[Music] foreign
in the early 90s rap was huge then came four boys from Philly who wanted to sing they called
themselves Boys to Men originally the group who came together in 1985 under the name unique
attraction began with baritone Nathan Morris and tenor Mark Nelson who attended the Philadelphia
High School for the Creative and Performing Arts along with fellow schoolmates George
baldy John Schultz and Marguerite Walker being the Troublemaker that he was during a history
class Nate started singing and the teacher told him to be quiet he disregarded the order and
instead raised his voice as he sang his classmate Mark then joined in they were both kicked out and
hit it off from there a couple of years later tenor Wanya Morris no relation to Nathan who
sang in the school's choir along with Mark and Nathan joined the group George John and Marguerite
all soon left the group when they graduated the remaining members then recruited another tenor
Sean Stockman after hearing him perform a solo in the school's choir while rehearsing harmonies in
a school bathroom on one occasion Michael McCary joined in even though the other members thought
their group was already complete it was clear that adding Michael would be the perfect last piece
to the puzzle as their new bass singer around this time the group decided a name change was
an order after hearing the song Boys to Men by New Edition on the radio they adopted the title
as the name they would become famous under after performing at a Valentine's Day party at school
they managed to sneak into a concert put on by a local radio station in Philly their plan was to
get backstage to find Will Smith and perform for him however while looking for him they happened to
cross paths with new edition member Michael Bivens after they sang for him surprise surprise a new
addition song and their number one r b hit Can You Stand The Rain Michael and everyone else within
earshot was undeniably impressed he then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call
Nate would be the one to make that call every day four weeks after wearing him down Michael
agreed to manage and help produce the Grove in a full circle moment the group would connect
with Will Smith years later when they made a very memorable Cameo on his show The Fresh Prince of
Bel Air just before their deal was signed and the work could begin though some major changes
occurred Mark ended up leaving the reason why varies depending on the source some say he left
after getting impatient with how long things were taking there were also rumors about him
getting kicked out by the other Members Mark himself though says the real reason was that he
was already under another contract and couldn't get out of it since he was a legal adult at 18.
the other guys had also signed other contracts but since they were underage it was much easier for
them to move on boys to men's debut album fully High Harmony dropped in 1991 on Motown records
the album and accompanying music video showed off their Collegiate style of dress as well as
some nicknames for each of the members Wanye was Squirt Sean was slim Michael was base and Nate
assumed the name of Alex Vanderpool after a soap opera character who displayed a similar preppy
look to the one the group adopted Boyz II Men's first single the Dallas Austin produce Motown
Philly was a success peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. [Music] not too hot
the album's second single was an acapella cover of a classic Motown tune GC Cameron's it's so
hard to say goodbye to yesterday from The 1975 Coming of Age dramedy film Cooley High it did
even better than Motown Philly going to number three on the pop charts and giving them their
first number one r b placement years later Dallas would sit down with Vlad TV in 2019 and tell the
story of how he ultimately ended up producing nearly the entire album initially he went out
to Philly to do just two songs he'd co-written but when he got win that the gods were thinking
of getting multiple people to do what Dallas knew he could do on his own he asked them to give him
a shot and they did as Dallas tells it since he was so young at the time just a teen he'd
signed a work for hire contract which resulted in him receiving only fifteen hundred dollars
for his efforts eventually though he was able to recoup everything that was rightfully owed to him
Cooley High Harmony went nine times platinum and won them a Grammy award for best r b performance
by a duo or group with vocals the following year the group joined MC Hammer's high profile to legit
it to quit tour as an opening act sadly while on the road their tour manager Khalil Rountree
was shot and killed while resisting a robbery attempt at the group's Hotel in Chicago the
killer was later convicted of the crime and given a 14-year sentence the group's future performances
of it so hard to say goodbye to yesterday were dedicated to him the group then briefly returned
to the studio to record a song co-written and produced by Kenneth baby Chase Edmonds for the
soundtrack to the romantic comedy film boomerang that would send their popularity to even higher
Heights that song was End of the Road it reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100
and remained there for a record-setting 13 weeks besting a 35 year old record set by Elvis Presley
shortly after Boys to Men and Michael Bivens parted ways professionally the split was
