Get ready to have “MMMBop” stuck in your head all over again. Hanson, the trio of music-playing brothers best known for their smash 1997 single, hits the stage for a surprisingly emotional performance of the tune on ABC’s Greatest Hits.
A sneak peek exclusive to Us Weekly shows the guys playing an acoustic rendition of “MMMBop” on the Thursday, July 7, episode, which comes 20 years after the song’s original, self-produced 1996 release. The tune went double platinum, earned a pair of Grammy nominations and led to the band’s posters adorning the walls of teens everywhere.
Also appearing on the July 7 episode are Meghan Trainor, the Backstreet Boys, Coolio, Jewel, John Legend, LL Cool J andCeeLo Green.
Greatest Hits is a summer series featuring iconic artists of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, along with contemporary hitmakers. Each episode focuses on the biggest songs from a five-year span.
In an interview with Vulture in March, the now-grown Hanson boys — Isaac, 35; Taylor, 33; and Zac, 30 — revealed that cover versions of the tune don’t typically get the song quite right.
“You know why? People can’t sing the chorus right,” Isaac said. “Most of the time they syncopate it wrong.” Tough crowd!
Hanson rocketed into the pop-music stratosphere with their debut album, MMMBop, released in May 1997 when they were mere tykes — youngest member Zac was just 11! Later releases haven’t quite had the commercial success of their first one, although their most recent album, Anthem, was released in June 2013 and added to their long list of collections to land in the top 40 of the Billboard 200.
Watch the toe-tapping performance in the video above.
Greatest Hits airs on ABC Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.