Boy bands used to be all the rage in US pop culture in the 90s and even the early 2000s. Now, in 2024, that craze has all but fizzled out. So, what made boybands so popular, and will that industry ever find its way back to the US? According to Billboard, Boy Bands cultivated their popularity thanks to their curated image, dance choreography, perfect vocal harmonies, and dedicated fanbase.
These bands cater to an audience commonly made up of young women and teenage girls, and market each member into an archetype for fans to latch onto. That said, no boy band was ever the same and each decade came with its iteration of the boy band, from its start in the 1960s with The Beatles and to the 2010s with One Direction.
Pop culture writer Sasha Geffen wrote about the power of Boy Bands in a 2018 Fader article. “Boy band fandom has served as an easily accessible identity-building exercise among teen girls for decades,” wrote Geffen. “There is no equivalent for straight teen boys, who may identify with male musicians but are not expected or encouraged to empathize with women in any way.”
That said, the presence of boy bands has taken a notable dip in the Western market as international bands like BTS have taken hold of the reigns.
This is largely due to the gradual shift towards solo artists like Taylor Swift in the West. However, more seriously, the downward trend within Western boy bands is likely because of the toxic work environment many members found themselves in, whether it be because of obsessive fans, corrupt managers, or the stress of maintaining a manufactured image.
One of the reasons that K-pop boy bands have seemingly revitalized and maintained this massive interest in boy bands is largely due to the industry not hiding the fact that these groups are manufactured while still maintaining and cultivating that dedicated fan base. However, the interest in old-school boy bands hasn’t completely gone away. The latest NSYNC Reunion on The Justin Timberlake Show and the reception towards The Jonas Brothers’ latest songs have shown that their audience hasn’t gone away. Many of those teenagers who were and still are fans have grown up and have spread their love for those groups’ music to the next generation.
So, while the presence of boy bands in the West is low right now, it’s only a matter of time before another Western boy band launches back into the spotlight.
