Now To Love

Ready to swoon like your 16-year-old self? Yeah, you are.

Jun 22, 2017 5:00pm
By Carrissa Lawrie and Alix Nicholson
Hanson
Taylor, Zac and Isaac Hanson MMMBopped into our hearts in the ’90s, and in 2017, they’re back in a massive way.

There was something about the long, flowing blonde locks and beyond-belief catchy tunes of brother pop trio Hanson that had us all totally hooked during their late-1990s heyday.

Fast-forward a couple of decades (anyone else feeling ancient?) and our favourite teen crushes – Taylor, Zac and Isaac – are all grown up, smack bang in the middle of a new world tour (Middle Of Everywhere, ICYMI) and are, right now, this very minute, IN AUSTRALIA!
In more than 20 years, we haven’t stopped loving these guys – who, PS, are all now dads/married/still really hot.

But now there are even more reasons to crush on Taylor, 34, Zac, 31, and Isaac, 36.

Where Is The Love?

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Right here, guys. Right here.

They love an Aussie drop

Taylor tells OK! the guys love coming to Oz because we have “good beer” down here. (Well, they’re right, tbh…)

That’s very important to the trio, who created their own brew, Mmmhops, in 2013. Will we see it in our bars soon? “We hope so!” laughs Tay.

Anyone for a cheeky bevvy?
They adore their fans

All of our tween dreams came true for three extremely lucky ladies. “We met all our wives at [Hanson] concerts,” Zac tells Entertainment Weekly.

Issac spotted his missus Nicole in the crowd, while Taylor and Zac met their ladies, Natalie and Kate respectively, backstage after a gig. How sweet.

They’re legit good guys

Beer is about as badarse as these boys get. Despite growing up in the spotlight, they haven’t been tempted by the darker side of fame like many child stars.

“Have we done stupid things? Definitely,” Taylor admits to OK!. “Are we chasing hookers and shooting up after the show? No, that sounds horrible.”

These cute kids have stayed on the straight and narrow.

They’re breeders

The guys have a whopping 12 kids between them – Isaac has three children, Taylor has five, and Zac has four.

So will any of their offspring follow in their footsteps?

“I can’t imagine there would literally be a second-generation Hanson because [the band’s] not a baton to be passed, but I can imagine these kids will make music at some point,” Taylor tells OK!.

They actually hate MMMBop covers (soz)

Well, this is awkward… the guys haven’t heard a good cover of MMMBop in the 20 years since it became a smash hit.

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“I’ve got to be honest,” Taylor admits to Vulture magazine when asked. “No!”

The problem, according to Issac, is that, “People can’t sing the chorus right.” Although the brothers wouldn’t be opposed if one man in particular took it on.

“If Bruno Mars were interested, he’d probably find a way to kill it,” shares Isaac.

Oh, and they’re friends with Harry Styles

‘Nuff said…

news.com.au

Bronte Coynews.com.au
“YOU don’t just randomly get caught naked … not even the most famous person in the world.”

If anyone’s qualified to lift the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood, it’s Hanson — the band of three brothers who shot to super-stardom in 1997 after their breakthrough album Middle of Nowhere sold 16 million records.

Hanson were just 15, 13 and 11 when they wrote MMMBop, the song that made them famous.
Hanson were just 15, 13 and 11 when they wrote MMMBop, the song that made them famous.Source:News Limited
Isaac, Zac and Taylor’s stars rose around the same time as the likes of Britney Spears and N*Sync, but despite regularly crossing paths over the years — they insist they’re nothing like their peers.

Namely, they’ve managed to steer clear of any scandals.

“Having any success means anything you do is going to be scrutinised … It still comes back to your choices and your judgment,” Taylor Hanson told news.com.au.

“Britney Spears — someone saw her whatever walking out of a club. That specific club has photographers there, they were there for that reason — to be seen. That’s what people don’t talk about. It’s not like ‘oh my gosh, how did this happen?’”

He added: “You don’t just randomly get caught naked with someone you don’t want to get caught naked with and have it posted online — not even the most famous people in the world.”

It’s a surprisingly rational response from a group who did the famous family thing well before anyone kept up with Kardashians.

But unlike reality TV’s first family, Hanson has always refused to be famous for famous’ sake.

