January
2021 kicked off with the “Listener’s Choice” concerts and live streams. After allowing fans to vote via Twitter and Hanson.net for most of the songs, the setlists were curated and performed far and wide January 7th and 8th. Since Back to the Island 2021 was postponed to 2022, the guys announced “Islands & A Stream” – 2 members only streams they’d be performing from 3CG – a solo set from each of the brothers and an acoustic set at the end of the month when Back to the Island was supposed to be in full swing. New “southwest” themed merch was added to the store. Zac and his wife Kate announced they were expecting their 5th child, a son in March. The band also announced that Hanson Day 2021 would be starting “from scratch” and that all tickets purchased in 2020 would be automatically refunded as the event was being reimagined for 2021. Citing health & safety concerns, The Hop Jam 2021 was canceled and would take place next year on May 22, 2022.
February
Back to the Island 2022 went on sale and quickly sold out. The Spring edition of HNet Explorer was announced. Taylor participated in a Musician Roundtable: Lifers on Longevity & Creativity on the Clubhouse App. The revamped Hanson Day 2021 schedule was announced with 7 days of activities capped off with 2 concerts that would have limited in person tickets available. There was a Hanson mention on NBC’s This Is Us. Taylor debuted a new hairdo. Nick and Kevin Jonas mentioned MMMBop on SNL.
March
Speculation that Hanson would be performing on “The Masked Singer” made its way around the internet as fans believed them to be the voices behind “The Russian Dolls” from a Season 5 teaser. Hanson was mentioned during Freestylin’ with The Roots on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon. Zac and his wife Kate welcomed their 5th child, a son named Quincy Joseph Thoreau Hanson. Taylor turned 38. Hday 2021 tickets went on sale. Matt Richard’s started singing a fun new version of MMMBop during an HQ episode. Hanson.net explorers were treated to a sneak peak of one of the Cross Roads EP tracks.
April
Hanson were featured in a Forbes article about touring bands and the pandemic. MMMBop was featured in the pilot episode of Home Economics. Excitement over new music coming in May started among the fan base. The Russian Dolls continued to compete on The Masked Singer making it to the Spicy 6 and winning a Masky for Best Pop Performance.
May
The Street Team revamp kicked off. Hanson had a special Hanson Day Nightcap where they announced how Against the World would be released. The first single from Against the World, Annalie, was released. Hanson was revealed to be The Russian Dolls on The Masked Singer. The 2021 Summer Concert Series & Streams at Cain’s were announced. Hanson performed their last distanced shows for Hanson Day – This Time Around Acoustic and the annual Member’s Only Event Show. Taylor’s song Sound like Joy was in the Greenwood Here & Now documentary for the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Taylor performed with the Black Wall Street Music Collective at Legacy Festival.
June
June kicked off with the release of the second single off of Against the World, Don’t Ever Change, featuring Rick Nielsen. Taylor had a DJ set with a 70s Power Pop theme after the release of Don’t Ever Change. Bowling for Soup released a Where’s the Love collab with the band. Hanson did an in.live stress test by streaming The Road to Albertane on Hanson.net. Doswell, VA became the first full-capacity concert. Taylor was on the Peer Pleasure Podcast.
July
The third single from Against the World, Only Love, the first Isaac lead, was released. Hanson did their first 2 shows of the summer concert series – ATW + MON and ATW + TTA.
August
The fourth single, the title track, Against the World was released. The next summer concert series happened at Cain’s Ballroom featuring albums Underneath and The Walk in addition to Against the World. Hanson opened for The Beach Boys at the Iowa State Fair and joined the band and John Stamos for the encore. Taylor participated in a softball game on Long Island. Fans received a save the date for Hanson day 2022.
September
Stronger, the fifth single, was released. Shows 5 and 6 of the Summer Concert Series featuring Shout It Out and Anthem were performed at Cain’s Ballroom. Taylor spoke with Zog Blog about the “singles strategy” of releasing Against the World and how that could also be used in the publishing industry with books as well. Setlist voting started for the October Listener’s Choice shows. Hanson.net would no longer be coming with a physical CD option, instead it will now be available as an add-on purchase. The October HNet Explorer was announced.
October
October kicked off with the listener’s choice concerts at Cain’s Ballroom as well as the release of the 6th single from Against the World, One. Hanson Day tickets went on sale. HNet Explorer V kicked off. Hanson played a halftime show in Edmonton. Zac turned 36. A new song called “Bad” was mentioned. Isaac wrote a song with Paul McDonald. The band started recording a new project at a new studio they were excited to be at. The band celebrated Halloween in the studio.
November
Zac was a part of Modern Drummers “12 drummers drumming” to raise money to help veterans. The final Against the World single, Fearless, was released. The recording for the new 2022 project continued. Taylor did an interview with The Big Takeover. The RIYL Podcast featured Taylor. Isaac worked on a song with Stephen Kellogg. Isaac turned 41.
December
Hanson’s time in the studio continued. Taylor performed at a Food on the Move appreciation party.