reportedly amicable and due to him wanting to focus on his own label and managing other
new acts in 1994 the group's second album simply titled 2 was released it sold more than 12 million
copies in the United States alone becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an
R B group act and one of the biggest albums of the decade several of the tracks became major singles
among them Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis's on bended knee and baby faces I'll make love to you and
Water Runs Dry the group also collected another couple of grammy wins including best r b album the
lead single I'll Make Love to You amazingly broke end of the roads 13-week record at number one by
spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's
cover of I Will Always Love You On Bended Knee the second single then replaced I'll make love
to you at number one making Boys to Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number
one on the Hot 100 chart after Elvis Presley and the Beatles in the same Vlad TV interview Dallas
Austin was asked why he didn't produce the group's second album after having so much success with the
first Dallas summed up the reason quite simply saying it was because he didn't like them anymore
he did go into the studio at the very beginning of the process but says the members inflated
egos completely threw off the vibe so when they asked him to produce the entire album he
flat out refused and only agreed to do one or two songs Dallas even had a front row seat to Boys to
Men totally dissing Babyface and the song he wrote that would become the biggest of their career I'll
Make Love to You Motown head Gerald Busby wasn't having it though and told the guys in no uncertain
terms that they were going to do the song whether they liked it or not then something even more
amazing than the guys could imagine happened they broke their own record again with the help of
pop diva Mariah Carey on their duet One Sweet Day released in November 1995 the song spent 16 weeks
Atop The Hot 100 in the U.S becoming the longest running number one song in the chart's history at
the time Motown then issued the remix collection a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men
songs from their first two albums the group had opposed the release of the collection because they
felt the compilation didn't represent their best were so in retaliation they signed a distribution
deal with Sony not surprisingly this move would negatively affect their next project boys to men's
third studio album Evolution was released in 1997 to mixed reviews and only sold 2 million copies
far below the immense success of their previous work the project would also serve as the group's
final platinum album only one of the Project's singles another Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis pen
track called Four Seasons of Loneliness reached the top spot on the hot 100. the second single
the Babyface Helen the song from Anna managed to secure a top 10 pop placement a global tour began
in 1997 to promote Evolution with successful in terms of ticket sales but behind the scenes Boys
to Men was racked by conflicts with their record label as well as internal issues among the members
of the group making matters worse health problems began to take their toll Wanye developed a benign
polyp on his vocal cords and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered
Michael was privately dealing with a major health issue that made him unable to participate in most
of the groups answer teams what the real problem was wouldn't be revealed until many years later
sales may have been way down for revolution but Boys to Men still got love from the Grammys for
their efforts with two nominations for Best r b album and best r d vocal performance by a duo or
group for a song for Mana in 1999 motown's parent company polygram was bought by Universal Music
Group amidst the major corporate restructure Motown was merged with umg's universal records
where Boys to Men found themselves reassigned they would go on to produce only one studio album at
their new home two thousands Nathan Michael Sean Wanye it sold just 500 000 copies in the U.S Boyz
II Men departed from Universal the next year after signing a new deal with Arista records
in 2002 Boyz II Men released full circle but like the album before it it didn't sell well
full circle would also serve as the final album for Boys to Men as a quartet Michael McCary left
the group due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis as well as other personal
problems he had going on Arista terminated Boyz to men's contract few months later and the remaining
members took a temporary Hiatus from the music industry after about a year out of the spotlight
Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM music group where they released their next several
projects including a slew of cover albums in 2011 the group released 20 named in recognition of the
group's 20 years in the music business originally Boys to Men had announced that they would be
reuniting with original member Michael McCary for the project but soon after that announcement he
declined and did not join in apparently he balked at signing a contract that would protect the other
three members should he decide to bolt again and Michael just wasn't down to sign it Boyz II Men's
last album today another collection of covers titled under the streetlight dropped in the fall
