0:06

Welcome back to Behind the Music

0:12

like I'm walking into trouble, talking

0:14

into trouble. Okay,

0:16

here we're going in. They were the pioneers

0:18

of the original boy band, five

0:21

teens from the tough streets of Boston. They

0:23

shot to fame in the early nineties with their R

0:26

and B B fused with a pop sound.

0:29

The New Kids on the Block became an international

0:31

phenomenon with adoring fans who

0:33

followed them everywhere. But

0:35

life in the spotlight came at a price,

0:39

and eventually all that fame took

0:41

its toll. The band's

0:43

personal struggles were exposed,

0:45

and then it all came crashing down.

0:49

But in two thousand and eight, the New Kids

0:51

reunited, this time as

0:53

grown men who were better than ever together.

0:58

Now, thirteen years after the original

1:00

episode Behind the Music air, the

1:03

New Kids are back, celebrating key

1:05

moments in their lives, giving

1:07

new insights on their journey, and

1:10

reflecting on the men they've become

1:12

today. This

1:14

is the New Kids on the Block. The

1:17

story Behind the Music. I

1:27

was sitting around my house one afternoon

1:29

and quarantine and I said,

1:32

I'll write a song and magic will occur.

1:34

We're entertainers, so let's put

1:36

something together to do our part

1:38

in helping people feel a little better.

1:42

In the spring of the New Kids

1:44

on the Block released House Party

1:47

with help from some of their famous friends. House

1:50

Party is a great example of the

1:52

difference between being and the New Kids then

1:54

and being and the New Kids now. We

1:57

take what we do seriously, but we don't take

1:59

ourselves that serious. The

2:02

New Kids are now mature men with

2:04

families and kids of their own, just

2:06

like their fans who have grown up right alongside

2:09

them. You've got the grandmother's, the moms,

2:11

the kids now as the three generational

2:14

experience. It's one

2:16

of the ways we evolved from our

2:18

younger days in that we just

2:20

have fun this time around. We know

2:22

who we are then. I think that makes us much more

2:24

relatable. The New Kids

2:27

on the Block started their journey together on

2:29

the working class streets of Boston. Donnie,

2:32

Danny, Jordan, and Jonathan all

2:35

grew up in the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Dorchester.

2:38

We were all friends since elementary school.

2:40

We're kind of all in the same classes. That's

2:42

when I met the Night Brothers, and me and

2:44

Donnie had already known each other a little bit, but we were little

2:47

kids We all grew up poor.

2:49

We all couldn't keep our homes. We all wondered

2:52

where our next meal was coming from.

2:54

My younger younger in years were

2:57

incredibly turbulent to

3:00

grow up in house with nine kids, drugs

3:03

and alcohol all over the

3:05

place. Music

3:07

was just my salvation, was

3:09

a place where I could go and not

3:12

just escaped, but actually to bring people

3:15

together and create a happier

3:17

environment. In the

3:19

seventies and eighties, Boston schools were

3:21

actively desegregating their campuses,

3:24

so the boys were busted to a racially diverse

3:26

school in the town of Roxbury. Not

3:29

a lot of white kids were exposed to different

3:31

ethnicities in Boston,

3:34

and we were, and we were

3:37

with kids of all races learning to

3:39

love and respect and admire our differences.

3:43

Because of their experiences, the guys were

3:45

exposed to cultural influences that

3:47

would shape their musical futures. If

3:50

I would get to school and here paulam

3:53

and Funkadelic or new name it, and there's

3:55

always different types of music around.

3:58

That's when I started band and break

4:01

dancing and stuff like that. Me and shortened

4:03

Before we were in the group together. We used

4:05

to battle each other in different breakdancing groups.

4:09

On my thirteenth birthday, I went in to

4:11

buy my first album. I ended

4:13

up being torn between two albums, a New

4:15

Edition and Johnson

4:17

Crew, And so I was trying to decide. And

4:19

as I started to read through, like the liner notes

4:22

and stuff for the credits, I noticed

4:24

this Marie Starr's name was on both albums.

4:29

In nineteen three, local music producer

4:31

Maria Starr launched the boy band

4:34

New Edition. They had

4:36

become a massive success and the

4:38

pride of Boston. Everyone

4:40

in Boston knew who New Edition was.

4:42

Banned that big hit Candy Girl, and

4:44

it was like the biggest thing ever.

4:47

But after an ugly split, New Edition

4:50

left Maurice and his small record label.

4:52

It was very hurtful, like with the business for about

4:55

two weeks. And I say to myself

4:57

about the two weeks, h I'm not

4:59

a quitter. So let's get up and get this thing

5:01

going now. I'm gonna put five young

5:03

white kids together. With the help

5:05

of manager Mary Alford, Maurice began

5:08

looking for the perfect group of white kids

5:10

who could sing, dance, and wrap.

5:13

Mary alf to live next to one of my friends.

5:15

We went over to Maurice's house. He walked

5:18

in the room and he's limping around using

5:20

a broomstick for a crutch. He said,

5:23

you Dannia Like yeah, He said, I heard

5:25

you a good I said okay. He

5:27

said I'm gonna make you a star. I

5:30

looked at the broomstick and

5:33

I said, uh, and we'll see about that. Fifteen

5:36

year old done, He signed on as the first

5:38

member of Maurice's new band with

5:41

his thirteen year old brother Mark.

