Hanson is an American band from Tulsa, Oklahoma
formed by brothers Isaac, Taylor, and Zac.
They are best known for the 1997 hit song
"MMMBop" from their major label debut album
Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy
nominations. Despite the enormous commercial
success of Middle of Nowhere, the band suffered
from the merger that eliminated their label,
Mercury Records. The group was moved to Island
Def Jam Music Group, which they eventually
left after a conflict with the label. Hanson
has sold over 16 million records worldwide
and have had 8 top 40 albums and 6 top 40
singles in the US, as well as 8 top 40 singles
in the UK. The band now records under its
own label, 3CG Records.
History
1992–96: Early years
In the early to mid-1990s, Isaac, Taylor and
Zac sang a cappella and recorded songs like
"Rockin' Robin", "Splish Splash" and "Johnny
B. Goode", as well as their own material.
Their first performance as a professional
group took place in 1992 at the Mayfest Arts
Festival in Tulsa.
Hanson also appeared on Carman's Yo! Kidz:
The Vidz, which cast Taylor as a young Biblical
David facing Goliath, Isaac as an event announcer,
and Zac and other members of the family in
the stands cheering on this "sporting event".
All three boys started their musical careers
as pianists, but Isaac eventually started
playing guitar and Zac started playing drums,
while Taylor continued as the keyboard player.
The band recorded two independent albums in
their hometown of Tulsa, Boomerang and MMMBop.
The latter featured the original version of
the song "MMMBop," which would later become
the runaway single on their debut commercial
record Middle of Nowhere. The boys then found
themselves at the South By Southwest music
festival in Austin, Texas. There, they were
promptly signed by manager Christopher Sabec.
He shopped them to several record companies,
most of which dismissed the band as either
a novelty or fraud before Steve Greenberg,
an A&R representative for Mercury Records,
heard them play a set at the Wisconsin State
Fair. After this performance, they were signed
almost immediately by Mercury. They soon became
a worldwide sensation with the release of
their first major-label album, Middle of Nowhere,
which was produced by the Dust Brothers.
1997–2000: Commercial success
Middle of Nowhere was released in the U.S.
on May 6, 1997, selling 10 million copies
worldwide. May 6 was declared 'Hanson Day'
in Tulsa by Oklahoma's then-governor Frank
Keating. Although 'Hanson Day' was originally
intended to be a one-time occurrence, many
Hanson fans all over the world still recognize
May 6 as Hanson Day every year. Hanson's popularity
exploded during the summer of 1997, and Mercury
Records released Hanson's first documentary
Tulsa, Tokyo, and the Middle of Nowhere and
their Christmas album Snowed In in the wake
of their success. Hanson also launched MOE,
a fan club magazine that ran for 12 issues.
After numerous unauthorized biographies of
each of the brothers were published, Hanson
turned to their close friend, Jarrod Gollihare
of Admiral Twin, to write their authorized
biography. Hanson: The Official Book reached
number 9 on the New York Times Best Sellers
List on February 1, 1998. The band was nominated
for three Grammy Awards in 1998: Record of
the Year, Best New Artist, and Best Pop Performance
by a Duo or Group with Vocal. During the summer
of 1998, Hanson began a highly successful
concert tour, the Albertane Tour. They performed
a string of shows throughout stadiums and
arenas in the U.S., targeting young audiences
with a playful and energetic style. A live
album, titled Live From Albertane, was released
the following fall, as well as their second
documentary The Road to Albertane.
In response to the demand for their earlier
work, Hanson re-released MMMBop as 3 Car Garage,
minus four tracks, in May 1998. To date, the
tracks from Boomerang have not been re-released.
Three tracks from Boomerang") and two of the
remaining tracks from MMMBop") were released
on the first MOE CD sent to fan club members.
