Boy bands are typically harmonizing vocal groups manufactured or controlled by a record label or talent manager to tap into the market of screaming teenage girls. And there's always a bad boy thrown into the mix for greater appeal. Rather than play instruments, they perform choreographed dance routines. Songwriting is largely left up to teams of hitmakers.
The term boy band didn't appear until the '80s, when groups like New Edition and New Kids on the Block were singing and dancing their way into the hearts of millions of teen girls. Backstreet Boys led the resurgence in the late '90s when boy band fever spread from Europe to the US, and continued well into the next decade, with 'N Sync, Hanson, the Jonas Brothers, and One Direction plastered on bedroom walls throughout the nation. Can you separate the fact from the fiction: boy band edition?
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