“With our choices, good or bad, we’ve always wanted to be known for something. Not just for who are, for famousness, and we’re not particularly interested in the idea of just doing something because it will be successful,” Zac said.

It was that kind of thinking that held Hanson back from saturating the market with their merchandise back in the day, despite the big money that can be made by boy bands spruiking products to an overeager tween market.

Plenty of screaming fans were waiting to greet Hanson when they touched down in Australia in 1997.
Plenty of screaming fans were waiting to greet Hanson when they touched down in Australia in 1997.Source:News Corp Australia

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And it seems to have made up part of the “artistic differences” which fuelled the split in 2003 with their record label, Island Def-Jam, and pushed them to set up their own company.

“We left our major label because it was a big corporation that didn’t know what it wanted from Hanson … We had artists — really successful people — going, ‘Why? What are you guys doing?’” Taylor recalled.

“But the decision to leave the label was the same reason why we didn’t make dolls and lunch boxes when our first record was blowing up … Some of those [decisions], you go ‘yeah, maybe at that moment it may have made more money’.”

As Isaac added: “In hindsight, it might not have been the right call.”

Here are some other surprising revelations Hanson shared with news.com.au.

WHO ACTUALLY INVENTED MMMBOP?

“It was right in a moment … I don’t remember the exact second, I remember just walking away from the microphone trying to come up with some kind of scatty thing to go underneath this song. And we came up with this thing [MMMBop] and were like, ‘oh this is cool!’” Isaac

THEIR CRAZIEST FANS

“We’ve definitely had fans find their way to our hotel rooms, we’ve had people hiding underneath cars or garages waiting for us to show up at a specific spot.” Taylor

“One of the crazier things that happened with fans — I’m not 100 per cent sure we still hold this record — but at one time, we held the record for the loudest audience of all time.” Zac

BEING THE BUTT OF MANY, MANY JOKES

“Being a part of pop culture — we get the joke. It’s hilarious … [in a Family Guy scene] I’m kind of jealous Quagmire wanted to get with [Taylor].” Zac

“That’s a huge thing to be grateful for – that you’re relevant enough that people are able to make a joke or insert you into pop culture.” Taylor

“We were the ones on SNL making fun of our own songs!” Isaac

WHY THEY’RE NOT REALLY A ‘BOY BAND’

“The term ‘boy band’ has been used almost exclusively with bands that have been ‘assembled’. Like One Direction, they were put together. They were contestants on a talent show. We don’t mind the association with ‘band’ or ‘boys’ or ‘pop’, but we’re actually not that comparable to those artists … except in the sense of it being ‘popular’.” Zac

WHEN THEY FIRST REALISED THEY WERE FAMOUS

“We went to an event that was supposed to be just us playing acoustic in front of a small crowd, and it was thousands of people crammed into a shopping mall.” Zac

Hanson is currently in Australia on the Middle of Everywhere 20th Anniversary World Tour. For more info and tickets, head to the Ticketmaster website.

E Online

By: JULIANNA RESS
Thu., Jun. 22, 2017 12:30 PM PDT
After 20 years of “MMMBop,” Hanson has finally set the record straight.

The boy band took to the Kyle and Jackie O Show to claim that most people have been getting the lyrics to the 1997 hit wrong the whole time.

“Too many people put a ‘wop’ in there,” Zac Hanson revealed to the Australian radio show. “What happens is people go to sing that song and they start making it up as if it’s nonsense. But it’s actually a repetitive part, it came from doo-wop songs. So it’s a background part.”

The brothers decided to sing the part in question rather than explain further, and sure enough it was completely “wop”-less. Time to break a 20 year habit!

Lyrical technicalities aside, Zac added that many listeners don’t know the sweet sentiment behind the song.

“‘MMMBop’ represents a frame of time; ‘In an MMMBop they’re gone,’ it says in the lyrics of the song,” the singer said. “The whole song’s about the fact that almost everything in your life will come and go very quickly. You’ve got to figure out what matters and grab onto those things.”

Well now that any “MMMBop” misconceptions are cleared up, it’s time to celebrate the song’s 20th anniversary properly: singing along in the car at full volume, with zero “wops.”

