1984–1986: Early career In the early 1980s,
Maurice Starr discovered
pop/
R&B quintet
New Edition, and guided their early success. After he was fired by New Edition for embezzling funds, Starr and his business partner, Mary Alford, sought to create a white counterpart act. Fifteen-year-old
Donnie Wahlberg impressed Starr and Alford with his rapping skills, becoming the group's first member. He was initially joined by his younger brother
Mark, who left the group after only a few months. Donnie then recruited his school friends Jamie Kelly,
Jordan Knight and Danny Wood to join the group; Knight was followed into the group by his older brother
Jonathan, while Kelly left the group early on. With the final lineup in place, Starr rehearsed the boys after school and on weekends, and eventually secured the group a recording contract at
Columbia Records. In the meantime, the group began making national televised appearances on such music programs as
Showtime at the Apollo and
Soul Train. Producer Maurice Starr then held auditions to secure a band of musicians suitable for touring with the New Kids, approving musical director and keyboardist Greg McPherson, bassist
David Dyson, keyboardist Yasko Kubota, guitarist Nerida Rojas, and drummer Derrick Antunes. The New Kids later landed a spot as an opening act for fellow teen-pop act
Tiffany on the U.S. leg of her concert tour. Sales of ''Hangin' Tough'' steadily increased as the group's national attention slowly rose. At year's end, the album's second single, "
You Got It (The Right Stuff)", was released. The song was given a huge boost when
MTV took notice of the group and began playing the video in regular rotation, including an appearance on
Club MTV. By early 1989, it cracked the top five. and was one of the biggest selling music videos of all time. The then governor of Massachusetts,
Michael Dukakis, declared April 24, 1989 to be "New Kids on the Block Day".
1989–1993: Step by Step and lip synching allegations By the end of the late 1980s and at the beginning of the early 1990s, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in the United States. That May, they followed up ''Hangin' Tough
with Step by Step'', for which just over half of the songs were cowritten and produced by the members themselves. The first single,
the title track, hit number one on the Hot 100 Singles Chart By late 1990, David Dyson assumed the role of musical director. The group performed an estimated two hundred concerts a year, with an extravagant worldwide concert tour that summer called
The Magic Summer Tour, sponsored by
Coke. The tour ultimately grossed $74 million ($133 million adjusted for inflation), making them the top-grossing touring act in the country at the time and one of the highest-grossing concert tours of the decade, with overall attendance of 3.2 million people. Their 1990
pay-per-view special broke records at the time. During this time, NKOTB licensed merchandise flooded the market, including
lunch boxes,
buttons, t-shirts,
comic books (published by
Harvey Comics), and
dolls. They inspired a
Saturday morning cartoon, developed by the
Pangea Corporation and animated by
DIC Entertainment. In 1991, sales of the group's merchandise was estimated at
US$400 million. New Kids on the Block's official fan club had a membership of over 200,000 and was one of the largest in the United States. The official NKOTB hotline, 1-900-909-5KIDs, received approximately 100,000 calls per week. In 1991, the group topped
Forbes list of highest paid entertainers, ahead of Michael Jackson,
Madonna,
Prince and
Bill Cosby. At year's end, Columbia released
No More Games/The Remix Album, a compilation of remixes of the group's biggest hits. It produced two singles, "
Call It What You Want (The C&C Pump-It Mix)" (UK No. 12) and "
Games (The New Kids Get Hard Mix)" (UK No. 14), for which videos were also released. The group released no new material in 1991, and instead toured throughout Europe and Asia. That summer, Wood and Wahlberg co-wrote and co-produced
Music for the People, the debut album from
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, headed by Wahlberg's brother Mark, a former New Kid.
