.K.’s answer to N’Sync, but 911 still had a difficult time with audiences across the pond (i.e. no one listened!). The band still tours regularly and just released a comeback single titled “Two Hearts One Love.”
2. 98 Degrees
Although bandleader Nick Lachey eventually went on to have a successful television career alongside his then-wife Jessica Simpson on MTV’s Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, he and his fellow bandmates were never packing stadiums like their far more successful contemporaries N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys. 98 Degrees broke up in 2003.
1. O-Town
They may have started out with a bang (their formation was chronicled in the MTV reality show, Making the Band), but O-Town never lived up to their initial hype. Everything released after their self-titled debut album – which sold over a million copies largely due to the constant stream of press from their show – was dead on arrival. O-Town eventually disbanded in 2003.
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How to Start Your Own Boy Band
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