Hanson Reveals Which Brother Originally Came Up with the Phrase ‘MMMBop’ While Making Their 1997 Hit (Exclusive)

By | November 4, 2024
0 Comment

People

  • Hanson is reflecting on the making of their 1997 hit, “MMMBop”
  • The brother trio appears in the inaugural episode of PEOPLE’s new series, My Side
  • In the video, the band reveals who exactly came up with the titular phrase

Nearly three decades after Hanson released “MMMBop,” the brother trio is looking back on the making of their signature hit.

In the inaugural installment of PEOPLE’s new video series My Side, Hanson brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac get nostalgic about creating the chart-topping 1997 pop hit — and who exactly came up with its iconic and unique title.

Before “MMMBop” was its own song, the band reveals, the memorable hook (“Mmmbop, ba duba dop ba / Du bop, ba duba dop ba / Du bop, ba duba dop ba du”) was originally meant to be featured in the background of a different song, “Boomerang.”

“It goes, ‘Bing- bang, hit me like a boomerang.’ It’s lots of bings,” says Zac, 39, of the track, released on the band’s 1995 demo album of the same name. “And I don’t know why we would think something so complicated would be a good addition to that other song, which is also very complicated.”

According to Taylor, 41, “It’s hard to say who literally said, ‘Mmmbop,'” but his brothers disagree.

“Taylor probably sang it first,” recalls Zac. “I was probably coloring or something. I mean, I was little. I was like 7, 8 when ‘MMMBop’ was written. It’s not like I wasn’t there, it’s just, I was probably just being me.”

Isaac, 43, says, “My memory is pretty good for that time, and if my memory serves me correctly, the three of us walked out of the control room where we were working, and then went around the stairs, in an area where there was a little bit more reverb sound in that stairwell, and we were just singing.”

He adds, “It’s very possible that Taylor said the first idea, like, ‘How would you scat to this?'”

Released as the lead single off the band’s debut major label album Middle of Nowhere, “MMMBop” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in over a dozen total countries.

mmmmBop Hanson
Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson for PEOPLE’s ‘My Side’ video series.People

Elsewhere in the video, they open up about how it feels to perform “MMMBop” today.

“‘MMMBop’ is a song we really did write. We really did feel it, and it became hugely successful. And every time it was, it was an affirmation of that,” says Taylor. “I really feel kind of a real gratitude for the fans that have seen it for what it is and that have listened to a lot more songs than ‘MMMBop,’ but I’m always proud to sing that song.”

Zac explains, “Performing is very much about the audience, and the audience is still incredibly excited to hear that song. And so that makes it fun every time. What is really not fun is to listen to anyone sing the lyrics incredibly wrong and be like, ‘I love that song. Scooby boop ka goo bop. Scoop doo.'”

Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson and Zac Hanson of Hanson attend the Old Navy and The Cut Host 90's Throwback Party at Webster Hall on September 09, 2024 in New York City.
Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson and Zac Hanson of Hanson in September 2024.Mark Sagliocco/Getty

For Isaac, performing “MMMBop” live comes with a personally emotional reaction — especially during the band’s 2018-2019 String Theory Tour, where they played the hit song with an orchestra.

“I think every single night I got teary-eyed when the lyric says, ‘So hold on the ones who really care, because in the end they’ll be the only ones there,'” he says. “Every single time it hit me that amongst other things, here are all these people, and they’re here in the room with you, and in a sense, you’re singing a song about them and who they are.”

Hanson recently released Underneath: Complete, an extended version of their 2004 album Underneath. The trio is currently performing the album on the Underneath: Experience Tour, a 12-city trek of two-night stands — where they perform acoustic on night one and electric on night two.

Hanson reflects on 20 years of ‘Underneath’ and favorite Georgia memories

By | October 24, 2024
0 Comment

GPB

Hanson (from left): Brothers Isaac, Zac and Taylor perform at Atlanta's Buckhead Theater on Oct. 22 and 23, 2024

GPB’s Kristi York Wooten speaks to Taylor and Zac Hanson about the band’s Georgia connections.

Hanson, the Grammy nominated trio from Tulsa, Oklahoma, returns to Atlanta to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its album Underneath. They’ll play two nights of concerts at the Buckhead Theater on Oct. 22 and 23.

GPB’s Kristi York Wooten caught up with the group recently to talk about the brothers’ interesting Georgia connections.

Hanson has been on the scene for more than two decades. Their 1997 major-label debut album featured worldwide hits such “MMMBop” and “Where’s the Love,” followed by a sophomore album called This Time Around.

When Hanson first played Atlanta’s Tabernacle in the summer of 2000, the brothers Isaac, 20 Taylor, 17, and Zac, 15, were already child stars. Now, ages 41 and 39, Taylor and Zac Hanson [Isaac, 43, was not available for the interview] are reflecting on how that night in downtown Atlanta was pivotal to their lives and careers.

“That was a very fateful night for particularly for Zac and I,” Taylor Hanson said, “Because we both met our eventual wives at that show. So we both married Atlanta girls. And, I mean, the Tabernacle is an amazing venue. And that tour was pivotal, because we were making a decision to really invest in connecting with fans in a way that well, frankly, just the way that rock and roll bands did.”

“Yes, we did both meet our wives at the show at the Tabernacle,” Zac Hanson said. “So forever we will love that venue regardless of anything that happens. And, you know, it started a real connection to that city, that place.”

What came next for Hanson was a break from the corporate world and starting their own label with the release of first independent album, Underneath, in 2004.

“Underneath, our album—we’re 20 years later and we really we talked about it at the end [of recording], like ‘This is an album about believing in the long view, about taking chances and about betting on our fans,’” Taylor said. “And they, you know, they stuck with us. 20 years later, they’re filling rooms all over the world.”

That album’s title track was co-written by Matthew Sweet, a veteran of the Athens, Ga., music scene. It’s a soulful ballad that helped catapult Hanson from teen idols to widely respected songwriters.

“Matthew started playing some chords and Taylor’s on the piano,” Zac said, reflecting on the writing process all those years ago. “And suddenly, in an hour or two, maybe three, we had this completed idea, and it became the title track of the album Underneath. And it was just melodic and meaningful. I think in a way, that song is the story of what we were doing as a band [at the time], which was just digging deeper.”

Sweet was scheduled to perform on the bill with Hanson at the Buckhead Theater on Oct. 22 as part of a two-night affair that dedicates one night to the acoustic side of things and one night to the electric, celebrating the textures that inspired the guys when they were writing the songs for Underneath. But unfortunately he is dealing with a health issue and cannot attend. Phantom Planet will perform Oct. 23 ahead of Hanson’s slot on the second night of the concert experience.

Hanson released a cover of Nick Drake’s 1972 folk ballad “Pink Moon” to match the stylings of Underneath and is excited to revisit their favorite songs from the era, including “Penny & Me.”

“It’s really amazing and joyful to share those songs this many years later,” Taylor said. “Because they may be the same, the same lyric, but they carry different meaning in 2024.”