98 Degrees is excited to be back on the road.
Bandmates Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre recently sat down with PEOPLE as they prepare to kick off their fall tour, ahead of the group’s new album, Full circle. As they look back on their nearly 30 years as a band, the entertainers are proud of their place.
“I think everybody wants that kind of traditional success. You want this chart position, you want this tour, but I think we look at it a little bit differently,” says Drew.
“We love being able to perform. We love being able to make music. For us, I think success is a continuation of that, being able to continue doing what we love,” he continues.
“We want to keep making good music. We want to keep being in front of our fans and doing shows,” adds the 48-year-old. “So I think those are the signs of success now, if you’re able to continue to have longevity.”
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98 Degrees in 2024, ahead of their tour and new album, “Full Circle.”
Courtesy of 98 degrees
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The new album is special for the band in that it’s “half originals, half remasters,” explains Drew.
“We’re taking a page out of Taylor Swift’s playbook and rehashing some of our hits that people have loved over the years and remastering them,” he shares.
Of the new material, Justin, 51, says: “There’s a song that Nick wrote and one that Drew wrote. It’s always cool when we have material that we co-wrote.”
“Then we have the updated 98-degree sound,” adds Drew. “I mean, obviously harmony is always going to be a big part of our music and focusing on melodies and telling stories through the songs, but updating the songs, we’ve got some great producers that have been working on that.”
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For the release, the group teamed up with Swedish producer Anders Bagge, affectionately referred to as “our Swedish secret weapon”.
“[Anders] worked on ‘Because of You’ and ‘Una Noche,’ and a bunch of our hits in the past. We have a song we did with him as well that’s exciting,” adds Drew. “It’s a great group of songs together that we’re really excited for people to hear.”
It’s hard for the band to believe how far they’ve come since bursting onto the scene in the mid-’90s, but they’re excited about the possibilities of what’s next, including connecting with their fans even further.
“If you had asked us in 1996, that 30 years from now, we would still be doing this, I mean, I don’t know if we would have ever dreamed that it would be a possibility. I think that is a true sign of success,” concludes Drew.
If you want to catch the band on their fall tour, visit 98degrees.com for upcoming tour dates.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education