What hath Lou Pearlman wrought? The boy band mogul unleashed a deafening wave of teenage girl screams when he created Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC back in the 90s. This wild popularity inspired a ton of innocent and adorable young men to follow suit. Too bad the genre quickly became over-saturated with clones upon clones of the headlining musical acts, because now when I look at this list of less successful boy bands, only a small amount barely scratch the surface of my memory. Were you a fan of boy bands in the late 90s? If so, see which of these now defunct groups were your favorites and which ones are a stretch to recall.
2Be3, US5 and 5ive? No, these are not cryptic codes from The Hunt for Red October. They are just a few choice names from the litany of boy bands that overtook our radios for the latter half of the 90s. Swarming the pages of Tiger Beat and the insides of our lockers, boy bands targeted and thus ruled a great portion of preteen girls. Were you admittedly one of them? It’s okay, I kinda was, too. Although I made fun of the music directly due to my sister’s avid interest, my first concert ever took place at Six Flags for N*SYNC. I went crazy.
Other than the double threat of Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC, there were other formidable groups that serenaded the hearts of squealing girls. LFO and BBMak had a strong following for some time, yes?
Check out the gallery to see which bands bring back memories, and some not so much. You can also go to Buzzfeed to see the complete list.
Were you a boy band fanatic? Which groups were your favorite?
[via Buzzfeed]














guest
BOYZONE ARE MY FAVOURITE BAND OF ALL TIME!!! I’ll never forget about them or the rest of the 90′s boybands! They were what i grew up listening to and i’ve pretty much never stopped. 5ive, 911, triple 8, backstreet boys, another level, blue etc..love them all except take that, still hate them to this day!
guest
Forgot? I never knew about them.
guest
yeah… no. in the 90s, i avoided pop music as much as possible.
guest
I remember hearing about a few of those and/or seeing them in magazines but I never actually listened to any of them.
guest
Besides my little BSB collection, I still listen to O-Town and BBMak! And don’t forget 2Gether…the fake boy band that had a movie and tv show! I bought the vhs on ebay a couple of years ago.
guest
I vaguely remember 5ive and LFO. I was crazy about BSB. My whole room was plastered in posters ripped out of magazines.
guest
Anyone remember Dream Street? They were a fairly young teenage boyband. :’)
magnolia / 1028 posts
I don’t remember US5, Cita, or Guys Next Door, but everyone else, for sure. Boys bands and pop music ruled my life in the 90s! *NSYNC was, and still is, one of my favorite groups EVER! They were my life! They were also my first major concert I ever went to (Januay 3, 1999 in San Diego! lol). And I’m sure it’s slim to none, but if there’s an *NSYNC reunion, you bet your ass I’ll be attending it!
I was a HUGE No Authority fan when it was Josh Keaton and not when Tommy replaced him. They were my first official concert. I saw them for free at Universal City Walk in Hollywood for free when Sam Goody still existed lol. Fun fact: Michael Jackson formed this group.
Other people you could have listed: 3T (Michael Jackson’s nephews), LMNT (three of the five members tried out for O-Town), and Youngstown (the ones who sang the theme song to The Famous Jett Jackson and the movie Inspector Gadget).
guest
Minus the 2 or 3 I’ve never heard of, I remember AND still listen to boy bands!
guest
I’ve never heard of most of those groups, BUT I do remember N*SYNC, Backstreet Boys, Dream Street, 98 Degrees, and a few others. I still listen to N*SYNC to this day
guest
EYC! EYC! EYC! EYC! – AWESOME!!!!!!!!!