American boy band New Kids on the Block, formed in 1984, is made up of members Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. Originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, the members came together after being recruited at school by Wahlberg. The outfit, originally named Nynuk, rehearsed after school and on the weekends.
Managed by Maurice Starr, the group eventually signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. They later changed their name to New Kids on the Block following a rap song that Whalberg had written for their debut album.
Their self-titled debut record was released in 1986, but failed to gain major attention. Despite the initial disappointment, Starr unwaveringly continued to work with the group on their second album, Hangin Tough. The album’s single, “Please Don’t Go Girl,” started to gain attention; after its release of the music video, the single made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 10.
The group then welcomed their band of musicians, Greg McPherson (musical director and keyboardist), David Dyson (bassist), Yasko Kubota (keyboardist), Nerida Rojas (guitarist), and Derrick Antunes (drummer). After making their first national television appearances, New Kids on the Block began touring the US as support for the teen-pop musician, Tiffany. Their second album, Hangin’ Tough (1988), went eight times platinum. The group later put out a holiday album, Merry, Merry Christmas, which went double platinum.
Alongside the release of their third studio album, Step by Step (1990), the album’s title track quickly became their best-selling single and topped the Hot 100. Step by Step sold almost 20 million copies worldwide. In 1993, the group released their fourth studio album, Face the Music. While the album did not gain the same level of popularity as their previous albums, the group continued to tour in support of the release.
In 1994, group member Jonathan Knight first left the band after experiencing panic attacks and anxiety, and his departure eventually led to the disbanding of the group. The members continued to pursue solo careers and later reunited in 2008, releasing their comeback single “Summertime.”
The group then released The Block -- which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart -- and began their reunion tour later that same year. New Kids on the Block embarked on a series of concert cruises, and in 2011 they joined the Backstreet Boys on a summer tour.
In 2013, the outfit released 10, which was followed by a 2014 European tour and a 2016 tour with Paula Abdul and Boyz II Men. In 2017, the group made guest appearances on The Late Late Show with James Corden, where they performed their single “One More Night” from their 2017 EP Thankful.
In October 2018, NKOTB planned to tour alongside '90s stars such as Salt-N-Pepa, Naughty by Nature, Debbie Gibson and Tiffany for the "MixTape Tour." The tour ran from 2019 through summer 2022.
