After warming up the stage for folk juggernauts The Lumineers in April, they’ll now support Hanson when the pop trio returns to Perth on June 15.
Despite being barely old enough to recall Hanson’s biggest hits, Hunting Birds vocalist Connor Minervini said he and his bandmates were incredibly excited to be sharing a stage with one of the biggest pop acts of the 90s.
“Getting an opportunity to play to a large crowd at a venue like Metro City is something we really try and devour – not to mention our mothers are very excited that Hanson are back in town,” Minervini said.
“Honestly, I knew MMMbop growing up – it was thrashed on the radio! Since we learnt about the show I went back to listen to some of their new tunes, some cool poppy things happening, which is always like sugar to the ears. I think we like to encapsulate some sort of pop-chart nuance with our style of music. So in that way I can see some sort of symmetry, it should be interesting to see how the crowd warms to us.”
He said punters who get down early to check out The Hunting Birds “might just come across something new they can sink their teeth into”.
Hanson and The Hunting Birds play Metro City on June 15.
Miley Cyrus shared an amazing (and embarrassing) family photo with millions of Instagram followers on Monday night.
The “Malibu” singer posted an epic throwback pic of her and her siblings posing for a photo with Hanson, calling out older brother Trace, 28, for his mullet, and older sister Brandi, 30, for rocking a tank top over a T-shirt.
“Oh. Em. Gee! @Hanson !!!! I am still freaking out!” Cyrus wrote in the caption. “PS @tracecyrus you look like you could be one of their brothers as much as ours! Congrats on that bas ass mullet! @brandicyrus YOU are serving so much 90s realness! Yas! #tankontee!!!”
Cyrus, 24, didn’t stop at calling out her older siblings. She also pointed out her younger siblings, Braison, 23, and Noah, 17, who wasn’t even born when the picture was taken.
“@braisonccyrus you were & still are the absolute cutiestttt of all cuties… sorry to embarrass you in front of millions but that’s what a big sis is for!” she continued. “UGH this pic is suchhhhh a GEM. Top 5 best day of my life 1000000% I will never forget sharing this concert with my sibs!”
She added, “@noahcyrus sucks you weren’t born yet! Wish you could’ve been there!”
The photo was taken with the Hanson brothers: Taylor, 30, Zac, 31, and Isaac, 36.
Hanson is featured in the May 26, 2017 issue of Entertainment Weekly with Wonder Woman on the cover. Back issues are available at the list price of $4.99 per issue plus $4 shipping. (Shipping seems to be $4 regardless of the number of magazines ordered so you may want to place orders with friends to get the best deal) https://backissues.ew.com/storefront/cBackissuesEW2017-p1.html
Hanson is featured in “The Sounds of Tulsa” Tulsa World Magazine Issue 9. They can be seen on the front cover as well as an article inside the magazine. Tulsa World Magazine back issues can be found online at Tulsa World’s Website for $3.95 plus $1 shipping. https://www.tulsaworld.com/site/forms/tulsaworldmagazine/tulsa_world_magazine/
A version of this story appeared in the May 26 issue of Entertainment Weekly, available to buy here. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
Back in 1997, three flaxen-haired Oklahoma brothers named Isaac, Taylor, and Zac harmonized their way to the top of the charts with the platinum-selling smash “MMMBop” — and became school-locker pinups for millions of teenagers around the world.
Ready to feel old? Twenty years later, the guys (now 36, 34, and 31, respectively) are settled down with wives and kids and still as wholesome as can be. Well, sort of. As Hanson get set to celebrate their landmark anniversary with a world tour launching June 1, EW took the guys out for a raucous night on the town in NYC. (And if you’re curious: Yes, they still get mobbed by fans.)
ROUND 1
Whiskey shots for Isaac and Taylor, hard cider for Zac
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You guys released a beer called Mmmhops in 2013. Do you drink it when you’re out at a bar?
TAYLOR: It’s a bit of a faux pas to walk into a bar and order your own beer. It’s like music…
ISAAC: If I went over to the jukebox and I’m like, “Yo, ‘Look at You’ from Middle of Nowhere — that’s a rockin’ jam!”
TAYLOR: We’d have to punch you in the face.
AMY LOMBARD FOR EW
You played your first show in 1992. What do you remember about the band’s earliest days?
