12 Boybands That Time Forgot

Today on Aimee+Shawn, we started discussing third-tier boybands. Not the ‘N SYNC, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees of the world. The ones that barely made it onto the Total Request Live countdown. The ones that one weird girl in school fawned over but no one understood why… those ones.

For whatever reason, I am a far better study of these boybands than Aimee who, while she was surrounded by friends who loved everything Lou Pearlman ever invented in his Orlando boy band lab, opted to go home and watch Oprah instead of Carson Daly. The discussion started innocently enough, until I realized she didn’t know some of the biggest boyband blips. At which place my unfettered rage caused me to open this article and start angrily typing my frustration.

Does no one remember BB Mak playing guitar in a random foreign street in “Back Here”? Does Aimee not remember the incredible Canadian supergroup SoulDecision who gave us hits like “Faded“ and… yeah, “Faded”. AND HOW DOES SHE NOT KNOW 5IVE BOWLING OUT THEIR HEARTS IN THE MUSIC VIDEO “WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT”?! This is unacceptable and today, I am here to rectify this.

I have scoured the internet to find the brief little reminders of what was the number 9 song on TRL every day, the filler bands, the ones that opened for the ones you loved. This is my list of boybands that time forgot, and if I forgot a band on this list, you can hit me up on social @ShawnTempesta and I’ll make sure to add to the list.

LFO is not on the list despite them kind of being a one-hit wonder… but how did she not know 5ive?!

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• 112

  The Atlanta, Georgia-based boy band hit the scene with The Notorious B.I.G. and Mase for “Only You” and were doing really well until their 2001 smash “Peaches & Cream”. That song was their biggest hit, and it also was their last big hit. They still perform today, but the highs of Y2K are behind them.

• 2gether

  This “joke” boyband was birthed from an MTV movie of the same name… and somehow (through the MTV machine) people loved the band! Chris Farley’s brother is the older guy!

• 5ive

  The song that Aimee didn’t know. 5ive hails from the UK, with “When The Lights Go Out” being by far their biggest hit in America. Although, they still hit massive success internationally. They’ve had a couple of stints and have been back together and active since 2013.

• B2K

  The group that birthed Omarion, their single “Bump Bump Bump” was a bop. They broke up in 2004, got back together for a bit in 2019, and are (likely) forever filed away in the “past”.

• BBMak

  The English boyband hit TRL with “Back Here”, and never went back there. They broke up in 2003, and reunited with the original three in 2018.

• Dream Street

  This boyband never really found massive success, but there was always that one girl that was obsessed in your school. The group had a contentious end in 2002, with a legal battle between their parents and the managers of the band. BUT, the group did launch the career of Jesse McCartney.

• Immature

  They call themselves IMx now, but we all know them as Immature. The group dropped “Never Lie” which frankly was way better than they deserved to be at that age. They are still at it today, striving for the heights of their 13 year old selves.

• O-Town

  They were thrust onto the scene with a song about wet dreams, and then the killer above which reached #1 on the US Pop chart. But that’s about all they could muster. They were together 2000-2003 and have been back together since 2013. Doing what? Not sure.

• Shai

  It was one of the slow songs you’d sway to at the school dance. Shai has never stopped trying to fall in love, remaining active since 1991.

• Soul Decision

  America’s tophat comes through! Soul Decision hailed from Canada and while we didn’t see much of them after “Faded”, the frontman Trevor Guthrie has gone on to GREAT success as a featured artist and accomplished songwriter.

• Westlife

  This Irish group had no luck breaking into America but had huge success overseas. There was the one girl in your class that liked them, and we still don’t know how she heard of them.

• Youngstown

  When your first single is born out of the soundtrack for “Inspector Gadget”, you know you’re in trouble. The Ohio-based boyband never really found great success.