5:45

We started taking singing lessons and

5:48

I would play the drums. I

5:50

got fully immersed in the studio

5:52

life and Mark didn't.

5:54

I was walking the straight

5:57

narrow path and he was trying

5:59

everything under the sun, on drugs, alcohol,

6:01

you name it. Slowly, Mark

6:04

started to drift away, and you

6:07

know, one day he said, I'm

6:10

not going to do it anymore. I'm gonna

6:12

quit mour. He said, what do you want to do?

6:14

Do you want to stop or do you want to keep going? And

6:16

I said, I want to do this. This is what I'm

6:18

meant to do and he said, okay,

6:21

then it's me a new kid. With

6:23

Mark out of the group. More recent Donn

6:25

he struggled to find other local teams who

6:27

could pull it off, trying to find five

6:30

white kids doing when I was doing, it

6:32

was not going to be The talent pool

6:35

was very shallow, but I had some people in

6:37

mind. Donnie

6:40

gave me a call about joining

6:43

this group. So he was like, it's

6:45

this guy, um Maury Stark. He

6:48

produced new addition, like he wants something

6:50

like us to be famous, you know, And

6:52

I was like wow. Donnie

6:56

was always talking to me about it and it

6:58

just, you know, it sounded like a fantasy and

7:01

I was like, I don't know. He was just like, come on,

7:03

man, he got nothing to lose just coming audition.

7:06

Maurice agreed to audition a few of Donnie's

7:08

friends from school, and the group began to

7:10

take shape. I sang from a little

7:12

bit and he was like, uh,

7:15

yeah, I think you could work, man, I think you could

7:17

work. I went back home and

7:19

uh, I tell my brother John. I was like, I just

7:21

went to an audition with Donnie and uh

7:24

the guy said he can be like famous like new

7:26

audition And John was like huh.

7:28

He was like, boy, didn't you bring me. I

7:31

was jealous and kind of like, wait

7:33

a minute, you're not gonna leave me behind. I

7:35

told him about my brother and Maurice

7:38

loved the idea of brothers, you know, because

7:40

of like the Osman Brothers and the Jackson

7:42

Five. But

7:44

they were missing the final piece of the puzzle

7:47

and threw twelve year old Joey mc attire,

7:50

who came from a different part of town. We

7:53

went on the hunt for Michael Jackson sounding

7:55

a young white kid, which is probably the hardest

7:57

thing in the world to do, because they don't produce me

8:00

of those. You know. I had done

8:02

a bunch of shows and love to perform,

8:04

and I guess I had a bit of a reputation

8:07

around my hometown and I happened

8:09

to fit the build. Maurice

8:11

named the newly assembled group NA Nuke.

8:14

That was completely Maurice's

8:16

concept. We all hated it from

8:18

the star, Oh my goodness, the

8:21

dumbest name ever. Nau

8:23

People were like Na Na, Na Nu.

8:26

No one could say the name right, and I don't know

8:29

where he got it from. NA

8:31

Nuke began performing R and B music

8:34

in and around Boston. Boys

8:36

worked tirelessly to make a name for

8:38

themselves. The plan

8:40

was black audiences will be surprised

8:43

when they see its white guys, and they will accept

8:45

them, and we will be a famous R and

8:47

b a. Each show was like

8:49

a monumental event. It was

8:51

a constant battle for

8:54

us to prove ourselves. We

8:56

were very young, we were very unpolished,

8:59

but what you saw the grid, we

9:02

would determine the

9:05

odds were stacked against us. We were just trying

9:07

to find our way to learn how to win

9:09

the crowd over. We just wanted

9:11

to perform and continue to get better, so

9:14

we didn't really care where it was or what it was.

9:16

Anywhere we could get a show. We

9:18

did talent shows, we did backyard

9:21

birthday parties, roller skating

9:23

rinks, churches who

9:26

we performed in a jail. We

9:29

performed at a few jails. I mean, Tony's

9:31

brother was there, so we got to visit with him

9:33

to while performing, so that was cool.

9:37

It sounds weird, but like the show's

9:39

actually were great. We really

9:41

loved what we were doing and just kept

9:44

pushing forward. And you know, with

9:46

hard work comes success. In

9:50

while still in high school, the band began playing

9:52

bigger venues and started pushing

9:54

for a record deal. Maurice started

9:57

calling him Favors and no, I got this new group that the

9:59

White New and they're gonna be the

10:02

biggest thing. But they didn't want to hear. They told

10:04

me to get out of the building, don't come back. So

10:06

I said, hmm, let me go instead of through the back

10:08

door, through the black door. So

10:11

I got this guy Larkin Arnold to listen

10:13

to me. He said, I don't like that. That

10:15

name not knew. He said, would you mind changing

10:17

it to New Kids on the Block since y'all

10:20

got a song called that? It was just

10:22

naturally it's perfect for us. Scientific

10:27

Columbia Records R and B Division,

10:29

The New Kids on the Block released their self titled

10:32

debut album in the spring of nine six,

10:34

featuring the single be My Girl.