News.com.au

CHECK out the lyrics beyond the catchy chorus and that infectious 90s pop anthem MMMBop is not a shiny, happy song.
If it wasn’t shocking enough to discover Hanson are celebrating their 25th anniversary on this Australian tour — 25 years! — a close inspection of MMMBop reveals it to be a melancholic reflection on how nothing in life lasts.
Isaac was 15, Taylor, 13 and Zac, 11, when they wrote and recorded the song which would catapult them to global stardom.
They were singing about going through “pain and strife”, getting old and “losing your hair” — which hasn’t happened to any of the brothers.

It remains the highlight of any Hanson gig, even if the crowd still can’t quite sing along to that “Mmmbop, ba duba dop Ba du bop, ba duba dop etc” chorus.

Zac and his brothers believe it is one of the most misunderstood songs of all time.

“MMMBop is ironically happy (but) it says most things in life are going to fade away and most of the things that you think are important are going to be gone, all your friends are going to leave you, you’re going to be old and lose your hair, you are going to die so you figure out right now what’s important to you,” Zac said.

“The only way you are going to keep those things is by actively pursuing them.

“The tendency would be to bang your drum and beat your chest and say “We’ve been misunderstood’

“But I think it has served us … to be misunderstood.”

The trio set up their own record company in 2003 after becoming frustrated when major label mergers resulted in them having to work with executives who didn’t want the band despite having sold upwards of 16 million records of their breakthrough Middle Of Nowhere album.

Since then they have thrived as an international touring act and released four albums as well as proving to be successful entrepreneurs with their own MMMHops craft beer and destination festivals.

“In 2002 to 2004, our career could’ve been over,” Isaac said.

“We were basically flushed down the toilet by a label who didn’t sign us, who didn’t care about our career at that point.

“We saw the only way to have a career, to survive was to maintain control of our future.”

The next generation of Hanson entertainers made their debut in the video for their latest single I Was Born which features 11 out of 12 of their children.

The missing Hanson offspring from the clip, Taylor’s eldest son Ezra, has joined them on the Australian tour.

The video is beyond cute as all the cousins play and sing together and Zac said despite being prepared for a “full-tilt meltdown” on set, it was a fun shoot.

“They’re pretty well-behaved and it works out they all really like each other so it was fun for them,” Zac said.

Taylor added: “We each have a son who was born in the same year.”

Hanson perform at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, The Star, Gold Coast on June 24 and The Tivoli, Brisbane on June 25.

The Industry Observer

Written by Nathan Jolly on Jun 21, 2017
Of all the ’90s bands you’d have thought might spin a somewhat unexpected radio hit into a two decade-strong indie career, Hanson would sit just above M2M and slightly below Crash Test Dummies. They inspired grand-scale pandemonium for about eighteen months, then started the real work. They turned a daisy into a rose, so to speak.

Think about the first time you heard MMMBop. That was actually the lead single from the young band’s third album, after two independently-produced and distributed records helped them secure early shows, and the slow-burning label connections that culminated in an offer by Mercury Records. They played state fairs, and spruiked themselves to local radio stations long before Isaac — the oldest of the three brothers — hit puberty. They did the hard-yards inbetween maths lessons.

Far from being a manufactured pop act, Hanson had already written, recorded and released versions of ‘MMMBop’, ‘Thinking Of You’, and ‘With You In Your Dreams’ by the time they were signed. These are key songs from their major label debut, and proof that, as Taylor told Forbes in 2014: “Even when we started out, it was truly ours.”

Label mergers within Universal meant Hanson were shunted across to Def Jam after Middle Of Nowhere shot them to fame; Def Jam proceeded to complete mishandle the band’s second major label album, This Time Around. They wanted a teen pop band, but these guys had aged three years – an eternity in pop. The band left Universal, started their own label, netted a distro deal with Cooking Vinyl, and released their next four albums independently. Despite avoiding the majors, the band’s 2013 album, Anthem, debuted at No. 22 in the U.S, the band’s eighth Top 40 album.

As with most bands these days, live shows are where the band makes the majority of their money. Pollstar estimated Hasnon were earning an average of US$40,000 per show throughout 2013 and 2014 – a period during which they played close to 100 shows. They have kept up this touring pace since.

