It wasn't easy for these four guys to get started, or even to get together for that matter. You see, Jeff Timmons used to be in another band that started in Ohio, but when they travelled to California to get noticed, the other band members bailed and went home except one: John Lipman. Jeff still took it seriously, knowing that if he persisted enough he would get noticed. Enter Nick Lachey, he was recommened to Jeff by an old band member. Nick made the move from Cincinnati to L.A.to join the group. They still needed more voices, enter Justin Jeffre, a band member Nick knew. Now they had 4 guys and named themselves "Just Us". "Just Us practiced everywhere they could, including fast food restaurants (Imagine seeing them at McDonald's when you are there!),zoo's, and parks When the last orginal member (John) quit after 5 or 6 months, and they needed another guy. Nick called his little brother to join the group. Enter Drew Lachey. He quit his job as an EMT in Brooklyn NY and drove to L.A. to be in the group. So the 98° we know and love was born.
Two days after Drew joined, 98° opened for Montell Jordan at The House of Blues. They also opened for James Brown as well, but earlier.
Before Drew, however, they were still trying to get noticed. One way they tried was to sing at Dodger Statium. Although their first attempt was turned down, they went to the offices and sang in their lobby. They were then asked to sing, a chose a game of Dodgers vs Red Socks. How appropriate, since Nick was from Cincinnati.
They found themselves backstage at a Boyz II Men concert, but didn't even get a chance to meet or sing for them, but they did meet their future manager, Paris D'Jon, and were asked to sing on the radio.
They started a tour in June with cheerleading camps through USA.
"Completely" co-wrote and co-produced by 98° is a song that "epitomizes everything that we've worked for."
"Invisible Man" was filmed in Long Island City in NY at an abandoned, old chemical factory. They found it cold, wet, dirty, and old, but they had a blast, it was their first realization of what they had gotten themselves into.
They like bigger crowds better than smaller crowds because, "somebody's got to like you in a larger crowd."
Other names they had considered for the group were Inertia, Next Issue, New Issue, Verse Four, and Just Us. They finally came to 98 degrees because it presents the atmosphere of heat and passion and they felt that numbers would be more memorable.
A recent day-in-the-life of 98°: A 7 a.m. radio interview in Secaucus, N.J.; an all-day photo shoot for TEEN PEOPLE in Manhattan; a Zootopia soundcheck (back in Jersey); a concert (in a different town in Jersey) and finally, back to Zootopia for the closing set. Exhausting? Definitely, says Jeff. "It can be very stressful, but we try to be there for each other. We give each other a hard time to make each other laugh."
Could this summer's endless heatwave somehow be related to the rise of 98°? After all, Jeff, Drew, Nick and Justin have come a long way since 1995, when they were discovered singing backstage at a Boyz II Men concert by the man who would become their manager. These days, the guys take private jet flights to the Bahamas, endure all-day photo shoots and perform for thousands of frenzied fans. The group's glamorous and hectic lifestyle hasn't gone to their heads, though. Says Justin, "We look at ourselves as the same old goofballs that we were when we started." Goofballs? Their fans would beg to differ.... Catch up with this Ohio foursome in our latest 98° Special.
As he crosses the Golden Gate Bridge in a stretch limo, 25-year-old Nick Lachey peers out at San Francisco's often-gray sky, marveling at how his group, 98°, lucked out the day they filmed their video "Because of You" high upon the span's spires. It was July of '98, and they'd spent a long week waiting for the fog to lift, he recalls, "and then, on our last day, miraculously, it cleared." That was a mixed blessing for Jeff Timmons, 26, who's afraid of heights. "I nearly peed my pants up there," he says, eyeing one of the bridge's red-orange towers, where an elevator took them to the top of the world -- in more ways than one.
Less than a year later, 98° has catapulted to celebrity status, hence their return to Northern California. Today, they're bound for Skywalker Ranch, director-producer George Lucas's storied property about 45 minutes north of San Francisco. There, not only will they hobnob with fellow celebs ("Alyssa Milano is going," Jeff says with a big grin), but they will be treated to a preview of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.
Although the screening requires them to take a grueling early morning flight from Orlando, the band members -- all fans of the Star Wars trilogy -- feel privileged to have the opportunity to view the prequel a week before its cinematic release. When he was a kid, Nick recalls, "Somebody in our family was the vice president of Kenner toys, who made all the Star Wars [action figures]. So we would get the Yoda with the feet on backwards -- toys that [had] something wrong with them."
serious business
Despite his band mates' bubbling excitement, Nick's brother, Drew Lachey -- at 23, the group's youngest member -- repeatedly tries to redirect their attention to pressing business issues. After all, just ahead lies the busiest schedule of their lives, one that includes, among many other things: a headlining gig with the all-star All That tour (they've just wrapped the first leg of their own Heat It Up trek); recording sessions for
a Christmas album to be released in October; tapings for a multishow stint on General Hospital (they'll play themselves); and promotion for their new single, "I Do," for which they also need to shoot a video.
star tripping
But such a schedule isn't without its perks. Just yesterday they experienced their first-ever private jet flight when they traveled to the Bahamas -- for an afternoon -- to perform on a Disney Channel special. "I never thought I would take a day trip to the Bahamas," Nick says, still disbelieving.
"It reminded me of Puffy's video ['Been Around the World']," adds Justin Jeffre, 26. "It's this white plane, and it's very big, and everything's very nice. Leather seats, freshly baked cookies -- just anything that you'd want."
