Who doesn’t LOVE boy bands??

In the classic words of Jungkook….LET’S GET IT!

The Challenge: to rate and rank the top boy bands in various eras to see who reigns supreme. AKA: a boy band throwdown.

Challenge Accepted! This is right up my alley and I will tackle the throwdown shortly, but first….some history!

One of my favorite topics to debate is boy bands! I have been a boy band enthusiast (HUGE understatement) since I got my first New Kids on the Block tape when I was 8. From then on, I was hooked on the catchy sounds of NKOTB, Take That, BSB, 5ive, Westlife, O-Town and more recently One Direction and BTS.

You may think it’s strange for a thirty-something to still be into boy bands, but really, it’s no different than supporting a sports team – only with better dance moves and catchy hooks! I mean, has anyone not learned the “Everybody” choreography and busted it out at a party??

I am so much a boy band fan, I have even created my own “Group the Boy Bands” game and spring it on unsuspecting visitors from time to time.

What can I say, I just have really good taste!!

And speaking of good taste, I recently finished reading Maria Sherman’s new book, LARGER THAN LIFE: A History of Boy Bands. I CAN NOT tell you how good this book was. And I can’t believe no one wrote it before now. I highly recommend this as a read – you will be entertained, but may also learn something about awesome music along the way.

Recently, Rolling Stone did one of the things I LOVE to do – rate the 75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time – and I’m glad someone took on this daunting challenge! Reading the article takes me down memory lane, and while I don’t agree with all of the rankings, it is pretty solid and I am glad to see some of the less talked about (and IMO underrated) bands make the list (!! East 17, SHINee and 5ive!!). It of course includes classics from NSYNC, Backstreet Boys (!!) and BTS (!!!!!). What did you think of their ranking? Were any of your favs missed?