Music for the People would end up going platinum and scoring a number-one hit with "
Good Vibrations". In 1991, they performed the
halftime show at
Super Bowl XXV, a first for a pop music group, however the performance was not broadcast on TV due to a preemption for a speech from President
George H. W. Bush regarding the
Gulf War. In early 1992, the group released the stand-alone single "
If You Go Away", the only new track on the compilation
H.I.T.S.. The song peaked at No. 16 on the US charts and No. 9 in the UK. Meanwhile, as the music industry was still reeling from the
Milli Vanilli lip-synching scandal, NKOTB found themselves accused of lip-synching by Gregory McPherson. Credited as an associate producer and string arranger on the
Step by Step album and a music teacher at
Berklee College of Music, McPherson alleged that Maurice Starr sang the vocals while the group lip-synched to pre-recorded vocals during their live performances. McPherson also filed a
breach of contract and creative infringement lawsuit against Starr. The group immediately responded to the allegations and interrupted the Australian leg of their tour to fly to Los Angeles to perform live on
The Arsenio Hall Show. After performing a medley of their previous hits and their new single, the group (along with Starr) was interviewed by Hall. The group admitted to singing with a backing track during live performances and also admitted that Starr sang harmony on some background vocals. On February 10, 1992, the New Kids filed a
defamation lawsuit against McPherson regarding his lip-synching allegations. In April 1992, McPherson dropped his suit against Starr and released a statement recanting his previous allegations stating, "[The New Kids] did sing lead on their vocals".
1993–2008: Face the Music and split In 1993, after having split from Maurice Starr, the group shortened their name to the
initialism NKOTB. In January 1994, their fourth studio album,
Face the Music, was released. Their first studio album in close to four years,
Face the Music was a musical departure from the group's previous efforts. Nearly all the songs were written and/or co-produced by the group. In spite of some positive critical reception, the album failed to live up to commercial expectation. The album's final single to chart was "
Dirty Dawg" (which featured a rap cameo by
Nice & Smooth), peaking at No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up single, "
Never Let You Go", failed to chart in the U.S., but did reach No. 42 in the
UK Singles Chart and No. 18 in the
Canadian charts. NKOTB went on tour to support the album, playing smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums they were once accustomed to. After experiencing increased
panic attacks and anxiety, Jonathan Knight left the band. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to officially disband the group. After the group's split, most of the group members started families and began to venture into other avenues. Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood maintained low profiles, while the other three continued their careers individually. Wahlberg, in particular, followed his younger brother Mark into an acting career. McIntyre and Jordan Knight recorded solo albums in 1999. In 1999, MTV attempted to reunite the group and get them to perform on that year's
VMAs. All of the members were on board for the project, except Jonathan. Without him, the performance did not happen. In 2004, Aamer Haleem, host of VH1's
Bands Reunited, also attempted to convince each of the members of New Kids on the Block to reunite for a one-night performance for the show. This time Jonathan agreed. However, McIntyre, Wahlberg, and Wood all declined. While Wood and Wahlberg declined on-camera interviews, McIntyre cited that the only way he would perform with the band was if the group would make the decision to reunite permanently, which didn't happen until April 2008.