TAYLOR: We lived in South America for a year. Our dad had taken this job working for an oil company — it sounds really glamorous, but he was an accountant. We didn’t have that many things to listen to, just a little bit of music that was a sampling from early rock & roll.
ISAAC: [We had] a tape of a bunch of singles from 1958. And Bobby McFerrin’s album Simple Pleasures.
TAYLOR: So the idea of singing and harmonizing was very much around us. [Isaac] got interested in replicating things.
ISAAC: I just started memorizing songs.
TAYLOR: For me, it’s more like a disease, it’s not even really a talent: If you sing something, I just hear a harmony.
ISAAC: Our mom used to joke that Taylor didn’t say a word until he harmonized. He was a man of few words back then.
ZAC: That’s changed completely.
What’s one of your craziest memories from being teenage rock stars?
ZAC: I don’t know if we technically still hold this, but in ’98, we held the record for the loudest concert of all time. It was in Toronto, over 140 decibels.
ISAAC: The loudest concert ever recorded!
ZAC: It was so loud, it felt like my ears were about to start bleeding.
That was from the screaming fans?
ZAC: The screaming. You could feel the audience physically. You’d finish a song and it would be like, “Ahhh!” There was, like, a pressure. It was amazing. And scary. And awesome.
ISAAC: I still can’t hear properly. I have long-term damage in my right ear.
AMY LOMBARD FOR EW
ROUND 2
Beer for Isaac, old-fashioned for Taylor, whiskey shot for Zac
Four women interrupt to ask for a group selfie with their friend, who is celebrating her birthday across the room. Hanson happily oblige.
Is it annoying to still get stopped by fans?
ZAC: I’ll say this: If it’s not happening, that means you’re failing at certain parts of your job, because we’re not known for being married to supermodels or being partying drug addicts or whatever. We’re not known for anything except for our music. So for people to recognize you, they have to know about your music.
So you never indulged in rock-star behavior? Come on…
ZAC: It’s not that we don’t drink beer, or that we weren’t smoking cigars at 15. We just never did that on camera.
The women come back with the birthday girl.
Does that happen everywhere you go?
ZAC: Um…yeah! We’re never really surprised by it.
ROUND 3
Whiskey and Coke for Isaac, beer for Taylor, Coke for Zac
Are you sick of talking about “MMMBop”?
TAYLOR: Usually we close that door, like we want to talk about the new album or whatever. But this year we’re opening up the floodgates to talk about history more.
Can you live on “MMMBop” money forever?
TAYLOR: No!
ISAAC: Especially not with Spotify.
ZAC: Everything we’ve done with our [makes air quotes] “MMMBop money” is invested into the band. Nobody owns Ferraris.
ISAAC: I own the same car I’ve owned since I was 18. It’s like my leg!
ZAC: Isaac owns a ’98 4Runner. He never wants to sell that car.
ISAAC: It’s like my leg!
ZAC: The things we’ve spent money on are, like, building a world-class studio. Buying the equipment we use on tour that most people rent. So here’s a $100,000 board, here’s a $20,000 microphone that we’re going to record on because it’s from the 1940s.
AMY LOMBARD FOR EW
Was that your parents’ guidance or your own savvy?
ZAC: It’s a mix of two things: One, when you’re 15, you don’t have to spend that much money. Fifteen-year-olds are like, “I want four Xboxes.”
TAYLOR: And a foosball table!
ZAC: People want to say that [getting famous as] kids is a bad thing, but in so many cases I think it was a benefit, not only in meeting our fans young, but in the experiences we had. Like, when you’re 12 and girls are screaming at you, you’re like, “Gosh, what’s wrong with them?” And by the time you’re 18…
ISAAC: You’re like, “What’s up?”
ZAC: You’re like, “I’m really over you screaming at me.” Like, “Do you talk? Because your voice has got to be hoarse.”
TAYLOR: What he’s trying to say is there’s something wrong with him.
ZAC: What I mean is, we already knew we wanted to invest in the kind of things that would help us continue [making music]. We didn’t ever expect success to come easy, or to stay.
Wait — even at that time in the ’90s, you felt that your success wasn’t a permanent thing?
ZAC: Oh, not at all! It’s more like “Hey, you have an opportunity to keep this. But it’s not yours.” Growing up listening to old-school rock & roll, we weren’t listening to the hippest thing of the moment. We were listening to artists who had already come and, in many cases, gone. So we already saw this as a job that you work at to keep.