Three weeks later, they're once again the victims of an unforgiving agenda. At 7 a.m., they wipe the sleep from their eyes for an interview at New York's Z100 radio station-which is actually located in Secaucus, N.J. Then they're off to an all-day photo shoot in Manhattan for TEEN PEOPLE. After that, it's back to Jersey to sound check for Zootopia, Z100's summer concert event at the Continental Airlines Arena.
But wait, there's more. 98° has two shows to perform tonight -- at two different venues. After rehearsing at the arena, the foursome and their numerous handlers will head to Trenton via helicopter to open a concert sponsored by another radio station, WPST; immediately following their one-song performance, they'll have to get back in the helicopter to fly back to close Zootopia. The sky ride will be a first for all but Justin; he once flew in a chopper over the Grand Canyon on a family vacation.
Such posh travel arrangements will soon be the norm, according to their manager, Paris D'Jon. But, he says, it's not as glam as it seems: "People think it's all fun, but sometimes you don't even see daylight. You just go from one [event] to another."
"It can be very stressful," Jeff says later, "but we try to be there for each other. We give each other a hard time to make each other laugh." One wet-and-wild tour escapade ended with a visit from hotel security. "We started big water fights in hotels with [singer Jessica Simpson] on our tour," Justin says. "Everyone had water balloons and super soakers."
98° is like a close-knit cluster of boisterous brothers, but each has his own unique personality. "Nick's like Jake from Melrose [Place] -- the bad-boy biker," says Paris. "Justin's the cool guy who likes R&B, likes going to clubs. Jeff is our cute poster boy. Drew is the baby. He has a girlfriend; he's in love. But he's also the little general -- he's the one who goes over all the money, all the contracts."
TEEN PEOPLE APRIL STORY
One thing they share is a common devotion to their fans. All four are very involved with their official Web site, www.98degrees.com, and they accommodate autograph seekers every chance they get. Occasionally, though, some fans expect too much.
"Sometimes they want you to sing at their prom or birthday. Or they want you to... well, it gets a little crazy," says Justin with an uncomfortable laugh. Then he continues: "We find it hard to believe that anyone would like us. We look at ourselves as the same old goofballs that we were when we started."
Not so long ago, Nick Lachey used to stake out a spot on the roof of a parking garage across from L.A.'s famed Shrine Auditorium to watch his favorite stars arrive for the Grammys and the American Music Awards. These days, as a singer with pop sensation 98°, the 25-year-old's got a much better view. With the AMAs just one day away, he and the rest of the group -- Nick's younger brother Drew Lachey pronounced Le-SHAY), 22; Jeff Timmons, 25; and Justin Jeffre, 26 -- are in the back of a stretch limo, heading to the Shrine for a rehearsal for the awards show. "I used to go to USC, which is right across the street," recalls Nick, who also used to deliver Chinese food in this same neighborhood. "So it's kind of weird years later to come back and be [performing] in the Shrine. It's come full circle, and that's pretty cool."
starting to sizzle
Full circle and then some, considering the band's recent rise -- both on the charts and in the hearts of fans. With a platinum single ("Because of You"), at press time, a soon-to-be-platinum album (98 Degrees and Rising), a tour in the works, and a Grammy nomination (for their Mulan soundtrack hit "True to Your Heart," with Stevie Wonder), it's no wonder that AMAs executive producer Dick Clark invited the group to appear in his star-packed show.
But the Ohio-born foursome's popularity extends well beyond their primarily young, female fan base to include their contemporaries -- and even the competition. As the clean-cut quartet strolls into the Shrine, fellow popsters 'N Sync -- rehearsing their own part for the AMAs - suddenly break into the chorus of "Because of You." Says Jeff, 98°'s founding member, "We've been friends since we went on tour with them in England about a year and a half ago. They're very down-to-earth, very talented guys." Just the night before, three members from 98° stopped in for a backstage visit after 'N Sync's performance at L.A.'s Universal Amphitheatre. "We were all in there, just chilling," recalls 'N Sync's JC Chasez. "The fact of the matter is, we can be friends. You know, we're above that kind of simplemindedness."
But as much as 98° may connect with their supposed rivals, they consider themselves a breed apart from the average boy band. Refer to them as such and they'll be sure to set you straight. For starters, "We're not the greatest dancers," admits Justin (their show doesn't feature a lot of complicated choreography). Instead, they're a male vocal-harmony group, "like Boyz II Men," says Drew. "That's who we modeled ourselves after."
Unlike 'N Sync or Backstreet, there's no teenage heartthrob in 98°'s midst: All four members -- who went for a sophisticated suited-up look at the AMAs -- are in their twenties. And there was no enterprising manager around to pull them together. They formed the group themselves in 1995, after a mutual friend introduced Jeff and Nick. Nick then recruited his brother Drew and longtime friend Justin.
"They're balladeers," says their manager, Paris D'Jon, who discovered the group singing together backstage at a Boyz II Men concert in 1995. Within months, 98° had a deal with Motown Records. In concert, says Paris, the act is "more emotional, more theatrical" -- not unlike his former client, singer Montell Jordan. "You would go to a Montell show and people would actually cry during some of the songs," he says.
That emotional honesty sets them apart offstage as well.
Thanx to Warm and Smooth Completely 98D page for some of the 98 pix and information.
