Moms and Dads

5 Boy Bands Millennial Parents Grew Up With

by Kevyn Gohu
May 30, 2022

Although millennials will not admit it outright, there are some boy bands they haven’t stopped being a fan of.

Boy bands may be a thing of the past but we can’t deny that a lot of their songs had catchy tunes. Sometimes when it plays on the radio or in the mall, millennial parents or even we end up singing to it. It’s a guilty pleasure and some are even making a comeback this 2023! Here are some bands millennial parents grew up with.

1. Westlife

Westlife became popular around the same time as the Backstreet Boys, offering a more mellow set of songs. The Irish boyband was put together by both Simon Cowell and his father, Eric Cowell in 1998. Although they split last 2004 starting with Brian McFadden, they eventually reunited in 2018 and are now going on tour. Though their first song was “Swear It Again”, people probably remember “My Love” and “I Lay My Love On You” more.

2. Backstreet Boys

These boys became larger than life around 1996, becoming a big hit among teen girls. Their songs varied from mellow to very dance-worthy songs, complete with their choreography. Some millennials would even argue that Backstreet Boys hit the balance between dance and song whereas Westlife focused more on singing and N*Sync on dancing. Most millennial parents would know their songs “I Want It That Way”, “Shape of My Heart”, and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”. Currently, the boy band is touring around and even releasing a Christmas Album soon.

3. N*Sync

Millennial parents will probably remember N*Sync more for Justin Timberlake since he was the lead vocal half the time. However, they had amazing choreography which is what made them stand out in comparison to other boybands. Contrary to popular belief, their fallout wasn’t as disastrous as many played it out to be. The band revealed that they began breaking off to pursue their own beliefs but still held the door open to reuniting. Their most popular songs were “Dirty Pop”, “It’s Gonna Be Me” (which unfortunately became a big source of memes for kids), “Bye Bye Bye” and, “This I Promise You”.

4. 98 Degrees

Most millennial parents don’t know the individual names in this boy band but if they remember the old Disney version of Mulan, they’re the ones behind the song “True To Your Heart”. They even sang with Stevie Wonder! Unfortunately, they were sort of overshadowed by the three bands above, having two other songs—”I Do (Cherish You)” and “It’s All Because Of You” being their popular ones.

5. Boyzone

Irish band Boyzone became popular for “No Matter What” among millennial parents. Unfortunately, with tensions growing behind the scenes, the band took a hiatus and Ronan Keating decided to pursue his own career, singing the famous “When You Say Nothing At All”. They were going to reunite until one of their members, Gately, passed away due to pulmonary edema. The group, however, decided to permanently break in 2018.

They have catchy tunes!

Millennial parents will probably recall these boy bands along with others such as Fountains of Wayne, Fallout Boy, My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, and other bands that recently reported on making comebacks. Some already booked concerts here and we’re sure for the sake of the nostalgia trip, we’d go, too!