1996–1998: Formation and debut Christian Burns, who was raised in
Wigan, learned to play rhythm guitar when he was fourteen years old.
Stephen McNally, of
Liverpool, aspired to be a guitarist and initially had no ambitions to sing. McNally came up with the group's band name, which is a combination of the first letters of the band's surnames Burns, Barry, and McNally. The trio would sing outside the offices of major record companies. The show drew the attention of record label executives and sparked a bidding war for the band.
1999–2001: Breakthrough and Sooner or Later The group's debut single "
Back Here" was initially released in August 1999 in the
United Kingdom, reaching only number 37 on the
UK singles chart that month. BBMak's debut album,
Sooner or Later, was released in the United States on 16 May 2000, peaking at number 38 on the
Billboard 200. The band appeared in episodes of the ABC show
All My Children in May 2000 and opened for
Britney Spears on the North American leg of her
Oops!... I Did It Again Tour tour. BBMak closed out the year with a sold out 26-date US concert tour and a live performance on
MTV's
Times Square New Year's Eve 2001 special. BBMak continued to tour U.S. stadiums in 2001 as a supporting act for
NSYNC on the
PopOdyssey tour. In July 2001, the group's track "Miss You More" was featured on the
soundtrack to
The Princess Diaries. In October of that year, Christian Burns' vocals were featured along with those of
NSYNC's
Lance Bass and
Joey Fatone,
Mandy Moore and
True Vibe on the single "On the Line" for the
film of the same name; the group's song "Don't Look Down" was also featured on the soundtrack. In 2002, the band covered the song "Always Know Where You Are" by
John Rzeznik of the
Goo Goo Dolls for
Disney's
Treasure Planet soundtrack. BBMak also covered the song "
Do You Believe in Magic" for Disney's
Peter Pan sequel,
Return to Never Land.
2002–2003: Into Your Head In August 2002, BBMak released their second album titled
Into Your Head. The album reached No. 25 on the
Billboard 200. The first single from the album, "
Out of My Heart (Into Your Head)," peaked at No. 56 on the Hot 100 chart and No. 25 on the adult contemporary chart. In 2003, the single "Staring into Space" was released in select countries. The band split amicably in 2003. On 1 April 2018, the group uploaded a video to Facebook of a performance of their first single, "Back Here". In January 2019, the band confirmed plans for a worldwide tour and a new album. After numerous delays, the first single from their new album, "Bullet Train", was released on 3 May 2019. The album, titled
Powerstation, was released on 11 October 2019. In 2021, BBMak released
The Lost Tapes, composed of nine B-sides. In 2023, BBMak joined the Pop 2000 Tour hosted by
*NSYNC band member
Chris Kirkpatrick, which featured other best-selling acts from the 2000s including
LFO,
O-Town, and
Ryan Cabrera. The band returned for the 2024 Pop 2000 Tour. ==Awards and nominations==