MANILA, Philippines - Boyz II Men, the American R&B vocal group behind the hit songs I’ll Make Love To You, End Of The Road, On Bended Knee and One Sweet Day, is scheduled to return to Manila for another major concert on Sept. 17 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
Ovation Productions is bringing back the four-time Grammy Award-winning group for its fourth local appearance in response to the clamor of music lovers who have been enthralled by its romantic ballads and a cappella harmonies of the ’90s.
Dubbed Boyz II Men Live In Manila 2014, the one-night-only musical presentation will reunite the male vocal sensations from Philadelphia with Pinoy fans four years after the group’s last concert here on Aug. 13, 2010 at the Big Dome, also promoted by Ovation Productions.
As in its past shows, Boyz II Men will wow the audience with the rendition by baritone Nathan Morris and tenors Shawn Stockman and Wanya Morris in their signature style of timeless R&B tunes like I’ll Make Love To You, End Of The Road, On Bended Knee, Water Runs Dry, One Sweet Day, 4 Seasons of Loneliness and many others.
Boyz II Men first gained international attention in the ’90s with the release of the single, End Of The Road (1992), which reached the top of the charts worldwide and stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks, surpassing the decades-old record held by Elvis Presley.
It gained greater popularity when it broke its own record with the release of the songs I’ll Make Love To You and One Sweet Day (with Mariah Carey), which at 14 and 16 weeks, respectively, each set new marks for the longest period of time it stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the 1995 Grammy Awards ceremonies, Boyz II Men received four Grammys for its exceptional performance in music and recording, including two for its 1992 sophomore album, II (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals).
It closed the last decade of the 20th century with its acclamation as Billboard’s fourth most successful musical group of the ’90s. It was also hailed as the most successful R&B male vocal group of all time with five No. 1 R&B hits between 1992 and 1997 and sales of more than 60 million records.
Altogether, it has garnered an astonishing cumulative 50 weeks on the No. 1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100, a feat that only Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Mariah Carey have achieved.
Although On Bended Knee did not beat any record, it was still an immensely popular song that reached No. 1 and made Boyz II Men the third artist (behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles) to replace themselves at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Now on its third decade in the music industry, Boyz II Men has earned an esteemed place as among the hottest names in R&B and a cappella genre mainly because of the so-called “crossover appeal” of its sound. It has also been credited for being at the forefront of the ’90s movement to take R&B back into the musical mainstream as it had been in the ’70s.
Although its style of using hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not considered unique, it was Boyz II Men’s success with mainstream audiences in “putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks” that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s.
On Jan. 5, 2012, Boyz II Men was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Its 11th studio album, Collide, is due to be released on Sept. 30.
(Boyz II Men Live In Manila 2014 is produced by Ovation Productions and presented by Fox International and Imarflex Inverter Airconditioner in cooperation with Air 21. Ticket prices are P5,750, P4,750, P3,750, P2,750, P1,750 and P750. Tickets are available at Ticketnet outlets and online at www.ticketnet.com.ph. For info, call 911-5555.)