TAYLOR: We’re known for being pretty wholesome. There’s no stories of us going to rehab and stuff like that.
ISAAC: I wish I had those stories!
TAYLOR: We grew up listening to music, loving great songs, admiring people that did great work…and we still love that. My point is, the journey continues.
As we head into the first show of the Middle Of Everywhere, the future is bright. Who is going to be joining us tonight for our first show in Germany?
MESSAGE FROM THE BAND
Today we are playing the first official show for the Middle Of Everywhere world tour. It has been a whirlwind week leading up to this day. A stop off in New York followed by press in London, but now the real work begins. You would not be wrong if you said this tour was Twenty-five years in the making. We have rehearsed, we have planned, and the only thing left to do is take the stage and let loose. June first, that sounds like a great date for new beginnings. We were born for days like these. I Was Born is out and the Middle Of Everywhere tour is underway. With so much anticipation, the tour already seems like it will be too short, but now is not the time for thoughts like that. We will be doing our best to soak up each moment and plan for a speedy return with new musical experiences.
Just a few days in and the I Was Born music video has already been viewed more than half a million times. It feels like this is just the start of something really special, something we are hoping to spread all over the globe. Today Cologne, tomorrow Amsterdam… next week the world!
Isaac, Taylor and Zac
MEMBERS ONLY EVENTS
Fan Club Exclusive: Join HANSON for a Members Only Event in Paris, London #2, Perth, Sydney #2 and Auckland. Members will be treated to a pre show set as well as Q&A with the band featuring music from hanson.net members EPs and songs from throughout their 25 year career.
Note: Members Only Events are free, but are only available to current hanson.net members, with an account expiring after the event date. Not yet a member? JOIN NOW!
NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO
I Was Born is officially out. Starting now, you can see the brand new music video, and whether you want to download it or stream it, the I Was Born single is ready and waiting to be your new summer jam.
New HANSON Merchandise Available Today in the Hanson.net Store. Items include new Charms, Shirts, Hoodies, Hats, Lapel Pins and more.
MIDDLE OF EVERYWHERE TOUR
MORE SELL OUTS!
HANSON are starting their 25th year together with a bang. Their Middle Of Everywhere 25th Anniversary World Tour went on sale with many shows selling out in minutes throughout Europe and the US and now even more shows have sold out!
The tour kicked off on May 21st in Tulsa, OK with a headlining set at HANSON’s own rapidly growing The Hop Jam Beer and Music Festival. The South American leg of the tour was just announced.
To find out more information on HANSON’s tour and music release go to www.hanson.net.
Full Tour Schedule:
Thu 1 Jun 17
Cologne GERMANY
Gloria
Fri 2 Jun 17
Amsterdam NETHERLANDS
Paradiso SOLD OUT
Sat 3 Jun 17
Hamburg GERMANY
Mojo
Mon 5 Jun 17
Paris FRANCE
La Cigale
Tue 6 Jun 17
Zurich SWITZERLAND
Komplex
Wed 7 Jun 17
Milan ITALY
Fabrique
Fri 9 Jun 17
Antwerp BELGIUM
Trix SOLD OUT
Sat 10 Jun 17
London ENGLAND
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire SOLD OUT
Sun 11 Jun 17
London ENGLAND
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Thu 15 Jun 17
Perth AUSTRALIA
Metro City
Fri 16 Jun 17
Adelaide AUSTRALIA
Thebarton Theatre
Sun 18 Jun 17
Melbourne AUSTRALIA
Forum SOLD OUT
Mon 18 Jun 17
Melbourne AUSTRALIA
Forum SOLD OUT
Wed 21 Jun 17
Sydney AUSTRALIA
Enmore SOLD OUT
Thu 22 Jun 17
