Boyz II Men is a Grammy Award-winning group founded in 1986 that was originally known as Unique Attraction. Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson of the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts were friends who started several R&B singing groups that didn’t last long. The time came when the two were able to recruit tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman and bass Michael McCary. This paved the way for a boy band that would go on to set unbeatable records in the music industry.
The group’s name was later changed to Boyz II Men, which was taken from one of the New Edition songs at the time. They became popular when they performed an ‘a cappella’ rendition of New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain” at a Bell Biv DeVoe concert.
New Edition/BDD member Michael Bivins was impressed by their performance and began laying out plans to sign them to Motown Records. The original five members were reduced to four when Marc Nelson left the group due to personality conflicts. This was even before the group recorded their first recording, so Boyz II Men officially began as a quartet group.
In 1991, Boyz II Men released their first album with Motown entitled “Cooleyhighharmony”, with Michael Bivins serving as executive producer. This work featured classic soul-style vocals dubbed by the group and Bivins as “hip hop doo wop”. His first single, “Motownphilly”, produced by Dallas Austin, featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins. Their music video featured the group in a hip hop style. The follow-up was a cover of GC Cameron’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” from the 1975 film Cooley High.
What’s unique about Boyz II Men is that they feature all four members as the leads instead of the usual R&B group made up of two lead singers and the rest as background. This arrangement became his trademark with Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman handling tenor voice, Nathan Morris for baritone, and Michael McCary on bass.
It was during the release of the Cooleyhighharmony album that each member was given their nickname, a marketing ploy by the Bivins. Wanya was nicknamed “Squirt”, Shawn was “Slim”, and Michael was “Bass”. Of the four members, Nathan was given a “special” nickname, “Alex Vanderpool”, taken from a soap opera character who had a nerdy style. The group always presented its members on an equal footing, although Nathan Morris later acted as de facto manager managing its operations and business interests.
The 1992 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals was awarded to Cooleyhighharmony. It sold over nine million copies. Its two singles, “Motownphilly” and “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday”, were very successful, reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts and the top 5 on the US Pop charts.
Boyz II Men’s record breaking success came with the single “End of the Road”. It remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks, breaking the record set by Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel”/”Hound Dog” double of 11 weeks in 1956.
The group’s second album, simply titled “II”, was released in 1994. Singles from this album that became big hits include Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’ “On Bended Knee” and “I’ll Make Love to You”. by Babyface. and “The water dries up.” Eventually “Water Runs Dry” became no. 2 while “I’ll Make Love to You” and “On Bended Knee” reached the top of the US Top 20.
Other notable hits from the “II” album included “On Bended Knee”, which replaced “I’ll Make Love to You” at No. 1. This made the group the third act to replace themselves at no. 1, after Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The same album became one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group, selling over 12 million copies in the US alone. Boyz II Men won the 1995 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album for ” II” and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “I’ll Make Love to You.”
The boy band eventually achieved worldwide popularity and became recognized as a combination of the successful Motown groups of the 1960s: The Temptations, The Four Tops, and Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, and their own inspiration, New Edition. Therefore, they have established a clean image, smooth harmonies, and synchronized dance and acting moves. Another strong point of the group is their magnificent vocal qualities. They’re all excellent singers, qualities that aren’t always necessary for chart success.
The bands that came after them were inspired by Boyz II Men and many of their qualities were admired by others, particularly their working attitude and singing style. Among those influenced in this way are Shai, Soul For Real, Blackstreet, All-4-One, Dru Hill, Jagged Edge and Az Yet. Despite the competition, the band kept their healthy image and were able to gather more followers than others with a more sexual style.
Due to a conflict with Motown regarding the “Remix Collection”, a compilation of the group’s songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II, they decided to start their own record company, Stone Creek, to be distributed by Epic Records. However, the album “Evolution” released in 1997 sold only 3 million copies to Cooleyhighharmony’s 9 million and II’s 12 million. Only the single “Four Seasons of Loneliness” made it to number 1.
Motown eventually merged with Universal Music Group’s Universal Records when UMG bought Polygram in 1999, and the group was given the opportunity to perform “America the Beautiful” at Wrestlemania XV. They attempted to prove the critics wrong, particularly those who claimed that they relied on Babyfaces’ hit-making abilities for their success. They produced and wrote the 2000 album “Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya”, although this was not the success they thought it would be.
The following years were not entirely successful, and some members of the group suffered from health problems. Wanya Morris developed polyps on her vocal cords and Michael McCary was diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition that would end his career. The band left Universal Records in 2001 to sign with Arista the following year, and a high-budget music video made for the “Full Circle” album didn’t help sales, the release selling just half a million in the US and only one million. all over the world.
Michael McCary retired in 2003 due to scoliosis and the remaining three members created the MSM Music Group label after Arista terminated their contract. The Boyz II Men released “Throwback, Vol. 1” which only reached no. 59 on the Billboard 200.
When they resigned from Universal Records in 2007, they released the “Motown: A Journey through Hitsville USA” LP. He covered songs by The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, as well as some of his own.
Sporadic performances in recent years have included a few special albums, special television appearances, and special features. They appeared as contestants on the game show “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” on February 21, 2008 and earned nominations for the album “Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA” for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo. or group. for the vocals on “Ribbon in the Sky”.
They are scheduled to release their 20th anniversary album in 2011, as Shawn announced during a concert in Virginia Beach on September 6, 2009. Boyz II Men were an original and unique band in their prime, but bands don’t last in years. modern times. as they once did due to rapid changes in musical tastes and styles.