While some of the cooler kids had left the party, Louis Walsh was just getting started unleashing Boyzone onto an unsuspecting nation. Smooth, sonorous and with accents to die for, they were a deadly force. With multiple number ones, during most of the 90s, the five from the emerald isle took up the mantle from Take That and became the ones to beat.
Walsh repeated the trick with Westlife, who closed out the decade as the premier Irish boy band, selling millions of records in the process.
The Americans weren't quite done with the boy band either. While N*Snync contained the phenomena that would become Justin Timberlake and nailed more than a few hits to the mast, they would pale in comparison to the global giant that would be the Backstreet Boys. While never sparking the imagination of the UK like either Take That or Boyzone, the Florida based crooners would go on to sell more than 130 million records worldwide. Not too shabby at all.
During this time, the charts were littered with groups of gorgeous guys trying to steal the hearts of the nation. 5ive, Another Level and 911 amongst others all popped up towards the end of the decade, although all the buzz surrounding all but the giant bands had all but left the room.
We may be soaked in nostalgia to the point where concerned bystanders are asking if we need a towel, but it just seems that not only were there far more boy bands for the teens to swoon over, they were just far better too. If we're still all talking about One Direction or JLS in a decade in a positive light, it'll be more shocking than those 90's haircuts.
FemaleFirst Cameron Smith