Biography
Originally assembled in 2000 for the ABC reality series Making the Band, the five-piece boyband O-Town first captured attention through their television exposure and a catchy strain of dance-flavored pop. Lou Pearlman, the longtime architect behind Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, helped shape the project, and the series gave audiences an insider’s view of how a boy band is assembled, from initial tryouts through the ink on their first recording contract. The program enjoyed moderate success before Diddy relocated it to MTV. By the close of its debut season the group had built a sizable following, and in 2001 their self-titled full-length debut O-Town reached the Top Ten.
The series began with more than 1,800 hopefuls auditioning. Under the cameras’ gaze the pool was narrowed to twenty-five, then eight, and finally the five who were chosen: Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, and Ikaika Kahoano. Kahoano soon departed for personal reasons and was succeeded by Dan Miller. Clive Davis, the former head of Arista, quickly offered the group a deal; their debut album O-Town appeared in 2001 while the cameras kept rolling for two additional seasons of Making the Band.
The record yielded two Top Ten singles and moved more than three million copies globally. Their follow-up, O2, surfaced in 2002, yet the teen-pop wave that had propelled them was already receding; the album fell short of gold status, the band’s contract lapsed the next year, and the original lineup disbanded. Ashley Parker Angel later found solo success as a recording artist and stage performer, while Kahoano joined other Making the Band alumni to form the short-lived Atlantic act LMNT, which released one album.
Roughly a decade afterward the remaining four members—Miller, Estrada, Penick, and Underwood—reconvened and issued Lines & Circles on an independent label in 2013. They returned in 2017 with the EP Part 1, which featured the single “Empty Space.”
The series began with more than 1,800 hopefuls auditioning. Under the cameras’ gaze the pool was narrowed to twenty-five, then eight, and finally the five who were chosen: Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, and Ikaika Kahoano. Kahoano soon departed for personal reasons and was succeeded by Dan Miller. Clive Davis, the former head of Arista, quickly offered the group a deal; their debut album O-Town appeared in 2001 while the cameras kept rolling for two additional seasons of Making the Band.
The record yielded two Top Ten singles and moved more than three million copies globally. Their follow-up, O2, surfaced in 2002, yet the teen-pop wave that had propelled them was already receding; the album fell short of gold status, the band’s contract lapsed the next year, and the original lineup disbanded. Ashley Parker Angel later found solo success as a recording artist and stage performer, while Kahoano joined other Making the Band alumni to form the short-lived Atlantic act LMNT, which released one album.
Roughly a decade afterward the remaining four members—Miller, Estrada, Penick, and Underwood—reconvened and issued Lines & Circles on an independent label in 2013. They returned in 2017 with the EP Part 1, which featured the single “Empty Space.”
Albums