10:38

We're in high school? What else in the school

10:40

got a record out? This is kind of cool. But

10:42

if we make a little money, I can get a scooter and right

10:44

around the city. That would be awesome. But

10:47

the album made little impact on the charts,

10:49

and the exact Columbia quickly

10:51

lost interest. Before in the record

10:53

company was like, what are we wasting

10:55

our time on this group?

10:58

That makes no sense? The record up

11:00

and he was like, I think we're gonna cut him off the label

11:02

and we were like, we

11:05

gotta keep going, we gotta keep going. Given

11:08

one more chance, the guys took matters

11:10

into their own hands, and

11:12

in the spring of seven, the group

11:14

began working on a new album, appropriately

11:17

titled Hanging Tough. The

11:22

second album had a little more grown

11:24

up sound. It was stuff we're listening

11:26

to, you know, it's got to be organic.

11:29

We were more creatively

11:31

involved, more ree. He's

11:33

seen us all stunt to come up with dance steps,

11:35

different styles, you know, the way we dress, how

11:38

we should present ourselves, what music we should

11:40

be doing. And he'd stepped back a

11:42

little bit, and he goes, I could learn something

11:44

from these guys. In

11:46

April of night, the boys that hit

11:48

their late teens when the first single from

11:51

the new album was released, but

11:54

Please Don't Go Girl didn't make the impact

11:56

on the R and B charts the band had hoped for.

12:00

We were a R and B act. We

12:02

were being marketed to black radio.

12:05

We did a video and

12:08

it went to B E T I could see yeah

12:10

trying to cross over after you go pop, but

12:12

they were trying to go black first with

12:15

these white kids. That strategy ultimately

12:17

was not working. Even though we've

12:20

put all this time and hard work

12:22

into this, it looked

12:24

like we just didn't know it was

12:26

gonna happen. Later

12:29

that summer, the New Kids luck began

12:31

to change. One pop radio

12:33

DJ in Florida

12:35

played Please Don't Go Girl on a pop

12:38

radio station. The phones lit up.

12:40

They called the radio people at Sony

12:43

at CBS and they were like, you gotta hit, you

12:45

gotta hit. It's

12:47

a pop rad kord.

12:50

The song eventually rose to number ten

12:52

on the pop charts and became the New

12:54

Kids first commercial hit. If

12:58

the guy in Florida would have not played

13:01

bad record, there's no telling what

13:04

would have happened. Looking back, it's

13:06

kind of funny that it's just

13:09

happened by accident. As

13:12

the New Kids gained exposure, they

13:14

got the chance of a lifetime audition

13:16

for sixteen year old pop queen Tiffany

13:19

as the opening act on our national tour. They

13:22

popped into my dressing room and

13:25

if they started doing all the oh and

13:28

I was like, yes, yes,

13:30

yes, yes, yes, I don't have an opening

13:32

act. Literally that night I

13:35

put them on stage. Who doesn't like five

13:37

hot guys doing their thing with

13:39

great music and being as charismatic

13:42

as they are. It was exciting

13:44

and scary at the same time. I mean, here

13:47

we are getting on a bus, our parents

13:49

don't know where we are. There was not cell

13:52

phones back then, so it was you

13:54

know, I'll call you at the hotel or something

13:56

like that. It was an amazing

13:58

night that night to get on the tour

14:01

bus. That was something

14:03

we could never imagine. The

14:06

tour with Tiffany got the New Kids noticed

14:08

by a fresh group of fans, and

14:10

the boys were loving every minute

14:12

of it just grew from that

14:14

point on. I would peek

14:16

out and watch their set before

14:19

I would go on on stage, and you know, it

14:21

was already crazy. The girls were screaming

14:23

and crying. So yes,

14:26

I had a little bit of feeling

14:28

in my heart that this was going to be big. We

14:31

were playing every night in front of

14:33

an audience that was made for us that no

14:35

one really ever thought about. Maurice

14:38

included, anchored by the

14:40

hit single you Got It the right Stuff,

14:43

The new Kids on the Block had arrived.

14:46

By the summer of nine nine, the New

14:48

Kids toured with Tiffany again. All

14:51

right, what's it gonna be? New kids on the Block for

14:54

Tiffany, only this time

14:56

because of their overwhelming popularity,

14:58

they became the headliners. By

15:01

the following summer, I was

15:03

opening up for them. The girls

15:05

had just fallen in love with their music,

15:07

fallen in love with them, and I'm kind

15:09

of in the way. It's

15:13

like I remember getting on stage in the first

15:16

like three songs. You couldn't see anything

15:18

because all the flashes, you

15:21

know, it was just blinding

15:23

and screams. It's like, I

15:25

don't I don't even know if the girls

15:27

even heard the music, heard anything

15:30

we said for the first three songs

15:33

because they were so loud.

15:38

This is your second album, and I just want

15:40

to know what what changes

15:42

are there from the Danger album. It's us, It's

15:44

not the The animal wasn't too much

15:46

us, and we knew this is us. This is more

15:49

real for us. I mean, this is where we come from.