2008–2013: Reunion, The Block and NKOTBSB In April 2008, after months of speculation, Wahlberg confirmed to
CNN that the group had reunited with plans to record new material and to stage a tour. The following month, the group released their first single since reuniting, "
Summertime". The cover of the single featured the name "New Kids on the Block", re-lengthened from the initials NKOTB. On August 12, 2008, they released their second single, "
Single", featuring R&B singer
Ne-Yo, followed by the release of the group's first studio album in fourteen years,
The Block. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart and No. 2 on the
Billboard 200 in September 2008. It was certified Gold in October 2008, in Canada. The group's reunion tour,
New Kids on the Block: Live, began at
Toronto's
Air Canada Centre on September 18, 2008. They toured the US with
Natasha Bedingfield and
Lady Gaga as supporting acts. There were 48 total concerts scheduled for Canada and the United States, nine in the United Kingdom, one in Ireland, one in France, one in
Amsterdam, Netherlands and two in Germany. A NKOTB-sponsored "theme" concert cruise (for their fans) departed from Miami, Florida and traveled to
the Bahamas from May 15–18, 2009. The group also announced the
Full Service Tour for 2009, featuring
Jesse McCartney and
Jabbawockeez. Group member Jordan Knight announced a new concert cruise for 2010. After the tour, each member took a break on doing other endeavors. McIntyre recorded a few songs written and produced by fellow musicians such as himself, Drew Ryan Scott from boy band After Romeo, Brent Paschke, and
Gabe Lopez. Wahlberg worked on his own music as well, releasing a single called "I Got It" featuring
Aubrey O'Day (formerly from
Danity Kane) and "Rise and Grind" featuring Roscoe Umali. On Friday, August 13, 2010, tickets went on sale for the third annual NKOTB cruise which would take place aboard the
Carnival Destiny, leaving from Miami, FL on Thursday, May 12, 2011, to Nassau and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas and returning to Miami, FL on Monday, May 16, 2011. Once again, the cruise sold out the same day it went on sale, with thousands of fans on a 'waitlist' standing by for any openings on the boat due to cancellations. On August 18, 2010, an 'unofficial' announcement was made that NKOTB and the
Backstreet Boys would be touring together in 2011 after the successful surprise collaboration performance at
Radio City Music Hall on June 19, 2010. On October 8, 2010,
Brian Littrell, a member of the Backstreet Boys, gave the tour a 78% chance of happening. He also stated that he and Wahlberg had been working on songs together. On November 3, 2010, an official announcement was made that NKOTB and BSB would be touring together in the summer of 2011 along with
Jordin Sparks and
Ashlyne Huff. In May 2011,
Matthew Morrison confirmed during an interview on talk show
Chelsea Lately that he would also be joining the tour. The
NKOTBSB Tour began on May 25, 2011, and ended in June 2012. They also released a compilation album
NKOTBSB which included 2 new songs. On June 22, 2012, NKOTB was among 24 celebrities selected by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for 2013. McIntyre stated during
Summer Mixtape Festival that they were making a new album and unlike their previous album
The Block, there will be no collaboration on it.
2013–2024: 10, Thankful, and Battle of Boston with New Edition On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on
The View and announced that they were going to release a new single titled "
Remix (I Like The)" on January 28 and a new album titled
10 on April 2, 2013, via
Kobalt Label Services. During the show, they also announced that they were going to
tour North America with
98 Degrees and
Boyz II Men as their opening acts in summer 2013.
10 was released on April 2, 2013, and received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. The group appeared on various television series to promote the album including
The Today Show,
The View, and an
iHeartRadio concert release party. The album debuted at number 6 on the
Billboard 200 chart, marking their 5th top 10 studio album in the US. The group performed on the
Boston Strong telethon alongside
Boyz II Men on May 30, 2013. On February 3, 2014, the band announced their European Tour 2014. The official website described the tour: 'Kicking-off at the Annex in Stockholm on May 6 and culminating at Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow on June 1, the shows will take place at some of the most intimate venues across Europe, giving our fans a rare opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with the band.' Following the tour the group met up in New York to embark on the 6th annual NKOTB Cruise. Also, in the Spring of 2014 they announced a limited engagement in