Sydney AUSTRALIA
Enmore
Sat 24 Jun 17
Gold Coast AUSTRALIA
Star Casino
Sun 25 Jun 17
Brisbane AUSTRALIA
Tivoli SOLD OUT
Tue 27 Jun 17
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
Town Hall
Tue 15 Aug 17
Guadalajara MEXICO
C3 Stage
Wed 16 Aug 17
Mexico City MEXICO
Plaza Condesa
Fri 18 Aug 17
Lima PERU
Barranco Arena
Sat 19 Aug 17
Santiago CHILE
Club Subterraneo
Tues 22 Aug 17
Buenos Aires ARGENTINA
Opera Allianz
Thu 24 Aug 17
Rio de Janeiro BRAZIL
Km de Vantagem Hall Rio
Fri 25 Aug 17
Belo Horizonte BRAZIL
Km de Vantagem Hall Belo
Sat 26 Aug 17
Sao Paulo BRAZIL
Citibank Hall
Tue 12 Sep 17
Dallas TX
House Of Blues SOLD OUT
Wed 13 Sep 17
Austin TX
Emos East
Fri 15 Sep 17
New Orleans LA
Joy Theater
Sat 16 Sep 17
Nashville TN
Wildhorse Saloon SOLD OUT
Sun 17 Sep 17
Birmingham AL
Iron City SOLD OUT
Tue 19 Sep 17
St Petersburg FL
Jannus Live
Wed 20 Sep 17
Atlanta GA
Buckhead Theatre SOLD OUT
Fri 22 Sep 17
Raleigh NC
The Ritz SOLD OUT
Sat 23 Sep 17
Norfolk VA
Norva
Sun 24 Sep 17
Silver Spring MD
The Fillmore SOLD OUT
Tue 26 Sep 17
Cleveland OH
House Of Blues SOLD OUT
Wed 27 Sep 17
Pittsburgh PA
Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead SOLD OUT
Thu 28 Sep 17
Philadelphia PA
The Fillmore SOLD OUT
Sat 30 Sep 17
New York NY
Playstation Theater SOLD OUT
Sun 1 Oct 17
Boston MA
House Of Blues SOLD OUT
Tue 3 Oct 17
Montreal QC CANADA
Corona
Wed 4 Oct 17
Toronto ON CANADA
Danforth Music Hall SOLD OUT
Fri 6 Oct 17
Detroit MI
St Andrews SOLD OUT
Sat 7 Oct 17
Chicago IL
House Of Blues SOLD OUT
Sun 8 Oct 17
Grand Rapids MI
20 Monroe Live
Tue 10 Oct 17
Minneapolis MN
First Avenue SOLD OUT
Wed 11 Oct 17
St Louis MO
The Pageant SOLD OUT
Thu 12 Oct 17
Lawrence KS
Granada Theater SOLD OUT
Sat 14 Oct 17
Denver CO
Summit Music Hall SOLD OUT
Sun 15 Oct 17
Salt Lake City UT
Depot
Tue 17 Oct 17
Seattle WA
The Neptune SOLD OUT
Wed 18 Oct 17
Vancouver BC CANADA
Vogue Theatre
Thu 19 Oct 17
Portland OR
Aladdin Theater SOLD OUT
Sat 21 Oct 17
Anaheim CA
House Of Blues SOLD OUT
Sun 22 Oct 17
Los Angeles CA
The Mayan SOLD OUT
Tue 24 Oct 17
San Diego CA
House Of Blues
Wed 25 Oct 17
Las Vegas NV
House Of Blues
Fri 27 Oct 17
Houston TX
House Of Blues
RENEWAL REMINDER
It’s 2017! We wanted to remind you to renew your Hanson.net membership for 2017. You can find your current expiration date by going to your My Account page.
“August 2, 2010. My first pic “with” Hanson before my first concert. I’m the one gawking awkwardly at Zac from behind. While this was happening, my phone was blowing up with tweets from people who spotted me on the walk livestream. So not only did I get to meet Hanson, I had friends (many fairly new, since I had just returned to the fandom the year before) from all over the world sharing in my excitement. That made it all even better. I have, unfortunately, not become any better at keeping my cool when that close to Zac.”
Thanks to whoever took this picture! I nabbed it from the Kentucky street team’s page several years ago.
First in the (Not Technically) Summer (Yet) Music Series
I remember it like it was 20 years ago. (I mean … because it was.)
In 1997, my seventh-grade class went on a trip to Atlanta for a few days. It was — at the time — the longest I had ever been away from home.
My parents and little brother were there to pick me up (as parents and little brother are wont to do) after we got back and stretched our legs as we climbed off our charter bus.
When I crawled into our green Dodge Caravan, my mom said, “We have a surprise for you!”
My brother handed me a cassette tape, a black, two-sided single of “MMMBop” by Hanson.
(Remember them? The trio of puberty-adjacent brothers with high voices and long blond hair?)