15:52

Hanging Tough was the commercial phenomenon

15:55

of nine, spawning

15:57

five top ten hits and selling

15:59

over eight million copies. Almost

16:01

overnight. The boys from Boston became

16:04

superstars. We'd

16:06

be bored, you know, in some town at the hotel,

16:09

and let's go to the mall. If you went by yourself,

16:11

you never had a problem. If you have, you

16:14

know, two of us, it gets bigger,

16:16

and then if a third person comes along, you've done.

16:19

They were scratching and ripping my

16:22

clothes off and yelling at

16:24

my face. There was a risk of serious

16:26

bodily injury. Back then you

16:28

think little girls aren't strong. They're very strong.

16:31

People would knew where I lived. They'd be at my house

16:33

and my mom's in the kitchen with like ten fans

16:36

just feeding them cookies. Once

16:38

the fuse was lit, the fuse

16:40

was lit, it was going and it was going

16:42

big. There was no stopping. It

16:46

was like really over the top, the

16:48

adulation, the excitement, and it was

16:50

like when are we getting into? On

16:54

June, the New Kids

16:57

released their third album, step by

16:59

Step. The

17:01

title track raced to the top of the charts.

17:03

It was the New Kid's best selling single to

17:06

date, launching them into international

17:08

superstar step by Step

17:10

around the world slow by six million plus

17:12

ricords just that song in

17:14

sa Their popularity

17:17

was now at an old time high. You

17:19

know, as a teenager, there's

17:22

no preparation for that level of

17:24

fame. Five guys

17:27

boy band, their massive

17:29

success. But when you can't,

17:31

you know, get up and go to the pool, or you can't

17:33

go to the gym, and as soon as you walk out the

17:36

the hotel, there's Holly's girl.

17:38

It's a lot, It really is a lot. They

17:43

would knock it on your door to in the

17:45

morning and they'd have like stuff

17:47

right on the face, like I love Joe. So

17:49

they knew where we were at. And we came

17:51

up to our floor and it was all five of us

17:54

and the door opened and some girl was

17:56

standing there like this in front of the

17:58

elevator and she went, she

18:01

just she just fainted. She was okay.

18:05

While most of the guys were enjoying the fandom

18:08

of screaming girls, Jonathan Knight

18:10

was struggling in secret. Nobody

18:16

knew I was gay. The eighties were

18:18

crazy for all gay people. Everything

18:21

was just so behind closed doors.

18:25

I remember, you know, one night,

18:27

going to our manager and just saying

18:30

I'm gay, Like what,

18:33

like help um?

18:36

And his reply was,

18:38

you can't tell anybody. You

18:40

can't tell the guys you get like

18:43

this, cannot get out, or you're just gonna

18:45

have all this come crashing down.

18:49

Jonathan pushed on playing the role

18:51

of a teenage heartthrob. You

18:54

date the good Catholic girls and then you don't have to

18:56

sleep with them. He even

18:58

dated Tiffany John Knight

19:00

and I were a boyfriend a girlfriend for

19:02

about over two and a half years. Tiffany,

19:05

She's gonna kill me. It was it was she

19:08

knows now. It started out really innocent,

19:10

kind of innocent, just we were just friends.

19:12

It was a really good friendship. There was nothing

19:15

ever dirty about it. It was great. She's

19:17

She's an awesome person. He

19:19

is my heart. I still love him

19:22

dearly, and he was a great

19:24

first boyfriend as a person.

19:26

I really got him.

19:29

Pressured by fame to maintain his pop

19:31

star image. Jonathan also chose

19:33

to hide his sexuality from the other new

19:36

kids. I never really

19:38

felt that I would be rejected

19:40

by them. I never felt I'd been rejected

19:42

by my family. It was the business aspect

19:45

of it that really was, like, you

19:47

need to keep shut, you need to not be

19:49

seen going out to clubs, and you

19:52

know, at such a young age, that's

19:54

a lot of stress to put on

19:57

one person. I

20:01

can imagine the pressure

20:03

of like, holy shit, i'man

20:05

like a boy band. Girls

20:10

are supposed to love us, and here I am,

20:12

I'm gay. It must have been really

20:16

difficult. I never

20:18

knew anything. I mean, we were boyfriend

20:20

and girlfriend. We never really talked about anything

20:23

like that. We just didn't know

20:26

what he was dealing with. How much it was impacting

20:29

him. It was hard to tune

20:31

into it because we were all feeling different

20:33

pressures ourselves.

20:38

You know, there was always a hundred and fifty

20:41

to two hundred kids in front of my house

20:43

just waiting for us to show

20:45

up. We each had our struggles with it

20:47

because we did want to still live

20:50

normal lives when we weren't working. I

20:52

continued to want to go home and

20:55

hang out on the corner like any

20:58

sixteen year old kid, and that wasn't

21:00

a possibility for

21:03

years. There was no escaping the spotlight for

21:05

any of the new kids. With over a

21:07

hundred and fifty products in the marketplace, their

21:10

faces were literally everywhere. That's

21:13

when it started to become like

21:16

a machine. Walk

21:18

into a store and there was you know, marbles

21:21

and lunchboxes, be kids

21:23

on the block, cereal, playing cards, and cartoons.

