Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men biography

Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. Currently the group is a trio, featuring baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but the original member and bass singer Michael McCary left the group in 2003 due to health issues. The quartet won four Grammy Awards, and the trio was nominated for two Grammys in 2009.

In the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international celebrity behind unprecedented success on the pop charts. The group's first single to reach Number 1, 1992's "End of the Road", a phenomenal hit, reached the top of charts across the globe. "End of the Road" would set a new record for longevity, staying at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks, breaking a decades-old record held by Elvis Presley. Boyz II Men would exceed even that record later in the decade with hits "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which each set new records for the longest period of time a single remained at number 1. As of 2012, "One Sweet Day" still holds the all-time record with 16 weeks at the top of the Hot 100. In short, Boyz II Men ranks at the top of the list three times -- at the number one, three, and four spots -- for the longest running Number 1 singles in Billboard history. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number 1 spot away from "I'll Make Love To You," Boyz II Men became only the third artist ever (after The Beatles and Elvis) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Boyz II Men are among a select group of artists that have held at the number one spot for at least 50 weeks cumulatively, placing them just fourth on that list behind Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Mariah Carey. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard Magazine"²s most successful musical group of the 1990s.

Boyz II Men continues to perform in concert to audiences around the world. Their most recent studio album, Twenty, was released in 2011.

History

Beginnings

The group, known originally as Unique Attraction, was founded during 1988 at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson organized several R&B singing groups, most of which ended quickly. Eventually, they found a winning formula by recruiting tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman and bass Michael McCary. The group would rehearse in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs. In 1989, the group managed to go backstage after a concert performed by Bell Biv DeVoe, a New Edition spin-off group. In a famous episode that would be retold in Boyz II Men's first hit, while backstage, they met New Edition/Bell Biv DeVoe member and aspiring record producer Michael Bivins. On the spot, Boyz II Men performed an a cappella rendition of New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain". Bivins was impressed by the group, and began plans to contract them to Motown Records through a production deal with his Biv Ten Records company. The group signed shortly thereafter. Some time would pass, however, before Bivins was able to secure Boyz II Men recording time for their first album. A year before releasing their debut album, in 1990, they made an appearance on a solo album by Robbie Mychals. They are listed in the credits as singing background vocals on the song "One Mile from Paradise" as "Boy's to Men". The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that would find international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.

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