Nineteen-nineties boy band 98 Degrees celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, not with some gala concert or career retrospective but with a Christmas album.
And if youβre sitting there scratching your head and musing aloud, βWhy a Christmas album?β let us explain before the quartet brings its β98 Degrees At Christmasβ tour to the Desert Diamond Casino on Friday, Dec. 22:
Building on the success of its multiplatinum 1998 sophomore album β98 Degrees and Rising,β the quartet in 1999 tossed its jingle bells into the star-studded Christmas music arena and came back with the platinum-selling album βThis Christmas.β It spun off the Top 40 hit βThis Giftβ and landed them on Amy Grantβs CBS special βA Christmas to Remember,β forever sealing the bandβs relationship to the holidays.
Fast-forward to 2017: 98 Degrees in October released βLet It Snow,β its 20th anniversary Christmas album with classics including βMary, Did You Know?β βSilent Night,β βAway In a Manger,β βHave Yourself a Merry Little Christmasβ and a cover of Joni Mitchellβs classic βRiver.β And of course they added an original song, the poppy four-part-harmony-rich toe-tapper βSeason of Love.β
So you see how releasing a Christmas album on a milestone anniversary actually makes a lot of sense for 98 Degrees.
Just what can we expect from Fridayβs concert?
- Dancing: Hello, this is 98 Degrees, one of the top
- boy bands of the 1990s whose calling card was moving, grooving and looking good as they split some pretty remarkable four-part harmonies.
- Singing along: In addition to their Christmas songs, the band dips into its pop hits and, according to reviews of shows held in November, even covers βLet it Goβ from βFrozenβ and music from βThe Lion King.β A review from a show at the Westbury in New York City in late November heralded the concert as βspectacularβ by a blogger who goes by the name CathClaire (cathclaire.com).
- Eye candy: Twenty years down the road, the band members still look like they stepped off the cover of Teen Beat magazine. So donβt be surprised if some of their diehard fans on Friday go all fangirl once they hit the stage.