21:28

The whole merchandise side of things got

21:30

out of control. I never thought

21:32

it was too much product. I was sitting

21:34

back thanking God that these millions

21:37

were flowing in. It happened so fast,

21:39

it was like a huge snowball going down the

21:41

hill. We just couldn't stop it. It wasn't exactly

21:44

the way we wanted things

21:46

to go. And you walk into a toy store and there's

21:48

these stuffed animal dolls of you sitting there.

21:51

But we were so young, it was so hard to like,

21:54

you know, really what you could take control

21:56

of and really what you could say. By

21:59

the time we said, okay, we

22:01

gotta start controlling this thing, it was too

22:03

late. We were just grinding

22:05

and grinding and grinding, just because

22:07

our business man is just like, you're gonna make

22:10

money here, you're gonna make money there, and it's just like and

22:14

our spirits weren't being

22:16

refreshed. By

22:34

the end of as

22:36

The New Kids released a hip hop infused remix

22:39

album of their biggest hits, they had

22:41

earned an astonishing one and fifteen

22:43

million dollars in that year alone, eating

22:45

out icons like Michael Jackson, Emmadonna.

22:49

When you told you're a millionaire and you're

22:51

like one twenty, you know, like,

22:54

yeah, it was exciting. No,

22:56

I'll never forget our financial advisor.

22:59

He advised us to take care of our parents

23:01

and then put the rest in the bank. That

23:04

was the kind of advice we were getting early on, so

23:07

that kind of has stuck with us. How

23:10

many people can say they retired their mom

23:13

when they were years

23:15

old, all the hard work

23:17

she did through all those years, working

23:20

nights, cleaning floors, you know, taking

23:23

any job she could to help

23:25

keep our family afloat and raise nine kids.

23:28

Um, you

23:31

know, Um, how

23:34

can I complain about missing out on what

23:37

typical teenage life is

23:40

when I was able to take care of my mom. That

23:45

same year, they launched the most extravagant

23:47

live show to date, the Magic Summer

23:50

Tour. The sold out

23:52

stadiums brought big time status to the

23:54

New Kids, but even though they

23:56

were filling seats, their inspiration

23:59

on stage was fading. We

24:02

were so disconnected from the audience.

24:04

I mean there was people like a mile away,

24:06

way way up high, and it just it

24:09

was off. I

24:12

think there is such a thing as being too

24:14

popular, and I really

24:16

think that that's what happens to us. By

24:20

the New Kids on the Block were one of the biggest

24:23

acts in the world. Their fans worshiped

24:25

them. Music critics weren't

24:27

impressed. Back in the day, we

24:29

took a lot of hits for singing

24:32

bubble gum songs, not really adding

24:34

anything to the music world except

24:37

for a bunch of screaming girls. Donnie

24:39

really was the one that took

24:41

it really personally and

24:44

made it his mission to lash

24:46

back at these people. But I don't know how much

24:49

you guys really care at this point about

24:51

critical acceptance. I mean, I think everyone

24:53

in the world cares about how people feel about

24:55

them. Billy Idol makes a lot of jokes

24:57

about us. To me, I just don't understand why a forty year

24:59

ol a man would spend so much energy

25:02

on a step by step was a failure. It sold five

25:04

million copies. What what kind of failure is that?

25:07

When I was twenty one years old, I was mad

25:09

at the criticism. When I was thirty

25:11

eight. In the original Behind the Music, I

25:13

was trying to explain why

25:16

I was mad about the criticism. The criticism

25:20

was just overwhelming to me. I

25:22

really didn't have a makeup to

25:24

ignore it. You know, I don't think he was wired

25:27

to handle it any differently. He

25:29

grew up in Dorchester. It was a

25:32

tough neighborhood. You

25:34

know, I'm fifty one now and I love

25:36

the criticism anyway now, you know, It's like

25:39

that's where I'm at. I

25:41

don't hear criticism. Donny's

25:46

image is a bad boy was fueled even more

25:48

in March, when he

25:50

was arrested for allegedly setting a hotel

25:52

room on fire to give

25:54

us a day off in Louisville, Kentucky.

25:57

Is a mistake. There's nothing to do there. So

25:59

Lie Donnie just sprayed the fire extinguished

26:02

during his room and it was just a prank

26:04

because he was bored. He's covered

26:06

in white powder his whole room

26:09

him. I didn't light a fire and didn't

26:11

do any such thing. In fact, I

26:13

did the opposite of light of fire, but

26:15

the press reported a different story. The

26:19

chargers were eventually dropped for the

26:21

New Kids. The story became legend.

26:24

I always felt trapped in hotels. I

26:26

always would do mischievous things. Just

26:28

because I was bored and frustrated in hotels

26:31

and I couldn't do everyday

26:33

stuff. Doesn't mean I have the right to

26:35

like leave my old tel room like

26:37

a trash heap. In some ways, it had

26:40

to happen for me to grow up a little

26:42

bit. Donnie's

26:44

badass attitude ignited a spark

26:46

and the New Kid's spirit, but a relentless

26:48

touring schedule began to smother them.

