Boyz II Men

According to RIAA records, Boyz II Men stand as the top-selling R&B act in history. Their breakthrough arrived with the nine-times platinum Cooleyhighharmony in 1991 and the diamond-certified II in 1994, both of which moved in staggering quantities. The quartet also delivered three of pop music’s longest-running chart-toppers—“End of the Road,” “I’ll Make Love to You,” and the Mariah Carey duet “One Sweet Day”—while maintaining equal vocal roles throughout. Their seamless four-part blend was so seamless that casual listeners often struggled to identify any single member, though this reflected no shortfall in technique; the group ranked among the earliest male R&B acts to incorporate the intricate runs and flourishes first popularized by virtuosic divas such as Whitney Houston and Carey. Early work drew from new jack swing, yet the singers soon excelled at expansive, emotive ballads that highlighted their harmonies most effectively. Though they never matched their early-nineties commercial peak, Boyz II Men sustained visibility through consistent touring and selective studio projects emphasizing polished reinterpretations, even as vocal groups receded from mainstream R&B. Standout later releases include Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007), Twenty (2011), and Under the Streetlight (2017).

The ensemble first assembled in 1987 at Philadelphia’s High School of the Creative and Performing Arts under the name Unique Attraction. Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson had already performed together for years, yet frequent graduations kept destabilizing the lineup until Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, and bass singer Michael McCary joined. Rechristened Boyz II Men, the five-piece delivered a strong Valentine’s Day concert in 1989 that drew heavily on New Edition material, including the track “Boys to Men” that inspired their final moniker. Their pivotal opportunity came later that year when they performed an a cappella rendition of New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain” backstage for Bell Biv DeVoe’s Michael Bivins, who immediately offered a recording contract. Marc Nelson exited shortly afterward because of interpersonal tensions and later appeared with Az Yet.

Reduced to four voices, the remaining members recorded their Motown debut, Cooleyhighharmony, fusing then-current new jack production with what they termed “hip-hop doo wop,” though their harmonic foundation owed more to earlier R&B eras. Issued in 1991, the album’s lead single “Motownphilly” climbed to the pop Top Five and R&B number one while earning platinum status. The a cappella ballad “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” drawn from the film Cooley High, also reached the pop Top Five, topped the R&B chart, and achieved gold certification, while the project itself captured a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. During the 1992 Too Legit to Quit tour with MC Hammer, tragedy occurred when tour manager Khalil Roundtree was fatally shot in Chicago; the group subsequently dedicated the ballad to his memory.

Even after such an impressive launch, nothing prepared observers for the commercial dominance that followed. Between tour dates, Boyz II Men recorded the Babyface-penned “End of the Road” for the Boomerang soundtrack; the single spent thirteen weeks at number one, eclipsing Elvis Presley’s thirty-six-year-old mark of eleven weeks with “Don’t Be Cruel”/“Hound Dog.” The track collected numerous honors and confirmed the group’s superstardom. While preparing their sophomore album in 1993, they issued a Top Five cover of the Five Satins’ “In the Still of the Nite” for the television film The Jacksons: An American Dream and the holiday collection Christmas Interpretations. Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” briefly surpassed “End of the Road” that same year with fourteen weeks at number one.

Fueled by that momentum, II arrived in 1994 and debuted at number one en route to more than twelve million copies sold. Although Bivins stepped back to focus on new talent, producers including Babyface and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis shaped the project. “I’ll Make Love to You,” also written by Babyface, matched Houston’s record with fourteen weeks at the summit; its successor, “On Bended Knee,” then displaced it for six weeks, a succession previously achieved only by Elvis and the Beatles. “Thank You” underperformed, missing the pop Top Twenty, yet “Water Runs Dry” returned the group to the Top Five.

Throughout 1995, Boyz II Men toured extensively while opening their own studio and contributing guest vocals elsewhere: Wanya Morris paired with Brandy on “Brokenhearted,” and the full quartet appeared on Michael Jackson’s “History” and LL Cool J’s “Hey Lover.” Their collaboration with Mariah Carey on “One Sweet Day” proved the most consequential, logging sixteen weeks at number one after debuting in December 1995 and marking the third record-setting chart run of their career.

Against the group’s wishes, Motown issued The Remix Collection in late 1995; in response, Boyz II Men secured a distribution agreement with Sony rather than Motown for their Stonecreek imprint. Relations deteriorated further with the 1997 release of Evolution, which debuted at number one and yielded the chart-topping “4 Seasons of Loneliness” plus the Top Ten “A Song for Mama,” their seventh platinum single. Limited promotional support from Motown curtailed the album’s longevity, limiting sales to two million copies. Wanya Morris’s benign vocal-cord polyp also forced tour postponements, though he recovered completely. In early 1999, amid industry consolidations, their contract shifted from Motown to Universal.

For Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, released in 2000, the members took increased responsibility for songwriting and production; the gold-certified set spawned the modest hit “Pass You By.” They later moved to Arista and issued Full Circle in summer 2002. Michael McCary departed in 2003 owing to scoliosis. The remaining trio followed with Throwback, a 2004 collection of covers, then The Remedy, first issued exclusively in Japan in 2006 and made available via their website the next year. Also in 2007, Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA appeared, featuring Randy Jackson’s production and an a cappella rendering of “End of the Road.” Jackson returned for the 2009 covers album Love, while Covered: Winter offered Japanese pop interpretations aimed at that market.

In the 2010s, Boyz II Men maintained an active touring schedule alongside recordings for assorted independent and major labels. Their twentieth anniversary arrived in 2011 with Twenty, mixing fresh material and re-recordings. Three years later came Collide, an eclectic set of originals developed with outside writers. Under the Streetlight, issued by Sony Masterworks in 2017, included three tracks with Brian McKnight and one with Take 6. That same year they guested on Bell Biv DeVoe’s Three Stripes; subsequent collaborations involved Charlie Puth and Steep Canyon Rangers. The singles “Daily Harvest” and “Love Struck,” the latter from the Songland competition series, surfaced in 2020.