Yes, there was more to the radio than BSB and *NSYNC in the 1990s — you just might have forgotten

O-Town. PHOTO: THEO WARGO/WIREIMAGE

Yes, we know you were busy learning Backstreet’s “Everybody” dance and tearin’ up some hearts with *NSYNC in 1997, but you were probably also jamming to some other bops on the radio by boy bands you might have since forgotten.

O-Town, BBMak, Westlife, LFO and a host of others also ruled the waves during the ’90s, dropping hits like “Summer Girls,” “Flying Without Wings,” “Back Here” and a stream of other MTV-favorite hits you know you sang along to.

Here, take a trip back in time with this list of other popular ’90s boy bands — some of whom are still touring today.

01of 10

BBMak

BBMak in 2001. DAVID TONGE/GETTY

The English trio of BBMak — Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Stephen McNally — hasn’t really gone anywhere since climbing the charts in 2000 with the earworm “Back Here,” which lingered on the Billboard Hot 100 for 31 weeks. Though they split up in 2003, they reunited in 2018 after “reminiscing on old times,” they told PEOPLE, making new music and hitting the road not long after.

The group is currently on the nostalgia-inducing Pop 2000 Tour alongside O-Town, Ryan Cabrera, LFO and *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick.

02of 10

LFO

LFO in 2001. KEVIN KANE/WIREIMAGE

Lyte Funkie Ones took off in 1999 with the inescapable “Summer Girls,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts and inspired many a girl to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch. The follow-up, “Girl on TV,” written about about Jennifer Love Hewitt, was also a hit.

The trio has since been struck by tragedy, with founder Rich Cronin dying from leukemia in 2010 and singer Devin Lima dying in 2018 after surgery to remove a football-size tumor caused by stage-four adrenal cancer.

Prior to that, the band split up in 2002 though got back together for a reunion tour in 2009. Remaining member Brad Fischetti is now on the Pop 2000 Tour as LFO.

03of 10

Westlife

Westlife in 1999.HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY

Westlife’s first smash single “Swear It Again” recently turned 25 years old.

“We just can’t believe it ❤️🥹 This song changed our lives forever!!” the group wrote in an Instagram post about the moment. “Seeing our fans enjoying this song today as much as they did 25 years ago means the world to us all 🤩🎶”

The Dublin-based group consisted of Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne (plus Brian McFadden, center, who left in 2004), though they went their separate ways in 2012. In 2018, they got the band back together, and Egan, Byrne and Shane are currently on The Hits tour.

04of 10

O-Town

O-Town in the early 2000s. THEO WARGO/WIREIMAGE

A product of MTV’s Making the Band, O-Town was born in Orlando in 2000 with members Ashley Parker Angel, Erik Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood and Ikaika Kahoano, who was later replaced by Dan Miller.

Like some other groups of the time, the band gained fame opening for Britney Spears and also had some Billboard hits: 2001’s “All or Nothing” and 2000’s “Liquid Dreams.”

But also like those who went before them, they split in the early 2000s, focusing on solo work as Angel’s star rose for a time on a new MTV series and in Hairspray on Broadway.

In 2019, Estrada, Penick, Underwood and Miller released a new album together, and have summer tour dates on the calendar this year.

05of 10

Dream Street

Dream Street in 2002.JOHN SHEARER/WIREIMAGE

The youngest boy band of the time, Dream Street was formed by producers in 1999 and featured Jesse McCartney, Chris Trousdale, Greg Raposo, Matt Ballinger and Frankie Galasso. The quintet found success with hits including “It Happens Every Time” and “Feel the Rain” before disbanding in 2002, due to the legal issues between the boys’ parents and management.

McCartney went on to find commercial solo success, and in 2023, Raposo, Ballinger and Galasso teased “lil something in the works” on Instagram.

Trousdale died from complications from COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic in 2020. His bandmates reunited on Zoom weeks later to pay tribute to their friend.

06of 10

5ive

5ive in 1998.MIKE PRIOR/GETTY

Another group out of the U.K., 5ive started with five members in the late 1990s: Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, Abz Love and Jason Brown. After opening for *NSYNC on tour and finding commercial success with singles “Keep on Movin'” and most famously “When the Lights Go Out,” they went through a series of splits and reunions throughout the early 2000s.

Now, members Robinson, Neville and Conlon are touring together, most recently selling out in Australia and New Zealand.

07of 10

All-4-One

All-4-One in 1995.AL PEREIRA/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY

Perhaps a touch more mature than the typical boy band, All-4-One also had something several of the other groups of the time didn’t: a Grammy. Members Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez and Tony Borowiak won best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for their hit “I Swear” in 1995, following it up with two more nominations in 1996 for their singles “I’m Your Man” and “I Can Love You Like That.”

The group has continued releasing new music and is currently on a 30th anniversary tour.

08of 10

Boyzone

Boyzone in 1995.FRYDERYK GABOWICZ/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY

In a 1998 story about the “boyz” of Boyzone — Irish singers Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham — Teen PEOPLE noted the group was chasing Irish-American fans after finding big success in the U.K.

Their 1999 album Where We Belong did crack the Billboard 200, though their U.S. success never matched what they achieved in Europe (12 Top 5 singles and three hit albums following their 1994 debut). The group parted ways that year.

In 2009, Gately died of acute pulmonary edema at 33 years old. In the years since, the remaining group members have often paid tribute to him on Instagram, and got back together in 2019 for a farewell tour. However in May of 2024, they teased a new project, asking fans to share their ’90s-era content with them via email.

09of 10

Immature

Immature in 1994.AL PEREIRA/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY

Immature — consisting of Marques “Batman” Houston, Kelton “LDB” Kessee, Jerome “Romeo” Jones and for a time, Don “Half-Pint” Santos (not pictured) — had all corners of pop culture covered: Brandy once sang backup for the group and Houston starred on the hit sitcom Sister, Sister, as the Landry twins’ neighbor Roger. Acting became part of the trio’s appeal, as they starred in several of the House Party films and a slew of popular ’90s shows.

The group — who later rebranded to IMx — had one single hit the Billboard Hot 100, 1999’s sultry “Stay the Night.” But they released six albums from 1992 to 2001, plus a Greatest Hits that same year. By the following year, they’d gone their separate ways.

According to their Instagram account, they’ve reunited several times in recent years, though haven’t posted anything since 2020.

10of 10

No Authority

No Authority in 1998.GETTY

Angelenos Josh Keaton, Ricky Godinez (a.k.a. Ricky Rebel), Eric “Stretchy” Stretch and Danny Zavatsky made up the group No Authority, which gave “fans of bubblegum pop something to chew on,” Teen PEOPLE wrote in 1999. The band was signed to Michael Jackson’s record label, MJJ Music, which also repped several other favorites of the era, and later moved to Madonna’s Maverick label.

Keaton left the group after the release of their 1997 album Keep On (which had their debut single “Don’t Stop”), with Tommy McCarthy stepping in prior to 2000’s No Authority.

The quartet was known for their harder-hitting beats, and scored spots opening for Britney Spears and 98 Degrees as well as on Nickelodeon’s All That Tour in 1999, bringing what Zavatsky called their “house party” soundtrack on the road.

You probably know them best for their catchy 2000 hit “Can I Get Your Number” — it was not long after the song’s release that the group split up.