During the Albertane Tour, Hanson wrote and
demoed what would later become the songs for
their fifth major studio album, This Time
Around. During this time period, Mercury Records,
the band's label, had been merged with Island
Def Jam. Almost immediately following the
changeover in May 2000, Hanson released their
fifth album, This Time Around, but due to
lack of promotional funding, sales were low
and the label eventually pulled funding for
their tour. The band toured through the summer
and fall of 2000 on their own funds.
2001–05: Independent career
After a three-year struggle, the brothers
left Island Def Jam Records to seek more creative
freedom. Label executives had refused over
80 songs from the band, believing new material
lacked marketability. The documentary film
Strong Enough to Break follows these events.
Hanson now records for their own independent
label, 3CG Records. The label has distribution
deals through Alternative Distribution Alliance
in the United States, Cooking Vinyl in Europe,
Sony Music in Asia and with various other
distributors throughout the world. During
the dispute with their former label, Hanson
signed with the management company, 10th Street
Entertainment, which also manages artists
such as Meat Loaf and Blondie.
The band's Underneath Acoustic tour occurred
during the Summer and Fall of 2003. Music
included acoustic versions of songs from the
then-forthcoming release, Underneath. The
tour ended November 5, 2003 with a performance
at Carnegie Hall.
Released on April 20, 2004, Underneath sold
37,500 copies in the first week of release
in the US alone. The album debuted at No. 1
on Billboard Top Independent Albums chart
and No. 25 on the Billboard 200 album chart,
making Underneath one of the most successful
self-released albums of all time.
In autumn 2005, Hanson toured in the U.S.
and Canada to support The Best of Hanson:
Live & Electric. They also visited colleges
to showcase Strong Enough to Break, the documentary
chronicling difficulties with and departure
from Island Def Jam. During college visits,
the band held question-and-answer sessions
about independent artists' role in the music
industry.
2006–08: The Walk and tenth anniversary
On January 15, 2007, Hanson released on iTunes
the first episode of their documentary podcast
"Taking the Walk", detailing production of
the studio album. The first episode of the
band's documentary Strong Enough to Break
was also released on iTunes. The program is
edited into 13 episodes for release by podcast.
In March, 2007, Hanson began a "preview tour"
to promote The Walk and give fans a taste
of recent work. Over six days, Hanson performed
at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New
Jersey, Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut,
The Crocodile Rock in Allentown, Pennsylvania,
and The Supper Club in New York City. On March
30, Taylor and Zac appeared in Dallas, TX
to screen their documentary at the AFI Film
Festival. Afterward, the brothers held a Q&A
session along with director Ashley Greyson.
Hanson performed in the UK during April 2007,
playing songs from The Walk. They also promoted
the release of the single "Go" and the UK
release of the album.
The Walk, Hanson's second studio album with
3CG Records, was released in the U.S., Mexico
and Canada on July 24. It was released in
Japan on February 21 and in the UK on April
30.
On May 6, 2007, the 10th anniversary of Hanson
Day, the band re-recorded their first major
label album, Middle Of Nowhere, at The Blank
Slate bar in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The band invited fan club members, causing
hundreds to fly to Oklahoma for the acoustic
event. Hanson played concerts in the summer
of 2007, supporting release of The Walk. The
band appeared in Providence, Boston, New York
City, Toronto, and Los Angeles. The record
Middle of Nowhere Acoustic was released at
the end of that year, exclusively on Hanson.net.
The record included all but three songs of
those originally in Middle of Nowhere and
featured the song Yearbook, never performed
live before.
2009–12: Shout It Out
In June 2009, Hanson completed the album Shout
It Out and planned to release it on June 8,
2010. The band also announced that they would
be co-headlining a tour with Hellogoodbye.
The tour started in Hanson's hometown of Tulsa,
Oklahoma, on September 30, 2009 and finished
November 11, 2009 in Anaheim, California.
