Hanson

Emerging with an upbeat pop sensibility that echoed a refreshed Jackson 5 tailored to the nineties, Hanson delivered an optimistic melodic outlook that sharply diverged from the prevailing dour grunge aesthetic of the era. Their 1997 release Middle of Nowhere combined contemporary hip production with the polished construction of a seasoned pop album, positioning both the project and its irresistibly catchy opening track "MMMBop" as an ideal fusion of those qualities. The trio resurfaced in 2000 via This Time Around, a record marked by greater maturity and restraint that marked an effort to gain recognition beyond their core teenage following. They founded their independent 3CG imprint in the mid-2000s and stayed consistently active, putting out albums such as The Walk (2007), Anthem (2013), and Against the World (2021) that projected confidently ahead while paying tribute to their sweet pop roots.

Hanson burst onto the scene from Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1997, armed with appealing appearances and an unexpectedly catchy melodic gift. They evoked an earlier time, specifically the early seventies, when young performers could top the charts. Similar to the Jackson 5, the Cowsills, and the storied Partridge Family, every member of Hanson was a brother. Isaac, who was 16 at the time of their first album, handled guitar; Taylor, then 13, took lead vocals and played keyboards; and Zac, aged 11, sat behind the drums. During childhood the siblings harmonized at the dinner table, typically drawing from fifties and sixties rock and R&B classics along with gospel numbers. They later started performing around Tulsa at local events, in school settings, and throughout the community. The brothers first tried to enter the music business around 1992 by approaching music attorney Christopher Sabec and performing a cappella for him. Impressed by their abilities, he signed on as manager and began pitching them to major labels.

From 1992 through 1995, five labels declined Hanson. While waiting, the group put out two independent albums, beginning with the pop-oriented 1995 effort Boomerang. After that release Hanson started performing on their own instruments, which noticeably improved their songwriting, as demonstrated by the single "MMMBop," which indicated a shift toward a brighter, hip-hop and soul-tinged style. They signed with Mercury Records because of "MMMBop" and were paired with producer Steve Lironi, who assisted with arrangements. Over the following year the trio collaborated with various contributors, among them co-writers such as Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, Desmond Child, and Mark Hudson; nine of the thirteen tracks on the finished album included input from professional songwriters. They also cut several songs with the Dust Brothers, who were enjoying success following Beck's Odelay.

Before the spring 1997 arrival of their debut album, Middle of Nowhere, Mercury launched an aggressive promotional campaign, bringing in Tamara Davis (known for work with Sonic Youth and Luscious Jackson) to helm the video for "MMMBop" and actively courting media and radio outlets. The strategy paid off when "MMMBop" entered the U.S. charts at number 13 upon its April launch, while the album received favorable notices and multi-platinum certification. Hanson quickly became prominent teen idols, and as the holiday season neared they issued the Christmas-themed album Snowed In. The pace of releases continued in 1998 when the brothers reissued their earlier independent material as Three Car Garage and also put out a live album, Live from Albertane.

After that burst of activity Hanson stayed relatively quiet while preparing a full follow-up to Middle of Nowhere; during the interim, partly due to the group's breakthrough, teen pop acts including Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, and *NSYNC rose to dominate the pop charts. The band finally returned in spring 2000 with This Time Around, a more mature and measured album that aimed for credibility beyond their mainly teenage listeners; it featured guest appearances by Jonny Lang and Blues Traveler's John Popper and reflected the emerging influence of rock acts like Matchbox Twenty. The record made limited chart impact, however, paving the way for a split from their label during work on a third album.

After parting ways with Island, Hanson launched their own 3CG label and issued Underneath in April 2004. Songwriting sessions with Matthew Sweet and Gregg Alexander extended the mature direction heard on This Time Around. With teen pop behind them, the group redirected their audience toward a more grassroots indie-pop base by self-funding the U.S. marketing of Underneath and backing the release with straightforward college shows. Upon arrival the album debuted at number one on the Billboard Independent Chart and was subsequently licensed by Cooking Vinyl in the U.K., JVC in Japan, Univision in Mexico, and Sony in Southeast Asia. The album's success triggered an intense touring schedule: twenty-five cities across thirteen countries in just over four weeks, highlighted by a sold-out performance at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. While the band traveled the world playing to expanding crowds, the DVD Underneath Acoustic Live appeared, documenting a Chicago date from their more intimate 2003 acoustic tour. Their 2004 dates were captured on The Best of Hanson Live and Electric, released in both CD and DVD formats in 2005.

During their 2005 tour Hanson visited various U.S. colleges to present and discuss Strong Enough to Break, a documentary examining their period with Island Def Jam. The film's pointed critique of the label and the wider music industry had repercussions when Island put out a Hanson compilation, MMMBop: The Collection, late in 2005; the album underperformed, prompting criticism from fans toward Island for the release. The band closed the year with shows in Europe and South America, then traveled to South Africa in summer 2006 to record the track "Great Divide" with a school choir in Soweto. The single appeared later that year, with proceeds directed to AIDS research.

Hanson deepened their charitable efforts on the subsequent album The Walk. Throughout the supporting tour the brothers began taking mile-long barefoot walks before each concert, inviting fans to join them. The activity was designed to mirror the daily journeys made by African schoolchildren, with each mile generating additional donations for Africa. Isaac Hanson underwent surgery in late 2007 for a pulmonary embolism, prompting a temporary pause in touring that resumed after his recovery in mid-2008. That same year Taylor joined the supergroup Tinted Windows with members of Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne, and Smashing Pumpkins. The band released an album in 2009 and toured briefly, yet Taylor had already rejoined his brothers in the studio before year's end.

Hanson returned early the next year with their eighth studio album, Shout It Out. The release performed solidly, entering the Billboard 200 at number 30, and the group sustained it with extensive shows that extended well into 2012. Their following album, Anthem, arrived in June 2013 and achieved stronger chart placement than its predecessor. In early 2017 Hanson announced a substantial tour marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the band's formation. The five-month Middle of Everywhere: 25th Anniversary Tour also commemorated the twentieth anniversary of their debut album, Middle of Nowhere. The brothers concluded their notable year by releasing their second holiday album, Finally It's Christmas.

Hanson's 2018 undertaking was String Theory, in which the trio revisited key tracks from their catalog with string arrangements by David Campbell. They brought the String Theory production to the stage during summer 2018 and followed with a studio-recorded double album of the same name in November. A 2020 anthology titled Perennial: A Hanson Net Collection gathered twenty-one tracks that had previously appeared only on their website. Early 2021 brought the single "Annalie" ahead of the band's seventh studio album, Against the World, which appeared that November.