Boyz II Men on love tour

MANILA, Philippines - Boyz II Men gained international renown for its unique, distinctive sound that has transformed pop music and ultimately established itself as the most commercially successful R&B male vocal group of all time.

With its exceptional vocal artistry and sophistication, the group’s music has wielded great pervasiveness and influence on the songs of various generations of singers and artists, whether past or contemporary.          

The trademark flawless harmonies of the popular act will sweep the concert scene again when Boyz II Men returns for an evening of timeless love songs and romantic ballads during its much-awaited concert on Aug. 13 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

Titled Boyz II Men: The Love Tour!, the one-night-only musical event to be mounted by Ovation Productions is the Manila segment of the group’s ongoing world tour in support of its latest album, Love.

Aside from selections from the new CD, also to be featured in the two-and-a-half-hour gig are Boyz II Men’s latest Motown remakes and multimillion-selling hits of the ‘90s.

 Among the songs that have captivated millions worldwide are One Sweet Day, Four Seasons Of Loneliness, End Of The Road, I’ll Make Love To You and On Bended Knee.

Boyz II Men started as a quintet in 1988 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that eventually ended up as a three-man vocal group recognized individually as distinctive lead singers and known for their trademark flawless harmonies.

Its 1991 debut album (from Motown Records), Cooleyhighharmony made the Top 5 and hung on the Billboard Top 200 for an astonishing 133 weeks, with sales of over nine million copies in the US alone and earning for Boyz II Men its first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

The single, End Of The Road (1992), became Boyz II Men’s all-time biggest hit when it held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks, breaking the previous 11-week record set by Elvis Presley’s Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog in 1956 and topping the Billboard R&B singles chart for four weeks.

End Of The Road won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was added to subsequent pressings of Cooleyhighharmony.

Boyz II Men’s 1994 second album, II, topped the Billboard chart for five weeks, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album and sold over 12 million copies mainly on account of its two No. 1 pop singles, I’ll Make Love To You (also a long-running R&B No. 1) and On Bended Knee, both certified platinum.

I’ll Make Love To You surpassed Boyz II Men’s own chart record set by End Of The Road when it captured and held the top spot for 14 weeks. It earned the group its fourth Grammy Award, for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group with Vocals.

In 1995, the group collaborated with Mariah Carey on One Sweet Day, a track from her best-selling album, Daydream. It became another multimillion-selling single, topping the Hot 100 for 16 weeks and earning both artists the 1996 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

With its clean-cut “retro nouveau” image, synchronized dance routines and polished stage act, Boyz II Men continued its rapid rise to the top as it recorded between 1992 and 1997 five No. 1 pop hits and 12 Top 10 R&B singles, sold over 60 million records worldwide and earned an array of awards, including four Grammy Awards.

In 2007, Boyz II Men inspired renewed attention and interest in its music with the launch of Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville, USA, its first major-label release in five years in which it paid tribute to the legendary Motown sound with its vaunted vocal artistry and sophistication that instantly caught fire among a new generation of fans.

In collaboration with Grammy Award-winning musician and producer, the trio of Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris (no relation to Nathan) performed 12 all-time Motown hits, including Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology); Smokey Robinson and The Miracles’ The Tracks Of My Tears; The Temptations’ Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me); Edwin Starr’s War; and the Stevie Wonder favorite, I Was Made To Love Her.

The acclaim won by Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA is expected to be sustained with the release of Boyz II Men’s new album titled, Love, where it sings a string of hit ballads by other top artists, including If You Leave Me Now (Chicago); Cupid (Sam Cooke); Open Arms (Journey); In My Life (The Beatles); Iris (Goo Good Dolls), and many more.

Boyz II Men: The Love Tour! is presented by Ovation Productions in cooperation with etc Entertainment Channel, 2nd Avenue, Hallmark Channel, Imarflex Home Appliances, Edsa Shangri-La Manila, The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, Business World, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, RJ 100.3 FM and ABS-CBN.

Other supporters include Magic 89.9, Monster Radio RX 93.1, 97.9 Home Radio, 90.7 Love Radio, 99.5 RT, 96.3 Easy Rock, Wave 89.1, Jam 88.3, Mellow 94.9, 105.1 Crossover and OptimaSignsolutions. 

(Tickets are priced at P4,500, P4,000, P3,500, P2,500, P1,000 and P500 and are available at Ticketnet outlets at SM Department Stores. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555 or Ovation Productions at 532-8883.)