The Iconic Way Boyz II Men Got Their Group Name
Boyz II Men is still known as one of the most gifted and acclaimed music groups of all time. The four-person band absolutely dominated the charts in the ’90s, with their music appearing on various movie soundtracks and commercials.
To this day, the Philidelphia natives still sound flawless, and some of their greatest hits, including “Let Is Snow” and “End of the Road,” have defined a generation. Their music is so timeless that a whole new generation has been introduced to their music.
However, most fans had no idea that Nathan Morris, Michael McCary, Shawn Stockman, and Wanya Morris got their group name from another legendary R&B group.
Inside Boyz II Men’s rise to fame
The men of Boyz II Men came of age in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they all attended school at the Philadelphia High School for the Performing Art. During their time in high school, all four of the guys studied classical music and vocal arts together.
Eventually, they gained major recognition and were signed to the iconic Motown Records and released their debut album, Cooleyhighharmony. Though the album won the group their first Grammy and was full of iconic gems and covers of old songs like “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” their song “End of The Road” put them on the map.
Initially, the song which was written by Babyface was not even on Boyz II Men’s debut album. Instead, it was put on the Boomerang soundtrack, which starred Halle Berty and Eddie Murphy. Boyz II Men’s fame skyrocketed from there.
Boyz II Men initially hated their most famous song
The fame and frenzy surrounding Boyz II Men came quickly. Therefore, by the time the guys began working on their second alum, II in 1994, they thought they didn’t need Babyface. In fact, they were so arrogant they tried to turn down the song, which would be their biggest of all time, “I’ll Make Love To You.” Producer Dallas Austin remembers being floored by their dismissal of the song.
“Face comes to the studio, he opens the laptop up, all of us are sitting around, and he starts singing, “I’ll Make Love To You,”Austin revealed during an interview with VLAD TV. “He’s singing the whole song. He has the instrumental, but he’s singing the whole song to us, right? After he finished, Boyz II Men looks at him and goes, ‘See, this is what we’re talking about, we don’t need you this is horrible.’”
In the end, Motown executive Jheryl Busby forced them to record “I’ll Make Love To You” which beat “End of the Road’s” 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the charts.
Boyz II Men got their name from R&B group New Edition
The name Boyz II Men was inspired by the 1988 New Edition song “Boys To Men,” which was on the iconic Heart Break album. New Edition also had a major role in helping Boyz II Men get to the top.
When they initially signed to Mowtown, New Edition member Michael Bivins was their manager.
