Boy Bands the Break Up

By Joy Thiel

Have you ever liked a boy band and suddenly they break-up or the lead singer leaves the band? This often happens in many successful groups, but the problem has been recurring more with boy bands in the last couple of years.

Rock boy bands date back to the early 1950s, and since then some of the greatest music and icons were the boy bands The Beatles, Jackson 5, New Kids on the Block, BoyZ II Men, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, IMX, and B2K. Although they are all different in so many ways, they are all alike in many others. All of these groups have broken up for one reason or another, and the lead singers usually go off to do well by themselves.

Some people think boy bands are just a frenzy or fad, but it’s a life style. The guys in these bands have to look, act, talk, sing, dance, and even smell a certain way. The weird thing about boy bands is one day they are hot and another they’re not. They go from being the biggest icons in the world, with a big house, lots of money, friends, and cars, to being bankrupt, ugly, homeless, and lonely. So why risk their sanity just for a few minutes of fame?

One thing that needs to be understood is that there is always a leader in a group and if there isn’t one, the media will make one. Usually when groups start out it’s just a couple friends singing for fun and having hopes and dreams of making it big in the music business. Then when they actually land a contract it becomes a little more serious, but their friendship is still the number one focus. Next they start making number one hits, lots of money, and have all the fame in the world. They’re finally on the their way to the top, and suddenly the main focus goes from having fun, and being friends, to competition between who’s getting the most publicity and how much money they’re making.

The most recent example of this is the hot R&B group B2K. They were together for six years, and during that time the four were under the management of manager/Producer Chris Stokes and Epic Records. They came out with their first self titled album B2K, in 2002. They seemed to being doing great. They received many nominations and awards including American Music Awards, MTV, BET, Billboard, and Soul Train Awards.

Then in 2002 they released their second album Pandemonium. They also started making their first movie, “You’ve Got Served”. Once again life was good for the fabulous four, until the group announced their break up. Fans all over were devastated with their sudden break up. The guys of B2K then made a public appearance on the hit BET show, 106 & Park, and said the reason for their break up was that they were having financial and emotional problems with the group. Others sources say that members J-Boog, Raz-B, and Lil Fizz were stating that their reason for leaving the group was because of numerous conflicts within the group and accusations that manager Chris Stokes had cheated them out money, and lead singer Omarion was making more of a profit then them.

Whether this is true or not, the band known as B2K is officially over. Lead singer, Omarion plans to stay under the management of Chris Stokes, former band member Lil Fizz plans to come out with his solo album sometime soon, and their debut movie “You’ve Got Served” is released nationwide on January 30th. So it looks like another sad case of boy band blues. “Boy Bands are not meant to be together forever their good while they last but eventually they experience problems like everyone else. They get tired of each other,” said senior Ebony Bryant. So with that last remark, what’s more important fame or sanity?