of 2017. while they remained stronger as a unit individually the members of Boys to Men have all
taken the opportunity to venture off into other things and focus on their personal lives Wanye
competed on Season 22 of Dancing With the Stars in 2016. he lives with his wife Amber Reyes and has
six children that he shares with ex-wife Tracy nav prior or two walking down the Aldo Wanye allegedly
had a relationship with R B singer Brandy when she was underage after they worked together on a
remix to her song brokenhearted she began touring with Boys to Men and subsequently fell hard for
Wanye at the approximate age of 17 or 16. we'll just go with 17 for now since that sounds better
she stated in her Behind the Music special in 2012 that the relationship didn't last because he
fell in love with someone else leaving her no pun intended broken-hearted that someone else turned
out to be another r b songstress by the name of Adina Howard Adina verified the whole thing in
her 2019 unsung episode unfortunately the love triangle also ended up doing irreparable damage
to her career two young ladies allow the Eagles to get in the way and were kind of going through
about a guy and that conflict caught the attention of adinas and Brandy's label exec still the arrone
there probably was an exchange of words for Adina not to focus on Wanye because we're
focusing on the second record and to focus mainly on that and not him Wendy Williams caught wind of
it called Edina and Adina opened up like she normally would except for she has some Choice
words in there for Sylvia and for Brandy well that pissed Sylvia off she was on fire
you can be a boss on your record but don't be a boss to the boss that makes your records oh thank
you to make your records no you got two queens in one Castle the one who writes the check is going
to win as a result the release date for adina's album was delayed indefinitely I said something
very inappropriate about the head of the label and she pulled up the emergency brake shut everything
down Nate got into flipping houses he even took his skills to reality TV in 2018 with his own
HGTV show called Hit properties with Nathan Morris Sean was actually the first Boyz II Men member to
make his solo debut doing so at the height of the group's popularity in 1996 he released the
song visions of the sunset which ended up on the soundtrack for the drama film Mr Holland's Opus
he went on to release his debut EP album in 2018 titled Sean followed by his first full-length LP
in 2020 forward he's also married with three children in November 2016 for reasons unknown
he decided to out himself as a serial cheater Sean posted a video on Instagram to his wife
of 15 years apologizing for his indiscretion Sean quickly deleted the video after many fans
jumped on him for taking to social media to air out his dirty laundry and for not being
accountable for his actions so what happened to Michael he finally decided to tell his truth in
a 2016 episode of iyanla fix my life his multiple sclerosis diagnosis did take a tremendous toll on
him and his ability to be fully present in the group well I was in Boyz II Men when I first saw
some of the ailments start to happen it was like little back spasms at first and then they would
get stronger and stronger so each time it would get it would get more harsh once I was about 22
it started going to full scale they were saying that I have a nerve around the sciatica that was
in place that cassava if I step wrong you know saying it's a possibility that you can
be paralyzed his symptoms and frequent doctor visits he said started to interfere with the
band's schedule which caused a lot of tension in fighting yet he still continued to keep his
diagnosis a secret the other members were under the impression that he had scoliosis and irregular
curving of the spine he maintains though that his leaving Boys to Men had more to do with
the other members turning their backs on him than anything else if I had to sum up what I got from
my brothers and boy Simmons I would have to say betrayal a broken bond May at this point we don't
get tall Michael also had some personal issues that he was struggling with namely his 14-year
marriage ending disastrously causing him to be separated from his three children after taking
to social media to state that there was no beef between Michael and the rest of the group members
Sean then appeared on BET's the Tammy Mac Late Show in 2020 to further explain what the real
deal was because the truth is Mike never really was as ambitious about music as we were so it was
one of those things where when his back started to kind of you know spaz out like we've seen him less
you know there were times where he just wouldn't show up his shows he wouldn't show up at TV
appearances and it started to wear on our business so it was only necessary for us to make that you
know cut those the ties because he wasn't willing to do even those things to continue on with with
uh with the group's UH responsibilities which were you know the basic things that he already used to
do on February 10 2023 Boyz II Men launched a new series of digital Collectibles Called
Love You Forever featured in The Collection is new unreleased custom music and artwork
pieces from the group and Echoes the evolution and different expressions of a journey through
love it's an approach the group are taking to create deeper relationships with their fans
thank you