(Yeah, you ‘member.)
Now, this cassette single — which included both the Radio Version and the Dust Brothers Mix of “MMMBop” (as well as short previews of three other songs from the soon-to-be-released album) — might not seem like a big deal now. But at that time, to me: it was huge.
When I was a kid, I didn’t practice a ton of musical autonomy. I listened to what I was raised around — country, gospel, motown, and a little ZZ Top — and that was pretty much it.
When I got to preteendom, I began to expand my horizons. Slightly, at least.
Our local pop radio station was Mix 97.7, and in the mornings before school my mom would turn it on while we ate sausage biscuits from Shorty’s Grill.
(The bottoms of the biscuits were usually burnt, but it wasn’t a huge deal. They were delicious.)
So that was when I got to hear the songs that would pave the way for my soon-to-be musical interests.
(Some key songs from those mornings: “I Want You” by Savage Garden, “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” by Paula Cole, and Duncan Sheik’s “Barely Breathing” (which … this is the second time I’ve mentioned that particular song in this column, so …).)
But — “MMMBop” was something different for me. It was the gateway drug, my official head-first entry into the world of pop music. I mean, we’re talking a full-on deep dive here.
I remember buying the full album (on CD this time!) at what was then Camelot Music (which later became F.Y.E. which later closed) at what was then Briarcliffe Mall (which later became Colonial Mall which later became (and is still (for now)) Myrtle Beach Mall) in what people say is North Myrtle Beach but is technically Myrtle Beach (it’s definitely north Myrtle Beach, though … just … not capital n North Myrtle Beach you know what whatever shut up leave me alone).
Hanson’s “MMMBop” was the song that kicked the door into my music hall.
Catchy hooks with singalong harmonies and layers? That’s that good stuff, and it’s still the good stuff, two decades later.
It’s no surprise that a lot of what I like now is traced back to this era (it’s complex and biological … no time to get into it here), but my tastes have matured (naturally).
Also, I’m not listening to mainstream pop music like I did back then, either, but there are other factors involved.*
*(See: I’m more into indie pop rock than anything slash I’ve aged (way) out of the demographic for mainstream pop slash too many singers sound like robots now Get off my lawn you robot kids! )
But it’s also funny how our tastes change over years and years but we’re able to (somewhat) trace where it all began. For me, that was “MMMBop.”
And it’s easy to goof on the lyrics now — “In an mmmbop they’re gone / In an mmmbop they’re not there” — but back then, it was just what I needed to start discovering myself for myself, realizing what I actually liked versus what I was just used to liking.
And if you tried to tell me then that “MMMBop” was a bad song, I’d argue back and forth with you until you simply got sick of hearing me talk about it.
HALL OF FAMERS: Hanson, who will be celebrating 25 years of playing music together locally, nationally and globally, has reached another milestone when the group was added to the roster at this year’s Hop Jam in Tulsa, where they were recently induction into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
Jim Blair, executive director for the OMHOF, presented brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac with their award after a tributary video bio is shown to the audience. In the photo from left are Angelina Villegas-Cummings with OMHOF, Jim Blair, executive director of OMHOF, and Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson.
Blair says, “We’ve been wanting to get these guys inducted for some time now, and we thought how fitting it would be to happen on the band’s 25th anniversary as well as the Hop Jam Beer and Music Festival established by Hanson in 2014.”
Founded in 1992 at ages, 11, nine and six, the brothers spent the first five years building a fan base in their hometown of Tulsa. Influenced by 1950’s and 1960’s music, the band cites some of their inspiration coming from greats, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, The Beatles, Elvis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry which contributed greatly in developing their signature sound which incorporated strong melodies and songcraft as well as a reverence for their musical forefathers.
In 1997, Hanson soared to popularity internationally with their smash hit single “Mmmbop” from the album Middle of Nowhere that earned the band multiple Grammy nominations. Since that time HANSON has had over 40 Top-40 singles, and have released five more albums, selling over 16 million albums to date.
In 2013, the group diversified its brand with the founding of their Hanson Brothers Beer Company and in 2014 established the Hop Jam Beer and Music Festival in Tulsa, which brings artists and brewers from all over the world to one of the country’s leading Craft Beer and Music Festivals.
This induction precedes the June 14th OMHOF induction that will kick of the 2017 G-Fest festival June 15-17 in Muskogee.