26:54

You know, there was a time when they were just pushing us, pushing

26:56

us, pushing us. We were so hot so

26:59

blaze using hut that we had no

27:02

time. We would end a tour, they

27:05

think of a new name for another tour and just throw

27:07

us back out there again. We were

27:09

going just so fast. We were

27:12

working three d and stick to two

27:14

days of a year. When we would come

27:16

off tour, I wouldn't go home. I would go

27:18

to Boston and check into a hotel and

27:20

not tell anybody, just so I

27:22

could sit in silence and just you

27:25

know, be still. After

27:27

nearly four years of constant touring, conflicts

27:30

began to arise among friends. You

27:33

start to get on each other's nerves. I think

27:36

we've all thrown blows at each other. And it

27:38

was such a humongous things for a

27:41

long period of time and had such intensity

27:44

that you know something had to give. There

27:46

be times where we walked down a hotel

27:48

hallway and like ships in the night,

27:50

not even say anything. We didn't

27:53

have the coping skills and the patients

27:55

to understand each other and and

27:58

show support by growing

28:02

conflict between the guys was not the only tension

28:04

within the New Kids camp. After

28:06

nearly a decade together, the band

28:08

began to feel like producer more re star was

28:11

taking credit for their success to

28:13

pick up a magazine and see him saying,

28:16

Oh, they don't have to have talent, they just need

28:18

someone like me, you know. And the things

28:20

he was saying, you know, just was

28:23

not true and not cool. But we

28:25

love them. We wouldn't be here without him.

28:28

We all made mistakes back then. Maurice

28:31

is our brother and that will never

28:33

change. I think he went through a phase, you

28:35

know, we were getting a lot of attention.

28:37

You know, he wanted to be known

28:39

as, you know, the guy that that

28:42

did it all. No, I didn't do it all

28:44

with those guys did not have the energy.

28:47

If those guys do not have the talent, if those

28:49

guys didn't have what it took, none

28:51

of this would have never happened. Now

28:56

in their twenties, he said no longer. Kids in

28:59

the named n KO TV released

29:02

their fifth album, Faced the Music.

29:05

We wanted to reinvent ourselves. We

29:08

had just left being signed to

29:10

Mari Star, so we were kind of free, like

29:12

we were grown up and we're changing our name

29:15

and we're gonna do things more how

29:17

we want to do it. And it took us like two years

29:19

to put that record together. It was too

29:22

long. It was a struggle to

29:24

get the songs and just who are we're working

29:26

with. It didn't have the same feeling

29:28

as when we had released other stuff. The writing

29:31

was kind of already on the wall, like things

29:33

were changing a bit in the music business.

29:37

The band's mix of a new producer, new

29:39

music, and a new name was not

29:41

a winning combination as their fans

29:44

aged into the ground era of Nirvana

29:46

and Earl jaz faced. The music sold

29:48

less than one and fifty thou copies.

29:51

People were becoming so

29:53

anti pop. You

29:55

know, I felt that I felt that coming.

29:58

Um. I was like I I put

30:00

in my time, This is as far as

30:02

it's gonna go. Um, it's

30:05

time to move on. With

30:08

the pressure of launching yet another tour,

30:10

Jonathan questioned whether he wanted to be a part

30:12

of the group at all. He had been hiding

30:15

his sexuality and struggling with anxiety

30:17

for years. I had

30:19

a secret to hide, and you know,

30:22

by me leaving the group maybe

30:25

would set me free and I could just go

30:27

live my life. For John, he

30:29

didn't decide to leave. He wasn't in, and it

30:31

was back and forth. He's and he's out, he's in, he's

30:34

out, And they decided to have a vote and

30:38

we said all in favor of John being out of the

30:40

band Raiser hind three hands

30:42

are up and Jordan's said majority

30:45

rules. The day that they got

30:47

on the bus and left, it

30:51

was like just that was it killed

30:53

me, you know, because I just I felt like I let

30:55

them down so bad. You know, there's a million

30:57

ways you could tell the story of why we broke

31:00

up. Oh, John left, Like John didn't leave,

31:02

the energy left. We all left. Danny,

31:09

Donny, Jordan, and Joe soldiered

31:11

on, but not for long. They soon

31:13

canceled the rest of the tour, and in June,

31:16

their epic journey officially came to

31:18

an end. You

31:21

know, the fans weren't there. That demand wasn't

31:24

there, The desire to go for

31:26

another few years wasn't there. After

31:32

breaking off, the new Kids went through separate ways

31:34

into new chapters of their lives, but

31:38

each of them struggled as they transitioned

31:41

from teenage superstars to aimless

31:43

adults. That's really

31:45

when it smacked me in my face that here

31:48

I am, five years old, no

31:51

career, I have no plans for

31:54

what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life. So

31:56

I wanted to a really deep

31:59

depression. At that time. It

32:01

was like a big hangover. You know.

32:03

I was a little depressed because

32:06

you know, working and being creative

32:08

is what builds self esteem, so when that goes

32:11

away, it's hard to handle.

32:14

I wanted to go and become Donnie

32:16

Wahlberg, you know. I wanted to go do all these

32:18

different things and me my own. Man. I

32:21

wanted to just grow into myself.

