Top 10 Boy Bands

Considered by many as a pioneering band within their genre, New Edition merged a pop music sound with R&B in a way that was rather revolutionary in the early ‘80s! Breakthrough hits such as “Candy Girl” and “Mr Telephone Man” were the band’s establishing efforts, although the New Edition story has been far from straight-forward since then. Bobby Brown was the first to leave the band, and an eventual hiatus was decided upon in 1990. A short reunion in ‘96 was followed by a more substantial second (or third) coming in 2002!

Another band whose history is hard to plot, Menudo is another major influence within the genre. Founded in 1977 by Puerto Rican producer Edgardo Diaz, the group was built around a bizarre premise! Diaz wanted the members in the group regularly changed, in order to ensure that nobody got too old! If a growth spurt occurred or a moustache appeared, a replacement was ordered! Regardless of the rotation policy, Menudo was massive! The Latin American following was huge, and that inspired the band to more than thirty years in music! Let’s not forget that Ricky Martin got his start with the band during the 1980s as well!

From the Americas to Europe, and more specifically to Ireland. The members of Westlife were world-beaters around the turn of the millennium, as they became one of Simon Cowell’s first international success stories! The group followed in the footsteps of compatriots Boyzone, writing ballad after ballad, and scoring number one after number one in the UK! “Swear It Again” was the start of everything for Westlife, but early tracks such as “Flying Without Wings” and “I Have A Dream” achieved as much as their titles promised! Westlife truly lived the high life during their 14-year career!

In terms of the boy band of the 2010s, there can’t be many bigger than these guys! Harry, Zayn, Niall, Liam and Louis came together as part of the seventh series of the UK version of “The X Factor,” and have been true to their band name ever since! Soaring to global superstardom, the quintet has had an awesome rise to the top! “What Makes You Beautiful” was what made them famous, and the hit machine has been relentless ever since. “Live While We’re Young,” “Best Song Ever,” and “Story Of My Life” all proved big, big records!

Back to America next, and to R&B royalty! Boyz II Men were about as ‘cool’ a boy band as there has ever been! And they are among the most successful as well! The interestingly named Cooleyhighharmony was the band’s first album, released on Motown in 1991, on which they established a multi-lead arrangement, which would become trademark. Their sophomore effort’s “I’ll Make Love To You” was actually replaced in the number one spot in the U.S. by their next single, “On Bended Knee” (such was their success!) - but the “One Sweet Day” collaboration with Mariah Carey remains the group’s hugest hit!

The late ‘90s and early ‘00s saw an explosion of teen idol pop music, but few were lighting the fuse quite as effectively as these 5! Led by a sprightly Justin Timberlake, NSYNC was a brand new brand of boy band… Their videos were futuristic, and they were choreographed to perfection! “I Want You Back” was a debut single that we wanted more of, and “Bye Bye Bye” was a record that we never actually wanted to bid farewell to!

If any boy band can be classed as the absolute originals, then it’s The Jackson 5! Such was the magnitude of young Michael’s subsequent solo success, it can be easy to forget the family five-piece with which he started… But The Jackson 5 are pop pioneers in their own right! In the early ‘70s, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael were the main event! “I Want You Back” and “ABC” will always be remembered as the first parts to one of music’s most incredible stories… But also as the blueprint for boy bands ever since!

Taking our bronze, and confirming themselves as best of British, Take That dominated the charts in the ‘90s, and then they came back to do it again, especially in the UK, in the 2000s! Formed in 1990, the band peaked with the album Everything Changes, after which everything did just that! “Babe” and “Pray” put the boys on top at home, and “Back For Good” kept them there for good! After a ten year break, the five-some returned as a foursome… But Robbie Williams joined up again in 2010, with their sixth studio effort becoming the fastest selling album of the new century to that point. Boy band reunions rarely go as well as Take That’s did!

Formed and guided by Maurice Starr (the producer responsible for New Edition), New Kids on the Block had a band-name to live up to, and boy, did they manage it! NKOTB is still one of the most successful pop groups of all time, inventing an ‘80s image for themselves in parallel with the rise of MTV! These ‘kids’ had attitude, but not too much of it! They had style, but there was something different about it! They were “Hangin’ Tough”, but they were “Loving You (Forever)” as well! The textbook boy band - who proved they still had the right stuff when they reunited in 2008!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Boyzone

- Big Bang

- 98 Degrees

- The Jonas Brothers

- Blue

- The Wanted

The ‘90s were a goldmine of guys like these, but none of the other acts actually were this good! “Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)” helped BSB reach early unprecedented success, while “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” proved they were certainly contenders for the charts’ top 5. By the time “I Want It That Way” was released, the Backstreet Boys were so big, they actually could have had anything pretty much anyway they wanted! A.J., Howie, Nick, Kevin and Brian… You are the best of boy bands!

Do you agree with our list? Which band did we miss? For well-choreographed Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.