1992–1996: Early years In the early to mid-1990s, Isaac,
Taylor, and Zac sang
a cappella and recorded such classic songs as "
Rockin' Robin", "
Splish Splash", and "
Johnny B. Goode", as well as their own material. Their first performance as a professional group took place in 1992 at the Mayfest Arts Festival in
Tulsa. They were known as the Hanson Brothers, before shortening the name to Hanson in 1993. Hanson also appeared on
Carman's
Yo! Kidz: The Vidz, which cast Taylor as a young Biblical
David facing
Goliath, Isaac as an event announcer, and Zac and other members of the family in the stands cheering on this "sporting event". All three boys started their musical careers as pianists, but Isaac eventually started playing guitar and Zac started playing drums, while Taylor continued as the keyboard player. The band recorded two independent albums in their hometown of Tulsa,
Boomerang (recorded in autumn 1994, released in 1995) and
MMMBop (released in 1996). The latter featured the original version of the song "MMMBop", which later became the runaway single on their debut commercial record
Middle of Nowhere. The band played in Austin during the
South By Southwest music festival in
Austin, Texas, which led to them being signed by manager
Christopher Sabec. Although 'Hanson Day' was originally intended to be a one-time occurrence, the band celebrates it each year with a party for fans in Tulsa. Hanson's popularity exploded during the summer of 1997, and
Mercury Records released Hanson's first documentary
Tulsa, Tokyo, and the Middle of Nowhere and their Christmas album
Snowed In in the wake of their success. Hanson also launched
MOE (which stood for Middle of Everywhere), a fan club magazine that ran for 12 issues. After numerous unauthorized biographies of each of the brothers were published, Hanson turned to their close friend, Jarrod Gollihare of Admiral Twin, to write their authorized biography.
Hanson: The Official Book reached number 9 on
The New York Times Best Sellers List (nonfiction) on February 1, 1998. The band was nominated for three
Grammy Awards in
1998:
Record of the Year,
Best New Artist, and
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. During the summer of 1998, Hanson began a highly successful concert tour, the
Albertane Tour. They performed a string of shows throughout stadiums and arenas across North America and Europe, targeting young audiences with a playful and energetic style. A live album, titled
Live From Albertane, was released the following fall, as well as their second documentary
The Road to Albertane. In response to the demand for their earlier work, Hanson re-released
MMMBop as
3 Car Garage, minus four tracks, in May 1998. Three tracks from
Boomerang ("Boomerang", "More Than Anything", and "Rain (Falling Down)") and two of the remaining tracks from
MMMBop ("Incredible" and "Baby (You're So Fine)") were released on the first MOE CD sent to fan club members. During the Albertane Tour, Hanson wrote and demoed what became the songs for their second major studio album,
This Time Around. During this time period, Mercury Records, the band's label, had been merged with Island Def Jam. In May 2000, Hanson released their second album,
This Time Around, but due to lack of promotional funding, sales were low and the label eventually pulled funding for their tour. The band toured the Americas through the summer and fall of 2000 on their own funds.
2001–2005: Independent career After a three-year struggle, the brothers left
Island Records to seek more creative freedom. Label executives had refused over 80 songs from the band, believing new material lacked marketability. The label has distribution deals through
Alternative Distribution Alliance in the United States,
Cooking Vinyl in Europe,
Sony Music in Asia and with various other distributors throughout the world. During the dispute with their former label, Hanson signed with the management company 10th Street Entertainment, which also manages artists such as
Blondie. The band's Underneath Acoustic tour took place during the summer and fall of 2003 across the US, with one show in Canada and one in the UK. Music included acoustic versions of songs from the then-forthcoming release,
Underneath. The tour ended November 5, 2003 with a performance at
Carnegie Hall. Released on April 20, 2004,
Underneath sold 37,500 copies in the first week of release in the US alone. The album debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard Top Independent Albums chart and No. 25 on the
Billboard 200 album chart, making
Underneath one of the most successful self-released albums of all time. Hanson's The Underneath Tour took them across the globe for nearly a full year (July - December 2004; March - June 2005). In autumn 2005, Hanson toured in the US and Canada to support
The Best of Hanson: Live & Electric. They also visited colleges to showcase
Strong Enough to Break, the documentary chronicling difficulties with and departure from Island Def Jam. During college visits, the band held question-and-answer sessions about independent artists' role in the music industry.
