Stars who broke free from their boy band past

As time ebbs on slowly but without pause, there is one constant that will remain: The world will always go nuts for a good boy band.

Whether they are manufactured together as a glossy, disposable product or comprised of real musicians with real talent, boy bands tend to be flashes in the pan when it comes to capturing the cultural zeitgeist. However, talent has a way of rising to the top, so after a group's tween fan base grows out of their obsessions, only a select few gentlemen will be left standing, their careers defined more by what they did outside of their pop group instead of what they did inside. (And hey, sometimes they're still best known for the boy band thing — we pass no judgment.)

So in looking at pop-centric, chart-topping boy bands and less bands full of boys (which, if we did include, would mean you'd be reading entries on Sting, Morrissey and maybe one of those Beatles fellas), let's take a look at those rare stars who managed to break free of their boy band past.

It's hard to forget that, for a time, Menudo was a big deal, churning out countless bits of disposable Latin-infused teen pop. While the members were rotated out as they aged (think Disney or "Logan's Run"), one of those members, Ricky Martin, took his solo career seriously and managed to ride the wave of the late-'90s Latin pop explosion to crazy, multiplatinum success. Nowadays he's still making music, acting for TV and is an outspoken LGBTQ advocate. As a bonus? One of his key songwriting collaborators on nearly all his big hits is Draco "Robi" Rosa who — that's right — was also a graduate of Menudo.

While most everyone is familiar with Justin Timberlake's arc from being a cast member of "The All-New Mickey Mouse Club" to becoming an Oscar-nominated songwriter and performer, let's not forget about his time with a little group called 'N Sync: a five-piece song-and-dance crew that was modeled after their rivals the Backstreet Boys, only to later actually eclipse them. Let's not forget that for all of the "broke out of a boy band" narrative, Timberlake actually started contributing as a songwriter near the end of his time in 'N Sync, co-penning tracks like "Pop" and "Girlfriend." It's all so impressive we may actually forgive him for that boring Super Bowl halftime show. 

While Styles has been the de facto "frontman" of Simon Cowell's assembled One Direction project, he's also been a hell of a songwriter too, penning tracks for the likes of Ariana Grande and Michael Buble. His debut solo album charted high and surprised a lot of critics, but Styles isn't one to be contained in just one medium, also venturing out into acting as well. He was controversially cast in Christopher Nolan's, Oscar-nominated war film "Dunkirk" and actually imbued his performance with some real gravitas, proving that this one-time heartthrob is here to stay.

So much of the post-New Edition story revolves around the original bad boy of R&B, Bobby Brown, that it's easy to forget how many great careers started from this seemingly humble beginning. While Bell Biv DeVoe has iconic hits, let's not forget about founding member Ralph Tresvant and Brown's later replacement Johnny Gill. Tresvant's first solo single "Sensitivity" made the U.S. Top Five, sending both the song and his eponymous debut album to double-platinum status. That same year, Gill went two positions higher with "Rub You the Right Way" and was later nominated for a Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy. If this isn't love, I don't wanna know what it is.

While New Kids on the Block have had their share of breakout successes (Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight with his classic waltz-pop single "Give It to You"), Donnie Wahlberg found out he had the right stuff in his post-NKOTB days. In abandoning music to take up acting, Donnie followed a bit in his brother Mark's footsteps and ended up having an actual film career, getting roles in classics ("The Sixth Sense"), franchises (a recurring role in four of the "Saw" movies) and even a few TV shows, including the amazingly still-running "Wahlburgers."

It's easy to forget that even before the Jonas Brothers released their first LP, a young Nick Jonas put out a Christian pop album which was pretty terrible. Hell, even after releasing the underwhelming set by "Nick Jonas & the Administration" following the JoBros' dissolution, few would've guessed that he would reinvent himself once more, this time as a confident if lyrically awkward pop singer. But let us tell you: The album "Nick Jonas" produced quite a few hits, and the sexiest Jonas now finds himself collaborating with top pop stars and occasionally starring in blockbusters like "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle." Few would've ever thought he'd survive the boy band curse, but being in the Jonas Brothers might very well be the least interesting thing about him now.