32:24

When you're in a group, you kind of have to fit

32:26

in and you can't fully be

32:29

yourself. Every decision

32:31

it can be yours now. I think the difficult

32:33

thing was we weren't together as a

32:36

group, but there was still that love

32:38

hate for us out there. So you know,

32:40

you still get the jealous guys yelling

32:42

something at you across the street or something. And

32:44

okay, man, we were we

32:47

went away now, so you can stop

32:49

yelling at me. As they adapted

32:52

to their new lives out of the spotlight, the

32:54

guys gradually began to find themselves.

32:57

Now. I said, Okay, this year, I'm gonna

33:00

figure out how to make fifty dollars,

33:02

and that was my goal. A

33:05

friend of mine called me saying, do you

33:07

want to flip a house? We did

33:09

maybe two houses our first year and

33:12

just kept building on it. While

33:15

Jonathan left entertainment behind, Danny,

33:18

Jordan, and Joey all went on to release

33:20

solo albums. Donnie found himself

33:23

in an entirely new career as an

33:25

actor. After breakthrough roles

33:27

in Ransom and The Sixth Sense, Donnie

33:30

immersed himself in his acting career for years.

33:33

You know, I don't have to pat myself on the back of I'm

33:35

I'm a pretty good actor. You know, I don't

33:37

have any Oscar nominations, but we

33:39

know who the better actor in the Walburg household is.

33:41

That's okay, it's me, But

33:44

I'm telling you I'm a musician.

33:46

First. In

34:04

two thousand seven, Donnie heard a demo for

34:07

a song called Click Click Click.

34:11

I heard the song click Click Click,

34:13

and played it for Jordan's

34:16

and Joey and Danny and got the reaction that

34:18

I had hoped for. I loved it, and

34:21

that was kind of the spark to get us back

34:23

in the studio and you know, get

34:26

the ball rolling. I

34:29

just could picture us singing it. It was what

34:31

we were looking for. Grown men want

34:33

to show that different side of us, and it just

34:36

the song suited that. Click

34:39

Click was the one that really stood

34:41

out to me as something that could

34:43

be a launch of our sound,

34:46

our new sound. When

34:48

you're listening and get the chills, you get

34:51

back in the studio and that kind of stuff

34:53

is you know what it's all about. Honestly,

34:57

I felt enough time and asked

35:00

for that kind of stigma

35:03

to fade away angle where's

35:06

the New Kids? You know. I definitely never

35:09

thought anywhere along the way that we would get back

35:11

together. It

35:13

had been fifteen years since The New Kids

35:16

are recorded together. Not everyone

35:18

was convinced it would work. There

35:20

was a conversation early on in the reunion

35:23

of you know, was John going to stay

35:25

in the band? Jonathan was unsure

35:28

if he would still be crippled by the same

35:30

anxiety that plagued him while performing.

35:33

It was a big decision to go back,

35:35

and just lots of discussions

35:39

of what it's going to be like and how

35:41

it's gonna work, and

35:43

eventually I felt comfortable enough like

35:46

we were grown up and we're gonna do things

35:48

more how we want to do it, and

35:51

I was like, let's

35:53

go. In

35:55

early two thousand and eight, the five guys,

35:57

now in their mid to late thirties, assemble

36:00

for their first recording session together since

36:05

like who else is? What's

36:09

up? That first time was really

36:11

awkward. You could tell

36:13

I'm hugging Joe, but it's like, hey, I

36:15

don't know, you know more, man, I

36:17

haven't seen Donnie and probably ten

36:20

years. I probably haven't seen Danny maybe

36:23

once or twice in the last fourteen years.

36:25

Joe, I've probably seen him once. I mean,

36:28

I didn't know what to expect. There's nothing like getting

36:30

back in the studio with the guys, you know

36:32

that first time and cutting

36:34

vocals and hearing our you know, vocals

36:37

together and we have our own sounds

36:39

and and that's that's pretty

36:41

cool. It took a little bit to like get

36:44

back into that comfort zone and to kind

36:46

of realize, you know, we've grown up,

36:48

but kind to everyone's personalities

36:50

are still the same. Alright,

36:52

guys, alright, my first step together

36:55

in damn years, right,

37:01

look at this To

37:07

be back after all that time in a rehearsal

37:10

studio, dancing again together. It gave

37:12

me chills. As

37:15

the new kids prepared to announce the reunion,

37:18

they wondered if their fans would also

37:20

return. We came back

37:23

hard, We worked some

37:28

of those old fights still had

37:31

residue on our reunion. But

37:33

I went to a lot of therapy, and I remember

37:36

really using a lot of the lessons I

37:39

had learned in the band, listening

37:41

better, talking less. We

37:44

want right now to

37:51

be fair. I definitely was dipping

37:53

my toe in the waters, checked the temperature

37:55

of the water, but I didn't

37:58

care. I didn't have

38:01

any fear that it wasn't

38:03

going to work. Three.

38:09

In September of two thousand eight, fifteen

38:12

years since their last album together, the

38:14

New Kids released The Block and

38:17

launched a national tour. We

38:20

had this lift at the back of the stage. It

38:22

just lifted us up. The

38:24

sound was it was

38:26

deafening. It sounded like a seven forty

38:28

seven. It was out of control. I'd

38:32

never felt that in all our

38:34

years. There was history in

38:37

those screens. It was the

38:41

most amazing feeling

38:44

I have ever felt in my life. It was

38:47

it just bowed back

38:50

in that moment. It was Yeah, it

38:53

was just so. It was so special. It

38:55

was immediately apparent that their

38:57

bands had gone nowhere. Everybody

39:00

has a child inside, everybody has an inner

39:02

teenager. We get a little older, but

39:05

the feelings never ever die,

39:08

and that's what we represent to our

39:11

fans. The

39:16

boys were blown away by the emotion

39:18

they felt being on stage together again.

