If you had any proximity to any tween or teen girls in the 1980s and 1990s, you couldn’t escape the boy band that swept the nation into a craze:  New Kids on the Block. The baggy clothes. The dance moves. The poppy beats. The looks. Girls loved them, guys hummed along when no one was around to listen, and then…they disappeared. So stop holding your breath already - the New Kids (now all grown adults) might be making a comeback. I know, I didn’t believe it either. But it’s true…or, it could be.

The official Web site for the group is up and running again, touting an “announcement” and asking fans to wait for news. According to People magazine, the New Kids (Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and Mark Wahlberg’s older brother Donnie) are reuniting. However, there’s nothing to indicate if or when they will be making new music or going out on tour. During their successful run as pop stars, the New Kids sold more than 70 million albums (that’s a lot). They even topped superstars like Madonna and Michael Jackson in 1990 as the highest-paid entertainers (Forbes).

When their popularity steadily declining as the 90s took shape, the New Kids (now shortening the group name to NKOTB) attempted a “comeback” of sorts in ‘94. But Face the Music (the album) didn’t sell all that well, concert tour dates were canceled, and the story ended.  That is, until the Web site came back up with vague promises and clips of the group way back then..

Now, the “kids” are all grown up. Donnie Wahlberg (38) has followed his brother’s footsteps into the film industry, though he’s not had the same success in that medium. Jonathan Knight (40) strayed from entertainment and got into the real estate line. Brother Jordan Knight (37) continued to record as a solo performer, enjoying success. Exploits in the reality TV genre helped keep the former boy band heartthrob in the spotlight. Joey McIntyre, now known as Joe (35), also enjoyed solo singing success both on the charts and on Broadway. He became a cast member on FOX‘s Boston Public and also explored reality on Dancing With the Stars. Danny Wood (38) formed his own label and became a music producer, still staying in the game that made him a star.

MTV, VH1 (which both belong to Viacom, anyway), and others have attempted to bring the Kids back together. There was an attempt made as recently as 2004. But members of the group have declined, with no hint or hope on the horizon until the cryptic messages and rumors started to surface. All leaning into their forties, the New Kids have grown and evolved….as have their former listeners. I myself have fond memories of the New Kids…but those memories, and perhaps the group itself, totally belong in the past.