A long time ago, Nate Morris atttempted to figure out why
millions of people were so into Boyz II Men that they were right
up there in sales with legends like the Beatles and Elvis
Presley. It IS overwhelming to think that four guys from
Philly have accompilshed so much in so short a time-a feat
some artists never even get close to acheiving. Check it
out: "End of the Road" became the biggest selling single of
all-time bumping Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog"
off the pedestal of being the only song to stay at number
one for 13 weeks. Then along came Whitney Houston with
"I'll Always Love You" which the public decided to keep at
the coveted one spot for 14 weeks. Back comes the Philly
Four with "I'll Make Love to You" and ties Whitney. Before
you can write it in the music history books, "On Bended
Knee" hit the mark! Through their music, they are
continuing to make women "feel nice." Nate feels that's an
important part of why Boyz II Men has been successful. "I think a
lot of women like our music because we are not calling them
names" says Nate. "These guys who buy our records say they
got it from their girl, but I think a lot of them want to
be able to say the things we say but can't."
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And Nate stopped trying to figure it out. "It's not about
us. That power to captivate 20,000 people when we go on
stage, or millions when the song is on the radio, no human
has that kind of power. That's God talking through us,"
relates Nate. "We have to be positive with that
power."
Respect
And they have been. In an era when it's more common to be
disrespectful to women than respectful, Boyz II Men go against the
grain. All of them were raised in a single parent
household where mom was the one. And all four love their
mamas.
"They were the only figures, most of our years anyway, who
taught us how to respect girls," explains Shawn. "My mom
told me to open doors for girls and pull out chairs. I
never understood why until I started doing it and I saw
that it made them feel nice."
You can't fake emotions just being themselves because they,
too, like romance. "We want things to be beautiful,"
expresses Michael when he talked about relationships. But
it's hard to have a relationship being on the road so much.
In fact, Shawn reveals that none of them have
girlfriends.
And that's another reason that the four from Philly have
been so successful. They sing from the heart and the
emotion is real. You can't fake the the feeling that comes
from "End of the Road" or "On Bended Knee." If the
feelings were fake, the people would know and the songs
would not have been hits-and neither would have Boyz II Men.
Social Life
Since Boyz II Men don't exactly fit into the fast-paced social
life of Hollywood, you won't find them out on the town too
often. But it's not because they look down on show
business people. They really like the 'scene' in Hollywood
and enjoy being invited to atten various functions and
parties when work permits.
So, it is quite easy to figure out why these four extremley
talented men from Philly have been so successful. And
there is no doubt they will continue to be so. And the
world is better for it.