Hanson also released a five-song EP titled
Stand Up, Stand Up that was available at shows
and on the band's official website. The tracks
are acoustic versions of four new Hanson songs,
plus the album version of "World's on Fire"
which was originally going to be on their
album Shout It Out but was ultimately left
off the album. It was released worldwide on
iTunes on December 8, 2009.
In December 2009, Hanson announced they would
play five consecutive concerts at New York's
Gramercy Theater. Each concert featured one
of the band's four previous albums in their
entirety, and the premiere of their upcoming
Spring 2010 release. Dubbed 'Five of Five',
the engagement began with a performance of
Hanson's debut, Middle of Nowhere, on April
26, 2010 and then moved onto 2000's This Time
Around on April 27. 2004's Underneath followed
on April 28 with 2007's The Walk on April
29. On April 30, the band unveiled their new
album, Shout It Out. The concert series was
also streamed live on band's official website,
Hanson.net, and included an exclusive "Backstage
Pass" stream for fan club members. On March
6, 2010, Hanson shot dance and other sequences
for their upcoming music video of their new
single, "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'", at Greenwood
Avenue in Tulsa. Hanson recruited professional
dancers for the shoot and also invited fans
and local residents to take part in the video,
which is an homage to the Blues Brothers.
The video was directed by Todd Edwards, co-founder
of Blue Yonder Films. It was released for
public viewing on their MySpace channel on
April 15, 2010. "Weird Al" Yankovic has a
cameo appearance as the tambourine player.
On June 8, 2010, Hanson's eighth studio record
was released. Shout It Out debuted at number
30 on Billboard 200, number 2 on the Indie
chart, and No. 16 on the digital chart. On
June 15, 2010, the band's free concert at
the South Street Seaport in New York City
rather incongruously ended in a riot after
an estimated 20,000 fans showed up at a venue
which could only accommodate half that many
people. The rapper Drake was also on the bill.Hanson
offered a "platinum package" of their Shout
it Out record which included artwork hand-painted
by the band's members. In October, 2010, Hanson
released "The 113 Painting Book" which includes
the paintings they created for these packages.
To promote their new album, Shout It Out,
Hanson toured from July 2010 through November
2010. The tour kicked off in Buffalo, NY on
July 21, with the final show in Toronto, Ont.,
on November 23. Throughout the tour, the band
broadcast live streams from their website.
The footage included introducing the local
musician winners of their opening band contest,
a few full length concerts, and walks with
fans to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa for
their Take the Walk Campaign. One of the most
notable concerts included two days in November
at Walt Disney World Resort's Food and Wine
Festival for the Eat to the Beat concert series.
The band resumed their touring activity in
September 2011. The U.S. Musical Ride Tour
lasted from September 4 to November 1. Starting
on November 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, they proceeded
to tour Latin America and Europe in order
to promote their Shout it Out album internationally.
In early 2012, they toured Canada with Carly
Rae Jepsen. Later in 2012, they took the Shout
It Out world Tour to Philippines and Australia
as well.
2013–present: Anthem
Their new album Anthem was released on June
18, 2013. The album charted at #22 on the
US Billboard 200, making it their 8th album
to chart on the top 40 of the US Billboard
200, the album also charted on #5 on the US
Independent Albums Chart. The first single
is titled "Get the Girl Back", which was released
on April 9, 2013. The single charted at #39
on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs, bringing
Hanson back to the Top 40, as well as making
it Hanson's first single in over 9 years to
chart in the US Billboard Chart. The Brothers
make sure to stay in touch with their fans
while promoting their new album. On October
23, 2013, Hanson served as guest judges on
the popular show Cupcake Wars. Four cupcake
bakers fought to the finish for the chance
at having their cupcakes at a concert and
after party for the band and a $10,000 prize.
Other projects and appearances
In early 2009, Taylor Hanson launched a separate
project including members of Smashing Pumpkins,
Fountains of Wayne and Cheap Trick called
Tinted Windows, a power pop quartet whose
debut album quickly earned critical praise
and repeat airplay on leading syndicated FM
radio programs.
