Boy Band Mania In The 2020s: K-Pop Dominance, Long-Awaited Reunions & Exciting New Talent

What's considered a boy band now? For Jeff Timmons, the answer to that question isn't quite as simple in 2025 as it was when his band, 98 Degrees, started making waves during the teen pop boom of the new millennium.

"We've been having this debate lately within our group," the singer continues from his home in Las Vegas. "Is it just four guys that sing harmony-based music? Is it four guys that dance and sing?"

Ever since the world met four shaggy-haired boys from Liverpool calling themselves The Beatles, "boy bands" of one kind or another have been a defining force in popular music. John, Paul, George and Ringo were followed in the '60s and '70s by familial acts like the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds, but the true definition of a boy band wasn't established until groups like New Edition and New Kids On The Block emerged, singing and dancing through the '80s and '90s. Others, like Boyz II Men, eschewed onstage choreography in favor of vocal harmonies rooted in the sounds of doo-wop and barbershop.

Of course, the boy band phenomenon reached its fever pitch in the late '90s and early 2000s, when groups like Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and 98 Degrees stormed to the top of the Billboard charts, selling millions of records and becoming global superstars.

And while boy bands' domination on the charts has waned since their record-breaking heyday, the phenomenon lives on by introducing the magic of the boy band to each successive generation. After being formed on "The X Factor," One Direction brought boy band mania back in the 2010s alongside fellow acts like The Wanted and Big Time Rush. At the same time, K-pop acts like BTS, SEVENTEEN and MONSTA X began gaining momentum outside of their native South Korea, going on to explode in popularity around the world in the latter half of the decade.

All the while, veteran boy bands like New Kids On The Block, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees have all continued to tour and make new music as their fans have grown into adults. And if anyone needs proof that boy band hysteria is alive and well in the 2020s, look no further than BSB's brand-new residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, where they'll become the first pop act to headline the state-of-the-art venue when shows begin July 11.

"It's a unique fraternity," Timmons says, reflecting on the pantheon of boy bands who've soundtracked the last four decades of pop music. "Any time you get a group of guys singing mostly love songs, I think, it just has some sort of cachet. Fans are drawn to it. They attach themselves to it and it's usually a pivotal part of people's childhood … So it's an exciting thing for us to be a part of and it's not lost on us how lucky we've been."

Below, GRAMMY.com dives into eight different ways boy bands are continuing to make their mark, from glitzy Las Vegas residences and hotly anticipated reunions to major milestones and pushing the concept of the boy band into the future.

Backstreet's back, alright! Backstreet Boys will make history this summer as the first pop act to headline the Sphere with their new Las Vegas residency, Into the Millennium.

"It's a show like no other," Brian Littrell told Entertainment Tonight as the veteran boy banders were busy preparing to take over the state-of-the-art monument on the Strip. "At the end of the day, the venue is remarkable, it's one of a kind … So we can give our fans something different this time."

The quintet, which also includes Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and Kevin Richardson, are no strangers to Sin City, where they also did their first residency, Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life, from 2017 to 2019. However, this time around, the guys' Vegas takeover will coincide with the 25th anniversary re-release of their smash 1999 album, Millennium.

The special reissue, christened Millennium 2.0, arrives July 11 and will include live tracks, previously unreleased demos and a brand-new single, "Hey." "It really put Backstreet Boys on the map worldwide and took our careers to another level," Richardson said to ET of the original LP, which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 at the turn of the century, went 13X platinum and remains one of the best-selling albums of the modern SoundScan era. "And we're gonna celebrate that music and that album …This opportunity excited us, it inspired us, and we can't wait to get things rolling."

No boy band has dominated the 2020s like BTS. In fact, the Bangtan Boys are the only group of their kind to notch multiple No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 2020s, earning six chart-toppers in 2020 and 2021 alone including "Dynamite," "Butter" and "Permission to Dance."

However, the K-pop idols' run as arguably the biggest music group in the world was put on pause as all seven members began their mandatory service in the South Korean military. (Jin enlisted in December 2022, followed by j-hope in April 2023, with the rest of the members staggering their own enlistment dates through that September.)

As they've been honorably discharged, several members have kept ARMY well-fed with solo projects like Jin's EP Echo and j-hope's recent singles "Sweet Dreams," "Mona Lisa" and "Killin' It Girl." Others managed to release other projects and collaborations recorded prior to their military service throughout 2024, like Jimin's record-setting MUSE, RM's guest verse on Megan Thee Stallion's "Neva Play," and V's holiday offerings with Bing Crosby ("White Christmas") and Park Hyo Shin ("Winter Ahead").

As of Suga's discharge on June 21, though, all seven BTS members are officially out of the military, and their fans around the world rejoiced while waiting with baited breath to see what the septet does next. All seven members reunited for the June 13 conclusion of j-hope's first solo world tour, HOPE ON THE STAGE, which wrapped up just in time to celebrate FESTA, the group's annual anniversary celebration with ARMY.