It always appeared 98 Degrees were going to be relegated to runner-up status in the great '90s boy band sweepstakes (their big album, "98 Degrees and Rising," only went four times platinum instead of BSB/'N Sync's 10 times — boo hoo). Despite his first LP following the band's dissolution having the worst album title of all time (it was called "SoulO"), a tabloid-friendly marriage to Jessica Simpson and a reality show capturing all of that helped push Lachey into the spotlight. Following their public divorce, he turned all that press into a power ballad and released a solo album called "What's Left of Me" that netted a Top 10 hit all on its own. Nowadays, he may still be best known as being a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" or a host on "The Sing Off," showing that nearly two decades after his pop peak, his career is far from over.

Considered in many ways one of the "original" boy bands, The Four Seasons were an unmistakable pop sensation, and their big hits ("Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" — the list is nearly endless), will live on forever. While Frankie Valli was the centerpiece, his solo career in the pop world was a middling success at best. However, a few cameo appearances in film and TV here and there built up his acting confidence, eventually leading him to the iconic role of Rusty Millio in HBO's "The Sopranos." And even these days, Valli is still kickin' it, touring and performing well into his 80s.

While technically not a "boy band" per say, the early Beach Boys recordings were fun, fluffy and somewhat disposable. Only over time did the group's true artistic intent come into focus. Various members have gone off to have fair to middling solo success, but Brian Wilson, the heart and mind of the band, revived his abandoned masterwork "Smile" in 2004, and the record ended up becoming one of the most critically lauded albums of the past two decades. He's had fun and interesting albums since then, but all it took was for him to visit an abandoned project to endear himself to a whole new generation of music fans.

Laugh all you want at Bobby Brown's post-New Edition career, but the bad boy of R&B started out of the gate with nothing short of an explosion. His 1988 album "Don't Be Cruel" was a gigantic hit, launching off a nearly endless stream of Top 10 hits (including "My Prerogative," a song that was, oddly, later covered by Britney Spears) and eventually going platinum seven times over. However, following his mainstream moment, Bobby Brown's life became inextricably linked to that of then-wife Whitney Houston, their relationship captured on reality TV shows and tabloid fixtures the world over. While he was less creatively active in the '90s, Bobby Brown is now remembered for far more than his boy band roots.

In the '90s, Take That was a sensation, keeping Britain's schlock-pop traditions alive and well for a couple of years and putting up chart-topping hits like it was their job. While Gary Barlow has turned into quite the pop song craftsman, it was singer Robbie Williams who determined he could do better on his own — and as insufferable as he can be sometimes, he turned out to be absolutely correct. Nearly every one of his albums ended up being a chart-topper, with almost all of them selling millions of copies. By the time he was like, "Hey, let me sing a duet with Nicole Kidman and make it a smash," his instincts proved right once again.

In many ways, this is the most famous example of someone transcending their candy-pop past because, back in the day, as good as The Jackson 5's sales were, that Saturday morning cartoon show made them seem like a novelty act, which is why virtually no label wanted to take on a solo Jackson project. Yet through sheer determination, dedication, craft and creativity, Michael Jackson defined his success on his own terms and is now considered to be the biggest pop star of all time. OK, now that you've finished reading all of this, which MJ song is in your head right at this moment? There's a wide catalog to choose from, because when you're Michael Jackson, well, everyone knows your hits. Literally everyone.

When Zayn Malik left One Direction, tween fans the world over were heartbroken. How could the hot one (who, as it turned out, was also the best singer) leave such a successful venture so suddenly and with so little warning? Well, fortunately, they didn't have to wait long, because while many pegged Harry Styles as the group's "frontman," Zayn's sexy throb of a lead single "Pillowtalk" topped the charts straight out the gate and immediately established him as a force to be reckoned with. Before long, he was dueting with Taylor Swift, teasing out a second album and collaborating with whoever the hell he wanted to. The crazy thing? Zayn's solo career is only just starting. He's going to have a lot more ground to cover in the coming years.

Although they went to the top of the charts with a P. Diddy collaboration called "Bump, Bump, Bump," B2K's impact on the pop and R&B worlds was surprisingly minimal: Their first album went gold, their second went platinum and then all went bust. Omarion, however, managed to break free of that, launching a solo career that is still going on even to this day. He's worked closely with his good friend Bow Wow on several singles, albums and tours, and to say nothing of his hits, he's recorded with the likes of Timbaland, Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross. Although he hasn't had a legitimate hit since about 2014, it's comforting to know that Omarion's still doing his thing, dropping mixtapes for his fans and putting out albums with names like, um, "Sex Playlist." Way to go?

