Hanson (band)
Hanson is an American pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, formed by brothers Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, and Zac Hanson. Supporting members include Dimitrius Collins and Andrew Perusi, who have toured and performed live with the band since 2007.
Hanson is best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their debut album released through Mercury/Polygram Records, entitled Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations. At the time of the music video, the boys were 16, 14, and 11 years old. The group's label Mercury Records was merged with its sister labels and the band were moved to Island Def Jam Music Group. After releasing one album with them, the band left the label.
Hanson has sold over 16 million records worldwide and have had three top 20 albums in the United States. They have had three top 20 US Hot 100 singles and eight UK top 40 singles. The band now records under their own label 3CG Records.
History
1992–1996: Early years
In the early to mid-1990s, Isaac, Taylor, and Zac sang a cappella and recorded such classic songs as "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. They were known as the Hanson Brothers, before shortening the name to Hanson in 1993.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 later became the runaway single on their debut commercial record Middle of Nowhere. The band played in Austin during the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, which led to them being signed by manager Christopher Sabec. He shopped them to several record companies, most of which dismissed the band as a novelty 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 Stephen Lironi and the Dust Brothers.
1997–2000: Commercial success
Middle of Nowhere was released in the US 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, the band celebrates it each year with a party for fans in Tulsa.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 across North America and Europe, 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. 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 became the songs for their second major studio album, This Time Around. During this time period, Mercury Records, the band's label, had been merged with Island Def Jam. In May 2000, Hanson released their second 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 the Americas through the summer and fall of 2000 on their own funds.
2001–2005: 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 Blondie.
The band's Underneath Acoustic tour took place during the Summer and Fall of 2003 across the US, with one show in Canada and one in the UK. 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 the 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. Hanson's The Underneath Tour took them across the globe for nearly a full year.
In autumn 2005, Hanson toured in the US 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.
2006–2008: ''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 as a 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 US, Mexico and Canada on July 24. It was released in Japan on February 21 and in the UK on April 30. As part of this album's tour and promo, the band hosted "Take the Walk" events where fans were encouraged to walk one mile to raise money and awareness of AIDS/HIV in Africa. The band partnered with Tom's Shoes to give shoes to children in Africa.
In support of The Walk album, the band toured extensively throughout 2007-2008, predominantly in the US, with some shows in Canada, the UK, and Ireland. The tours were called The Walk Tour, and The Walk Around the World Tour.
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 to attend, causing hundreds to fly to Oklahoma for the acoustic event. 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.
2009–2012: ''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, called Use Your Sole, 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 its entirety, and the premiere of their upcoming Spring 2010 release. Dubbed 'Five of Five', the engagement began with a performance of Hanson's major label 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 fifth studio record was released. Shout It Out debuted at number 30 on the 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 band member Zac Hanson. In October 2010, Hanson released "The 113 Painting Book" which includes the paintings 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, New York on July 21, with the final show in Toronto, 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 released a second single from Shout It Out in 2011. "Give a Little" reached Top 40 on the US Hot AC charts, making it the first top 40 hit for the band since their 2000 single "If Only". The band resumed their touring activity in September 2011. The US Musical Ride Tour lasted from September 4 to November 1. Starting on November 6 in São 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.