2006–2008: The Walk and tenth anniversary On January 15, 2007, Hanson released on iTunes the first episode of their documentary podcast "Taking the Walk", detailing production of the studio album. The first episode of the band's documentary
Strong Enough to Break was also released on iTunes. The program is edited into 13 episodes for release as a podcast. In March 2007, Hanson began a "preview tour" to promote
The Walk and give fans a taste of recent work. Over six days, Hanson performed at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, The Crocodile Rock in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and The Supper Club in New York City. On March 30, Taylor and Zac appeared in
Dallas,
Texas, to screen their documentary at the
AFI Film Festival. Afterward, the brothers held a Q&A session along with director
Ashley Greyson. Hanson performed in the UK during April 2007, playing songs from
The Walk. They also promoted the release of the single "
Go" and the UK release of the album.
The Walk, Hanson's second studio album with 3CG Records, was released in the US, Mexico and Canada on July 24. It was released in Japan on February 21 and in the UK on April 30. As part of this album's tour and promo, the band hosted "Take the Walk" events where fans were encouraged to walk one mile to raise money and awareness of AIDS/HIV in Africa. The band partnered with
Toms Shoes to give shoes to children in Africa. In support of The Walk album, the band toured extensively throughout 2007-2008, predominantly in the US, with some shows in Canada, the UK, and Ireland. The tours were called The Walk Tour, and The Walk Around the World Tour. On May 6, 2007, the 10th anniversary of Hanson Day, the band re-recorded their first major label album,
Middle Of Nowhere, at The Blank Slate bar in their hometown of
Tulsa, Oklahoma. The band invited fan club members to attend, causing hundreds to fly to Oklahoma for the acoustic event. The record
Middle of Nowhere Acoustic was released at the end of that year, exclusively on Hanson.net. The record included all but three songs of those originally in
Middle of Nowhere ("Speechless", "Thinking of You" and "With You in Your Dreams") and featured the song
Yearbook, never performed live before.
2009–2012: Shout It Out In June 2009, Hanson completed the album
Shout It Out and planned to release it on June 8, 2010. The band also announced that they would be co-headlining a tour with
Hellogoodbye. The tour, called Use Your Sole, started in Hanson's hometown of
Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 30, 2009 and finished November 11, 2009 in
Anaheim, California. Hanson also released
Stand Up, Stand Up, a five-song EP that was available at shows and on the band's website. The tracks are acoustic versions of four new Hanson songs, plus the album version of "World's on Fire" which was originally going to be on their album
Shout It Out but was ultimately left off the album. It was released worldwide on iTunes on December 8, 2009. In December 2009, Hanson announced they would play 'Five of Five', five consecutive concerts at New York's
Gramercy Theater. Each concert featured one of the band's four previous albums in its entirety and the premiere of their upcoming Spring 2010 release. The engagement began with a performance of Hanson's major label debut,
Middle of Nowhere, on April 26, 2010 and then moved onto 2000's
This Time Around on April 27, 2004's
Underneath followed on April 28 with 2007's
The Walk on April 29. On April 30, the band unveiled their new album,
Shout It Out. The concert series was also streamed live on band's official website and included an exclusive "Backstage Pass" stream for fan club members. On March 6, 2010, Hanson shot dance and other sequences for their upcoming music video of their new single, "
Thinking 'Bout Somethin'", at Greenwood Avenue in
Tulsa. Hanson recruited professional dancers for the shoot and also invited fans and local residents to take part in the video, which is an homage to the feature film
Blues Brothers. The video was directed by Todd Edwards, co-founder of Blue Yonder Films. It was released for public viewing on their
MySpace channel on April 15, 2010.