Then, on July 1, the idols reunited for their first livestream in three years. The seven members were all smiles as they announced a new BTS album is in the works, with a release date set for the spring of 2026 and a long-awaited world tour to follow.

In a joint statement, BTS said the new full-length "will reflect each member's thoughts and ideas" before adding that they are "approaching the album with the same mindset we had when we first started" back in 2013. In the meantime, the group's first-ever live album, Permission to Dance On Stage — Live, will be released July 18.

Fans have been clamoring for *NSYNC to reunite for decades, since the moment the boy band went on hiatus after their final GRAMMY-nominated album, 2001's Celebrity. But as Justin Timberlake's solo stardom catapulted higher and higher thanks to studio sets like 2002's Justified, 2006's FutureSex/LoveSounds and 2013's The 20/20 Experience, a proper reunion seemed more and more unlikely. Hopes briefly intensified when JT's bandmates joined him onstage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards to perform "Girlfriend" and "Bye Bye Bye" as he received the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.

Six years later, Ariana Grande turned her 2019 headlining set at Coachella into another mini *NSYNC reunion, standing in for Timberlake as she surprised the ecstatic crowd with Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick to perform "Makes Me Ill" and "Tearin' Up My Heart."

It wasn't until 2023, however, that fans finally got the long-awaited reunion they'd been dying for — though perhaps not in the exact way they expected. All five members of *NSYNC came together for Trolls Band Together, voicing Kismet, the one-time boy band of Timberlake's character, Branch. The animated kids' movie also came with the first new *NSYNC song in more than 20 years, with "Better Place" earning a GRAMMY nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

The following year, the fivesome dropped another new song in the form of the dreamy, swoonworthy "Paradise" for Timberlake's 2024 solo album Everything I Thought It Was. The guys then made a surprise appearance at The Wiltern Theater in L.A. to debut the track live — but only after treating the ecstatic crowd to "Girlfriend," "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me."

Throughout the teen-pop boom of the late '90s and early '00s, 98 Degrees tallied four albums, six Top 20 hits on the Hot 100 and even earned a GRAMMY nomination for "Thank God I Found You," their 1999 collaboration with Mariah Carey and Joe.

Twenty-five years later, the boy band — made up of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons — returned with their seventh album, Full Circle. Not only did the 2025 LP mark the first time the group had released original music in 12 years, it also gave them the opportunity to revisit their past by re-recording '00s-era hits like "Because of You," "I Do" and "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)."

"We all have our own favorites, but the five that we chose were pretty much our biggest hits," Timmons said of choosing which songs to recreate from their Y2K catalog. "I mean, when we started this, we were college dropouts trying to impress girls and wanted to get famous.

"And now, years later, we're thankful, because [the fans] did grow with us, right?" he continued. "So we were blessed that it sort of superseded and transcended what we really wanted it to be. It's been a real gift for us to continue to do this now, three decades later."

It's been a decade since SEVENTEEN debuted with their first EP, 17 Carat, in May 2015. So to celebrate, the K-pop boy band turned the milestone into an unforgettable occasion thanks to their latest full-length, HAPPY BURSTDAY.

The idols aimed to reinvent themselves as a "new SEVENTEEN" on the album, tapping producers like Pharrell and Timbaland to help them blaze new trails musically as they enter their second decade as a band.

"We hope listeners can experience a new side of SEVENTEEN through this album — whether by discovering a different charm or embracing a broader spectrum of our music," member S.COUPS said in a press release before adding, "We've taken on many challenges over the years, but this album reflects our desire to keep evolving and exploring our potential."

HAPPY BURSTDAY also turned Seoul into a must-visit destination for hundreds of thousands of SEVENTEEN's loyal CARATs, as the band transformed the heart of the South Korean capital into a jubilant three-day festival, SEVENTEEN 10TH ANNIVERSARY B-DAY PARTY. The special event culminated in a live performance by the 13 members on Jamsu Bridge in front of 200,000 fans, making them the first K-pop boy band in history to use the historic landmark as a stage.

New Kids On The Block have continued to prove they've still got it — "The Right Stuff," that is! — ever since they formally reunited in 2008 with their sixth studio album, The Block, which was anchored by the irresistibly sunshine-y Top 20 pop hit "Summertime."

Other albums and collaborations followed, including the band's 2011 link-up with Backstreet Boys as NKOTBSB and concert tours with the likes of Jesse McCartney, TLC and Boyz II Men.

In 2024, the teen pop pioneers dropped their eighth album, Still Kids, featuring nostalgia-fueled guest appearances by DJ Jazzy Jeff ("Get Down") and Taylor Dayne ("Old School Love"). After wrapping up their Magic Summer 2024 Tour, the band set their sights on Sin City for New Kids On The Block: The Right Stuff Las Vegas Residency.