“First and foremost, I’m an artist,” Taylor Hanson told Forbes. “Songwriting and creating music from the ground up has always led what we do. That’s one of the coolest things that we’ve been able to do over time. Even when we started out, it was truly ours.” The band have, for the most part, kept songwriting credits between the three of them, another major earner for a band in these days of dwindling record sales.

In addition, they have teamed with a local Oklahoma brewery to produce the cleverly-named MmmHops , which spawned an entire company: Hanson Brothers Beer Co.

If the music dries up, the beer will continue to flow. Regardless of trends, the three Hanson brothers have built an empire which has held steady for over two decade.

Pedestrian

Hanson, the three brothers of 90s long-hair fame, have expressed their interest in collab’ing with Haim, the three sisters of current long-hair fame. That’s some Brady Bunch stuff right there and as a self-professed fan of both acts, I’m here for it.

Stopping by Foxtel for a FB Live while on the Aussie leg of their 25th-anniversary ‘Middle Of Everywhere’ tour, the Hanson bros showed their interest in working with musicians who came to being after their ‘Mmmbop’ heyday. Couldn’t have come at a better time tbh, considering they recently called Justin Bieber’s music “chlamydia of the ear” (and then explained themselves).

“I think some of the more modern artists would be fun to write or work with,” Isaac Hanson, the oldest of the lot, said. “I think Haim would be really fun if we could get that together that would be fun. And the cool thing is they’d kind of round out the band.”

“An explosion of family-dom,” Taylor added.

Comparisons have previously been drawn between the two because they’re both family bands who both at one stage or another, had hair worthy of a Decore shampoo commercial.

And before you start ripping out your own hair (which’ll never be as good as anyone involved in this story) wondering how tf Hanson + Haim could work musically, keep in mind that Hanson’s careers haven’t stopped.

You might be surprised at how their voices / balls have dropped in the 20 years since. It’s beautiful stuff.

Some other relevant people they’d be keen on working with?

“People like Ed Sheeran who’s really, really, really talented and a great songwriter,” said Isaac. “We just did a cover of the Weeknd a couple of days ago, amazing singer,” said Zac Hanson. “There’s some great craft out there, actually,” added Taylor.

But Haimson? Let’s make that happen first.

There’s still some tix for Hanson’s remaining Aussie tours – more info HERE. Heck, maybe they’ll even do some covers.

Photo: Taylor Hill / Getty, Hanson / Supplied.

The Daily Mail

By Marta Jary and Jo Scrimshire For Daily Mail Australia
19:47 EDT 20 Jun 2017, updated 22:38 EDT 20 Jun 2017

Pop group Hanson have apologised for comparing fellow pop star Justin Bieber to ‘chlamydia of the ear’.

Appearing on Sunrise on Wednesday morning, the trio, whose claim to fame is the 1997 hit MMMBop, admitted the pot-shot was in poor taste.

‘We were joking about koalas and Justin Bieber came up… not our brightest moment,’ Isaac Hanson, 36, told host Samantha Armytage.

Taylor Hanson explained the clumsy joke at length, saying: ‘You do interviews all the time. This was morning radio, we were making jokes about koalas.
‘And it was an unfortunate continuation of a joke about koalas. I will say this, I think we never meant anyone to take that seriously,’ he added.

When asked by host Sam if he was a fan of Justin Bieber, Taylor graciously revealed: ‘I think he’s clearly very talented. Often times what he’s not doing on stage is what people seem to be talking about and that’s where our joke was coming from’.

The furor began when Isaac Hanson compared the Baby hitmaker to ‘chlamydia’ in an interview with Adelaide’s Hit107 FM.

Isaac quipped: ‘It’s like hanging out with a koala… Chlamydia of the ear, it sucks.’

Another brother referenced the fact most healthy Koalas have chlamydia, which had been discussed in the interview.

‘I prefer not to get any venereal diseases so whenever Justin Bieber gets near me or near my ears… it’s just ear infections, they’re terrible,’ Zac said.

The Tulsa born brothers took part in ‘Whose Song Is It Anyway?’ segment and admitted they didn’t listen to much contemporary music.

They did not recognise the No. 1 hit Despacito and after being told the song was by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee ft. Justin Bieber, the pop stars didn’t hold back.

‘Can I just say I’m glad I didn’t know what that was,’ a Hanson member said.