"Weird Al" Yankovic has a cameo appearance as the tambourine player. On June 8, 2010, Hanson's
Shout It Out, their fifth studio record, was released. It debuted at number 30 on the
Billboard 200, number 2 on the Indie chart, and No. 16 on the digital chart. On June 15, 2010, the band's free concert at the
South Street Seaport in New York City rather incongruously ended in a riot after an estimated 20,000 fans arrived at a venue which could only accommodate half that many people. The rapper
Drake was also on the bill. Hanson offered a "platinum package" of their
Shout it Out record which included artwork hand-painted by band member Zac Hanson. In October 2010, Hanson released "The 113 Painting Book" which includes the paintings created for these packages. To promote their new album,
Shout It Out, Hanson toured from July 2010 through November 2010. The tour kicked off in
Buffalo, New York on July 21, with the final show in
Toronto, on November 23. Throughout the tour, the band broadcast live streams from their website. The footage included introducing the local musician winners of their opening band contest, a few full length concerts, and walks with fans to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa for their Take the Walk Campaign. One of the most notable concerts included two days in November at Walt Disney World Resort's Food and Wine Festival for the Eat to the Beat concert series. The band released a second single from
Shout It Out in 2011. "Give a Little" reached Top 40 on the US Hot AC charts, making it the first top 40 hit for the band since their 2000 single "If Only". The band resumed their touring activity in September 2011. The US Musical Ride Tour lasted from September 4 to November 1. Starting on November 6 in
São Paulo, Brazil, they proceeded to tour Latin America and Europe in order to promote their
Shout It Out album internationally. In early 2012, they toured Canada with
Carly Rae Jepsen. Later in 2012, they took the Shout It Out world Tour to Philippines and Australia as well. Twilight Concert in March 2019
2013–2020: Anthem, ''Finally It's Christmas and String Theory'' Their sixth album
Anthem was released on June 18, 2013. The album charted at number 22 on the US
Billboard 200, making it their eighth album to reach the top 40 of the
Billboard 200; the album also peaked at number 5 on the US Independent Albums chart. The first single is titled "
Get the Girl Back", which was released on April 9, 2013. The single charted at number 39 on the
Billboard Adult Pop Songs. On October 23, 2013, Hanson served as guest judges on the popular show
Cupcake Wars. Four cupcake bakers fought to the finish for the chance at having their cupcakes at a concert and an after party with the band, and a $10,000 prize. On March 16, 2017, Hanson announced their 25th anniversary tour called "
Middle of Everywhere: 25th Anniversary Tour" to celebrate the band's first signed album release. Hanson released their second Christmas album, ''
Finally It's Christmas, on October 27, 2017. They also performed a Finally It's Christmas'' special, which can be found on YouTube. In 2018, they performed backing vocals on the title song for
Mike Love's solo album
Reason for the Season. In July 2018, Hanson announced a symphonic tour and accompanying album, titled
String Theory, inspired by their bucket list desire to play with a symphony orchestra at iconic venues such as the
Sydney Opera House and the
Greek Theatre. The tour began in August 2018 and saw them touring the world performing with the backing of local symphony orchestras. The album was released on November 9, 2018 with the symphonic composition recorded in Prague, led by
Academy award winning arranger
David Campbell. Hanson performed their highlight shows at the
Sydney Opera House in Australia over the two nights of March 4th and 5th 2019. Their parents, Walker and Diana, flew to Australia to see their sons perform in the hallowed space. Whilst in Australia, the band played some side gigs at The Melbourne Zoo without the orchestra backing. On September 13, 2019, Hanson announced their Wintry Mix tour in North America, featuring Paul McDonald and Joshua and the Holy Rollers, led by the youngest Hanson brother, Mac Hanson. During the Wintry Mix tour, Zac was injured in a motorcycle accident on October 2, 2019. Despite the incident, the tour continued, with Zac on percussions and former
HAIM drummer Dash Hutton performing in his place. The band held a series of in-person concerts with accompanying livestreams in Tulsa from October 2020 to January 2021. At each show, 180 in-person tickets were available, making up 10% of the usual capacity of the venue. The theme in October was Live & Electric Revisited", in November it was
Perennial Live, in December
The Christmas Ball, and in January ''Listener's Choice''. Some fans took issue with the band holding these concerts during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
2021: Against the World The seven-track album,
Against the World was released officially in November 2021 after the band released a song a month with a corresponding video over the course of seven months in 2021. The album was recorded at
FAME Studios in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Each portion is unique to the individual brother, but doesn't stick to one genre. The three released singles from the album. Taylor's "Child At Heart" depicts a series of inflicted wounds and tragedies as a metaphor for the pain of life and love. It sees Taylor getting punched and a glass of water thrown on him in the video clip. Isaac's "Write You A Song" was written for his daughter, Odette, who requested he write a song for her. She features in the clip that was premiered on
CMT. Hanson set out on a world tour from June to November 2022. The brothers were featured in the July 18, 2022, issue of
People discussing their career thus far, family commitments, and being on the road. On May 26, 2023, English band
Busted released "MMMBop 2.0", a
cover version of "MMMBop" in collaboration with Hanson. ==Other projects and appearances==