Playing two dozen dates through February 2026 at Dolby Live at Park MGM, the boy band veterans promise their dazzling new show on the Strip will pay off for diehard fans who've been devoted to them for nearly 40 years and counting. "If you're playing to the superfan, you can do deeper and deeper cuts," Jordan Knight told Billboard after the first show on June 20. "We wanted to give them surprises that they haven't seen before."

Bain Of JUSTB Made History For Queer Boy Band Representation

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So happy and proud of you BAIN! @Bain @JUSTB_Official

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In April, Bain of K-pop boy band JUSTB made a brave declaration during the group's final stop in Los Angeles on their JUST ODD World Tour. "Before I start the next song, tonight I want to share something with you guys: I'm f—ing proud to be part of the LGBTQ+," the singer said from on stage at the Vermont Hollywood. "To anyone out there who's part of the LGTBQ+ or still figuring out, this is for you guys."

In fan-captured footage of the heartfelt moment, the group's fandom, known as ONLY B, erupts into shrieks and cheers of support, with many on the floor jumping up and down in celebration. Bain's announcement is all the more special given how rare queer representation is within both the K-pop industry and the longer history of boy bands at large.

A few heartthrobs like Jonathan Knight of New Kids On The Block and Lance Bass of *NSYNC have come out publicly as gay over the last couple of decades, but doing so during their groups' respective heydays in the '90s and '00s would've been virtually unthinkable. (Meanwhile, more recent attempts at launching all-gay boy bands like Echo V and OutLoud have sadly stalled after releasing just a handful of tracks each.)

But JUSTB, who debuted in 2021 with their freshman EP, Just Burn, and its lead single, "Damage," are still on the rise — making Bain one of the first artists in boy band history to be open about his identity while his group is still in the prime of their career.

In a special Billboard interview with his bandmates rallying around him in support, Bain reflected on his journey to the triumphant moment. "I was really scared that it would hurt my career. That fear was always there," he said. "So after debut, I struggled with my sexual identity, feeling like I was just deceiving everyone, and it was a really tough time. But eventually, I realized I couldn't keep pretending. I shared my truth and everyone accepted me sincerely. I'm grateful for that, and now I describe it as if my heart beats so much louder."

While K-pop acts have largely been responsible for picking up the boy band mantle in the 2020s, new groups from America and the U.K. are also starting to make their mark on the industry. Take No Guidnce, a British quartet whose silken harmonies and Gen Z swagger were clearly inspired by the long line of boy bands that came before them, from Boyz II Men and B2K to Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and beyond.

Their music often channels the sounds of the '90s on earworms like "Lovers to Enemies" and "Nostalgic," but Eshan, Josh, Kaci, and Zeekay's story is a far cry from many of their Y2K predecessors. While the traditional boy band model was largely a product of major label manufacturing, the group first gained traction on TikTok, posting covers of Boyz II Men, Destiny's Child and New Edition from an echoing, nondescript parking garage somewhere in Britain. More than 82 million likes and one change in the lineup later (Eshan joined the band in August 2024 after original member Ebubé's departure), and No Guidnce has released their sophomore EP, Confessions of a Loverboy, entirely independently.

There's also as1one, the multicultural sextet being billed as the world's first Israeli and Palestinian boy band. The fledgling group — made up of members Ohad Attia, Sadik Dogosh, Aseel Farah, Niv Lin, Nadav Philips, and Neta Rozenblat — documented their move to Los Angeles in October 2023 with a self-titled docu-series on Paramount+. So far, they've collaborated with Nile Rodgers on their debut single, "All Eyes on Us" and dropped two different versions of follow-up ballad "Strangers."

Republic Records is also in the midst of developing OutStation, a brand-new Indian boy band, with help from Savan Kotecha, the hit songwriter behind pop smashes for the likes of Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato and One Direction. While they have yet to release their debut single, the fresh-faced quintet received an official unveiling via Billboard on July 7, introducing the world to Shayan Pattem, Kurian Sebastian, Mashaal Shaikh, Bhuvan Shetty, and Hemang Singh.

Though K-pop certainly dominates the modern boy band space today, acts like No Guidnce, as1one and OutStation are eager to revitalize the format outside of that world. And in an email interview with GRAMMY.com, No Guidnce insisted that they see this unique position as an advantage.

"It gives us a chance to define what it means to be a boy band again," Kaci said. "The formula remains the same, but I've found that audiences today want to invest in artists that feel authentic."

Eshan views the band not only as a new, harmony-laden link in the long line of boy bands throughout history, but also as a way to push the pop music phenomenon into the future. "A driving force behind our passion as a group comes from our commitment towards pushing boundaries in the boy band world," he says, "learning from the greats that we grew up with and paving our own way to lay a new foundation for generations to come."