Las Vegas. The show entitled
New Kids on the Block After Dark ran for 4 consecutive nights from July 10–13, 2014 at
The AXIS at Planet Hollywood. On October 9, 2014, the group received their star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. In January 2015, the group announced they would be embarking on a summer tour called
The Main Event, with
TLC and
Nelly. They also starred on
Pop's
Rock This Boat: New Kids on the Block, a reality television series featuring the band on a cruise to Bermuda. The show was renewed for a second season the following year. The group played themselves on an episode of the second season of
Fuller House entitled "New Kids in the House", where they performed multiple songs including "The Right Stuff" and "Please Don't Go Girl" as well as singing "Happy Birthday" to DJ Tanner to mark her 39th birthday. The episode was released on December 9, 2016. In November 2016, the group announced a new tour called
The Total Package Tour with
Paula Abdul &
Boyz II Men. The 44-city North American tour spanned May 12 through July 16 and marked Abdul's first tour in more than 20 years. In March 2017 during an appearance on
The Late Late Show with James Corden they performed the new single "One More Night" from the
EP Thankful, which was released on May 12 to coincide with the start of the tour. In December 2017, they released an expanded version of the EP entitled
Thankful (Unwrapped), now including the Target-only track "We Were Here" (featuring
DMX) as well as three newly recorded holiday songs, their first new material of holiday music in 28 years. Additionally, they announced a short-film documentary filmed during their summer tour will be released on December 9. In October 2018, New Kids announced their MixTape Tour, which would include 1980s and 1990s stars such as Salt-N-Pepa, Naughty by Nature, Debbie Gibson, and Tiffany. It was to run from May 2, 2019, in Cincinnati, Ohio, through July 14 in Hollywood, Florida. On December 13, 2018, New Kids announced they would perform at
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2019 in
Times Square. On March 2, 2019, New Kids released a new music video "Boys in the Band (Boy Band Anthem)", which included cameos from
Lance Bass,
Debbie Gibson,
Naughty by Nature, as well as
Ricky Bell,
Michael Bivins, and
Ronnie DeVoe of
New Edition. It also included shout outs and easter eggs to several boy bands throughout the years:
The Osmonds,
Jackson 5, New Edition,
Boyz II Men,
Bell Biv DeVoe,
Backstreet Boys,
B2K,
98°,
LFO,
Menudo,
JLS,
O-Town,
BTS,
NSYNC,
One Direction,
Take That, and
Westlife, as well as New Kids themselves. On May 2, 2019, the Mixtape Tour began in Cincinnati, Ohio, with New Kids as the headliners. Other performers on the tour include
Salt-N-Pepa, Debbie Gibson,
Tiffany, and Naughty by Nature. In 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic, NKOTB released the single "House Party" which peaked at number five on Billboard's
Digital Songs chart. The song featured
Naughty by Nature,
Boyz II Men,
Big Freedia and
Jordin Sparks. On August 6, 2021, New Kids on the Block played a concert at
Fenway Park in Boston with special guest
Bell Biv Devoe and surprise guest
D-Nice, as well as Joey's son Griffin McIntyre. On March 3, 2022, NKOTB uploaded the music video "Bring Back the Time", which features Salt-N-Pepa,
Rick Astley, and
En Vogue. Directed by
John Asher, the video parodies 1980s music videos such as
Journey's "
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)",
Devo's "
Whip It",
A Flock of Seagulls' "
I Ran (So Far Away)",
Talking Heads' "
Once in a Lifetime",
Twisted Sister's "
We're Not Gonna Take It",
Robert Palmer's "
Addicted to Love",
Billy Idol's "
Flesh for Fantasy",
Madonna's "
Vogue",
Duran Duran's "
Rio",
Toni Basil's "
Mickey",
Art of Noise featuring
Max Headroom's "
Paranoimia", and
Michael Jackson's "
Beat It".
2024–present: Still Kids, Magic Summer Tour, and Las Vegas residency In March 2024, the group announced that their eighth album,
Still Kids, would be released on May 17, 2024. The album is the group's first in eleven years and was preceded by the first single and music video for "Kids" on March 5, 2024. The group, along with opening acts
Paula Abdul and
DJ Jazzy Jeff, embarked on
The Magic Summer Tour (2024) in June 2024. On June 20th, 2025, the group kicked off their first Las Vegas residency, named New Kids on The Block: The Right Stuff Las Vegas Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM, with dates spanning until February 2026. The show has been met with positive reviews, noting the mix of concert and Las Vegas style blend. On March 14, 2026, the group held a special headline halftime performance at the inaugural home opener of the Boston Legacy FC at Gillette Stadium against NJ/NY Gotham FC. ==Members==