39:21

It was a much much deeper connection,

39:23

a much deeper understanding of how important

39:26

we were to each other. We all

39:29

really needed each other again. It's

39:32

pretty amazing, it really is. I

39:35

was comfortable with myself, and

39:38

here I am back with these

39:41

four guys that have been

39:43

in my life since I was a kid. Over

39:47

the years, Jonathan had grown more comfortable

39:49

with his sexuality. His family and

39:51

the band knew he was gay, but he hadn't

39:54

made a point of revealing it to the public until

39:56

two thousand nine, when the tabloid

39:59

pressed threat to out him. I

40:01

was dating my husband then and I

40:03

got a call from my publicist.

40:06

She said that an ex of yours

40:08

is about to release pictures to

40:11

the National Enquirer, and

40:13

it just got to be like, enough is enough.

40:17

Jonathan decided to release a public statement

40:19

revealing he was gay. The

40:24

fans totally accepted it, and we just

40:27

thought it makes the group better, It

40:29

makes the group richer.

40:34

One of the truly special things for me is

40:37

watching him take ownership

40:40

of who he is and being at

40:42

peace with that, not just as

40:45

a gay man, but as a performer.

40:47

I started to realize early on

40:50

in the second incarnation of the band that

40:52

the fans saw

40:55

themselves more in John than in

40:57

any of us. It's

40:59

never changed how I look at him. People

41:01

were like, how do you feel? I'm like, how

41:04

do I feel about what that? My friend is

41:06

gay? I feel he's fabulous.

41:08

That's how I feel. End of story.

41:14

Just made me so happy how

41:16

far society has come

41:18

to realize, you know, everybody's

41:22

the same, which is a little different.

41:26

Jonathan is now married and

41:29

all of the New Kids have grown into family

41:31

man. Jordan and Joey also married

41:33

and had kids. Danny is a grandfather,

41:36

and Donnie found the love of his life when he married

41:39

actress Jenny McCarthy. My

41:42

journey with Jenny is in some

41:44

ways similar to my journey through

41:46

music. Every day I woke

41:48

up thinking about the band and thinking about moving

41:51

it forward. It was part of who I was, and

41:55

the same thing happened with Jenny. That

41:58

wisdom and mature outlook has allowed

42:00

the New Kids to defy the odds a second

42:02

time around. To date, the Reunion

42:05

tours have grows more than two hundred and fifty

42:07

million dollars and given them the opportunity

42:10

to fulfill a lifelong dream. There

42:14

are no words to describe playing the way part.

42:16

It's sacred ground. So to play

42:18

a concert there is beyond really

42:22

the scope of what the mind can imagine. For

42:25

five guys that grew up in that city rooting

42:28

for the Red Sox, it

42:30

doesn't get any bigger or better than

42:32

that. Also, as adults,

42:35

the New Kids redefine the relationship

42:37

with their fans, and their annual

42:39

n KOTB cruise is one

42:42

of their favorite ways to connect. Every

42:44

cruise, every song, every

42:47

single opportunity to connect

42:50

with the fans is an opportunity to bring

42:52

happiness, not just to them but to

42:55

me. It's the best

42:57

time ever. I mean a lot has changed,

43:00

just our personal relationship

43:02

with fans, and you can talk to people

43:04

and ask them normal grown up questions

43:07

instead of them just you know, reaching

43:09

out to rip your hair out. We've

43:12

all just grown immature and

43:15

have learned, I think, to stay very present

43:18

and stay very grateful my connection

43:20

with our fans and being part of

43:22

this band. That's why I'm on this planet was

43:24

to be part of this experience

43:26

and part of this love. Now

43:33

well into their forties and fifties, the

43:35

New Kids are far from old men, but

43:37

they are wise enough to strike the right balance

43:40

between their careers and their personal

43:42

lives. I would do anything for any

43:45

guy in the group and have so much

43:47

respect and love for them. I just I

43:49

feel lucky just to have them in my life.

43:51

I think we can keep doing what we're doing, you

43:54

know, as long as the fun is there, as

43:56

long as the spirits there, as long as

43:58

the camaraderie is there. I

44:00

think with maturity, you learn to focus

44:02

on what's import you doing this

44:05

again and continuing to

44:07

do this with family,

44:10

of course, it changes

44:13

everything. These are my four

44:15

brothers. It's a massive gift and

44:18

I ring every drip out of it. I

44:20

hope we all continue doing

44:23

things in life that we love. It's

44:25

just the best thing in the world, you

44:28

know, from the time we were little boys until

44:31

now, as meant we got each other's back,

44:34

and we're never walking out there alone. I

44:39

fully expect John and Jordan

44:41

and Danny and Joey to be in my life forever.

44:54

Listen to Behind the Music on the I Heart Radio

44:56

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44:58

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