Bell Biv Devoe & 98 Degrees

Description

BELL BIV DEVOE

Bell Biv DeVoe, known for their pioneering sound that blends “hip-hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop-feel-appeal to it,” emerged as a breakout act from the iconic New Edition following the group’s tour in support of their 1988 album, “Heart Break.” The trio—Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe, all original members of New Edition—formed on the advice of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to explore a more street-oriented approach to contemporary R&B.

Michael Bivins also cultivated the East Coast Family during this time, achieving mainstream success with debut albums from Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men. In 1992, BBD collaborated with Ralph Tresvant on the number one R&B/hip-hop single “The Best Things in Life Are Free” with Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson for the “Mo’ Money” soundtrack. The group released their second album, Hootie Mack in 1993. After a hiatus and the reunion of New Edition, BBD returned in 2001 with the album BBD.

Celebrating New Edition’s 30th anniversary in 2011, they received a Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award the following year. In 2017, coinciding with the BET mini-series “The New Edition Story,” BBD released Three Stripes.

Despite producing only four albums of original material over 31 years, Bell Biv DeVoe has maintained a strong presence, headlining arenas, fairs, festivals, and joining New Edition reunion tours. Recently, they won an Emmy Award for their documentary “BBD @ Fenway” in 2023, performed with The Boston Pops at the NHL’s Winter Classic, released the first single. “Act Like You Know” from the soundtrack of Mike Bivin’s No.1 streamed docufilm “The Hustle of @617Mikebiv,” and performed in the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

98 DEGREES

98 Degrees is an internationally acclaimed, multi-platinum, multi-award winning and nominated vocal group, comprised of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre. The group has sold over 15 million albums worldwide with (4) Top 5 Billboard charting radio singles including mega-hits such as “The Hardest Thing”, “I Do, Cherish You”, “Because of You”, and the number one hit single featuring Mariah Carey called, “Thank God I Found You.”  98 Degrees’ albums have reached gold or platinum status in more than 60 countries around the world and their first Christmas album entitled “98 Degrees This Christmas,” has sold over two million copies, which is widely recognized as one of the most successful holiday albums of all time. Their latest holiday single, The First Noel was released in 2023 and charted within the Top 10

With countless concert performances, singing in front of millions of fans, the group has also performed at the White House (twice) and made appearances on The Grammys, Soul Train, Motown Live, The Tonight Show, The American Music Awards, The Teen Choice Awards, MTV’s TRL and Dick Clark’s “Rockin New Year’s Eve, to name a few highlights.   

Most recently, the band released their latest holiday single, The First Noel, which charted on the Billboard Top 10 and they are currently working on new music with plans to release their forthcoming studio album in 2024.