Boy band break ups – SOLO STARDOM!!

SOMETIMES BREAK UPS LEAD TO BETTER THINGS…

Unfortunately, sometimes boy bands break up. And when that happens, usually some members try and go solo and see how it goes without the rest of the band. And sometimes it goes well!! Of course we have all seen what happens when it goes the other way…but I will tackle that in another post! For today, let’s look at those boy band break ups that led to some of our favorite solo stars!

Here are my Top 5 FAVORITE Boy Band Solo Stars:

5. Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams left Take That with a bang – and it took them fifteen years to put all the bad blood behind them and actually reunite as a full five-piece. But in the meantime, Robbie went on to super super solo stardom! He released his solo debut within a year of leaving the band, and immediately had hits like Angels and Millennium. He has received 18 Brit Awards for his solo efforts, and is even in the Guinness Book of World Records for selling 1.6 million tickets to his Close Encounters tour in one day. Twelve solo albums later, and Robbie is still on top and making hits – recently having a Las Vegas residency in 2019, with plans to come back to Vegas once COVID has calmed down.

4. Ricky Martin

One of the major solo stars to come out of Menudo, Ricky Martin has a LOT of hits to his name! With ten solo albums and hits like Vuelve, La Bomba – not to mention global commercial success with Livin La Vida Loca, he ranks as one of the most influential Latin artists of all time. He is credited with making Spanish speaking pop mainstream in 1999/2000 and has won 2 Grammys, 5 Latin Grammy Awards, 5 MTV Video Music Awards, 3 Billboard Music Awards and countless other awards during his time as a solo artist. But most importantly, his music just makes you want to dance. I dare you to put on any song from the 1998 Vuelve album and try to keep your hips still!

3. Suga AKA Agust D

You could argue that Suga aka Agust D aka Min Yoongi shouldn’t be on this list because BTS has never broken up. And that is true. But if you know me, you know I have a soft spot for Suga and basically try and put him on every list I make! Plus, Suga is the only BTS member to release two mix tapes – Agust D and D-2 – not to mention countless collaborations with other artists like MAX and Suran, and the production skills that artists everywhere want on their records! In fact, the Korean Music Copyright Association attributes over 100 songs to Suga as a songwriter and producer. But this isn’t about his writing and production skills – his latest solo record peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard 200, something pretty impressive for a record mainly in Korean. And if you don’t believe me that his solo records are amazing, just listen to People, Burn It and Tony Montana and see what you think!

2. Justin Timberlake

I’m just going to say it – Justin Timberlake was pretty much a solo star while still in NSYNC. He did most of the singing – especially in the later songs – and the rest of the band turned into his back-up dancers (see how I REALLY feel in the 90s/00s boy band throwdown). So it was no surprise when JT immediately hit SUPER success with his solo album Justified and its lead singles Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body. And then there was his next album Future Sex/Love Sounds and alllllllll of the hits off that album (including SexyBack), and then the 20/20 experience with even more hits! JT is definitely a solo success, with 10 Grammy awards and having sold over 32 million albums and 56 million singles globally throughout his solo career! With solo success like that, why would he ever get back with the band???

1. Harry Styles

Harry is a boy band member that was always destined for solo success. And you could say that each of the 1D members have achieved a fair amount of solo success since the band broke up in 2015 – but Harry has put out hit after hit, had critical acclaim and is at the top of his game! It also doesn’t hurt that he has a great personality, talk show hosts like James Cordon and Jimmy Fallon love him, and he’s not afraid to go against the norm and break down barriers and stereotypes. I think Harry has quite the career ahead of him, and out of all the former boy banders, his albums are more of a constant feature in my rotation. Just give Sweet Creature, Lights Up or Adore You a listen and TELL ME they aren’t amazing!