Hanson was the musical guest at the Tulsa
stop of The Legally Prohibited from Being
Funny on Television Tour starring Conan O'Brien
on May 15, 2010. Conan accompanied the band
in playing a cover of the song "Never Been
to Spain" by American rock legends Three Dog
Night. In June 2010, Hanson performed with
former American Idol contestant Siobhan Magnus.
As an April Fools' Day joke in 2010, Hanson
covered the song "Wait and Bleed" by the heavy
metal band Slipknot, and the website Shockhound
claimed that Hanson would record an entire
album of Slipknot covers.
On April 25, 2011, Hanson sang their hit "MMMBop"
on the U.S. version of Dancing with the Stars.
The band also makes a cameo in Katy Perry's
music video for her song "Last Friday Night".
In May 2013, they launched their own beer:
Mmmhops. The Hanson brothers partnered with
craft beer company Mustang Brewing to create
the drink as their way of raising a toast
to their 21st anniversary. Hanson shared the
first taste of the beer with those attending
the premiere of The Hangover Part 3.
Charitable acts
Hanson toured South America, Mexico, Brazil
and Argentina; and Europe and performed their
first full electric shows in Australia during
the 2005 "Live and Electric" tour. In July
2006, the band recorded with a school choir
in Soweto, South Africa to create "Great Divide",
which was released in the UK and U.S through
iTunes in December 2006. All proceeds from
the song were directed towards research and
prevention of AIDS in Africa.
On September 10, 2007, Hanson began "The Walk
Tour" in Nashville. During the tour, Hanson
continued their work against poverty and AIDS
in Africa, partnering with American company,
TOMS Shoes. As part of TOMS' "Shoe Drop",
for every pair of shoes sold, the company
donated another pair for a child in Africa.
The Walk tour was suspended after Isaac underwent
lifesaving surgery for a pulmonary embolism.
Doctors treated his condition by relieving
blood flow restrictions caused by excess chest
muscle and scar tissue from the repetitive
motions of guitar playing. The tour resumed
with Midwest and East Coast dates March through
May, 2008. The brothers wrapped up the second
leg of "The Walk Tour" after playing 20 concerts
in four weeks.
Hanson embarked on the "Walk Around the World
Tour" starting on September 7, 2008 in Portland,
Oregon and ending November 16, 2008 in San
Diego, California. Once again Hanson continued
to help fight poverty in Africa by continuing
their 1-mile walks before the shows. A coffee
table book titled "Take the Walk" was released
in late 2008 to coincide with their "Walk
Around the World Tour". This book presents
the band's story behind their inspiration
for their fight on poverty in Africa. The
book also features a special EP with new tracks
recorded especially for the project. Both
the music and the book will raise further
funds for aid groups in Africa.
Hanson also joined the 9th annual Independent
Music Awards judging panel to assist independent
musicians' careers.
Discography
Studio albums
Boomerang
MMMBop
Middle of Nowhere
Snowed In
3 Car Garage
This Time Around
Underneath
The Walk
Shout It Out
Anthem
Tours
Albertane Tour
This Time Around Tour
Underneath Acoustic Tour
Underneath Tour
Live and Electric Tour
The Walk Tour
The Walk Around The World Tour
Use Your Sole Tour
Shout It Out Tour
The Musical Ride Tour
Shout It Out World Tour
Anthem World Tour
Filmography
Yo! Kidz: The Vidz
The Weird Al Show s01E06
Tulsa, Tokyo and The Middle of Nowhere
The Road to Albertane
Space Ghost Coast to Coast - S06E03: Girl
Hair
Noah Knows Best
At The Fillmore
Frank McKlusky, C.I.
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Underneath Acoustic Live
Strong Enough to Break
Taking The Walk
5 of 5
Last Friday Night, Katy Perry's Music Video
Re:Made in America
References
External links
Official website
Hanson on Myspace