When it comes to manufactured pop confections, it's hard to get more color-by-numbers than The Monkees. While the group later rebelled from their processed confines and put out a psychedelic trip-fest of a movie designed to alienate their tween fans (take time to watch the insanity that is "Head," co-written by Jack Nicholson), it was heartthrob Micky Dolenz who ended up with a striking career afterward. His comic timing and delightful personality led to a nearly endless line of voiceover gigs, ranging from the animated series "The Tick" to "The Secret Files of the SpyDogs" to countless one-off gigs for various Disney TV programs. Still kickin', actin', singin' and tourin', Dolenz has managed to do The Monkees proud since their prime all those many decades ago.

In a way, this is cheating. While Wham! was only a two-person affair and the lovely Andrew Ridgeley was a talented and respected multi-instrumentalist, this boy band duo was essentially a George Michael project from the get-go with Michael writing and producing virtually every song on every album. Thus, it wasn't too much of a surprise to find him later going solo (one of their last singles as Wham!, "A Different Corner" was curiously credited to Michael only), but Wham! proved to be quite the stomping ground for the masterpieces he'd later churn out. Maybe some people dismissed him as nothing but a fluff-and-schmaltz peddler, but Michael knew what he was capable of: He just had to have "Faith."

Where do you go for your tween-fronted, painfully watered-down Backstreet Boys imitations? Well, if it's the turn of the millennium, you turn to Dream Street, an unremarkable dose of dance-pop pablum that is best forgotten in the sands of time. Credit's due where credit's due, however: Jesse McCartney broke out of that mold to become a minor-key force in the entertainment world. He voices Theodore in the live-action "Alvin & the Chipmunks" movies, had a recurring role on "All My Children," popped up in a few episodes of "Fear of the Walking Dead," continues to lend voices to the "Kingdom Hearts" video game series and, oh yeah, has dropped off a share of platinum singles and albums as a solo artist with one song ("Leavin'") even hitting the Top 10. Maybe his prior band was just that: a horrible, horrible Dream.

In truth, Dru Hill could've just been Dru Hill and still had their own piece of R&B/pop history. They netted a song on the "Rush Hour" soundtrack and had more than a few singles reach the Billboard Top Five. It was a fine legacy, but the physical and vocal acrobatics carried out by frontman Sisqó just couldn't be contained with Sisqó virtually taking over the massive Will Smith hit "Wild Wild West" all by himself. His 1999 solo album "Unleash the Dragon" gave the world both "The Thong Song" and a chart-topping, Montell Jordan-penned ballad called "Incomplete" — songs that ended up pushing Sisqó's first album to multiplatinum status. His records after that have run into the expected curse of diminishing returns, but when the conversation turns to Sisqó, it's not, "Who was that one famous guy who came out of Dru Hill?" It's always: "What the heck is a Dru Hill?"

At first, it was pretty clear that Nick Jonas was going to be the famous Jonas Brother who broke out from the pack. When his band "The Administration" failed, he turned into a sexy loverman type and ended up racking up real-deal hits. Joe Jonas' debut album "Fastlife" was an awkward beast (see: the Lil Wayne collaboration), but when he embraced his freakier side and rounded up a group of like-minded musicians, the band DNCE was born. Against all odds, they ended up overperforming with a massive summer anthem called "Cake by the Ocean" in 2015. They're still trying to figure out how they're going to do a follow-up, but as it stands, Joe Jonas has fought the odds and broken the boy band curse — just not as a solo artist.

In the mid-'90s, England had its fill of male-oriented pop groups with the likes of Take That dominating the airwaves. In Ireland, they had Boyzone, a group with a ridiculous name that focused on MOR pop and mid-tempo balladry. They were stars there and crossed over onto the U.K. charts with great frequency, but lead singer Ronan Keating felt that he had much more to say as a solo artist. Right out of the gate, his first two Ronan-only singles topped the charts in both the U.K. and Ireland, proving that following Boyzone's hiatus, he made the right move by branching out on his own. He had bushels of hits since then, but they were largely contained only to Europe. Regardless, Boyzone sold some 25 million records worldwide, and Keating, on his own, sold some 20 million. So all things considered, Keating is doing just fine.