Hanson is a pop rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, formed by brothers Isaac and Taylor Hanson. Younger brother Zac Hanson was later asked to join the group.
Supporting members include Dimitrius Collins and Andrew Perusi, who have toured and performed live with the band since 2007.
They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their debut album released through Mercury Records, 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. The group was moved to Island Def Jam, 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 independent record label, 3CG Records.
History[]
1992–96: Origins, Boomerang, and MMMBop[]
In the early to mid-1990s, Isaac, Taylor and Zac sang a cappella and recorded such classic rock songs, such as "Rockin' Robin", "Splish Splash" and "Johnny B. Goode". They also performed their own material.
Their first performance as a professional group took place in 1992 at the Mayfest Arts Festival in Tulsa. At the time, they were known as The Hanson Bros., before later shortening the name to Hanson in 1993. They also performed gigs to promote their music whereever they could find them, such as Woolaroc, Eastland Mall, and Big Splash.
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. Taylor continued as the keyboard player.
The band recorded four demo albums in their hometown of Tulsa, Daydreams in the Night, The Beginning, 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 band played 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 either a novelty or fraud before Steve Greenberg, an A&R representative for Mercury, 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.
1997–2000: Middle of Nowhere, 3 Car Garage, and MOE[]
Middle of Nowhere, which was produced by Stephen Lironi and the Dust Brothers. 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, 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 as well as their first Christmas album, Snowed In, in the wake of their success.
Hanson launched MOE (which stood for Middle of Everywhere), 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 (nonfiction) 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 US, 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: The Indie Recordings '95–'96, minus four tracks, in May 1998. Their current indie label, 3CG Records derives its name from this album.
Three tracks from Boomerang ("Boomerang", "More Than Anything", and "Rain (Falling Down)") and two of the remaining tracks from MMMBop ("Incredible" and "Baby (You're So Fine)") were released on MOE, the first CD sent to their fan club members.
During the Albertane Tour, Hanson wrote and demoed what would later become the songs for their second major studio album, This Time Around. During this time period, Mercury Records had been merged with Island Def Jam. Almost immediately following the changeover in May 2000, Hanson released the second album, 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 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.
2006–08: 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 US, 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 the release of The Walk, appearing in Providence, Rhode Island, Boston, New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles among others.
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 ("Speechless", "Thinking of You" and "With You in Your Dreams") 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 major label debut, Middle of Nowhere, on April 26, 2010. It then moved on to 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 the band's official website, Hanson.net, and included an exclusive "Backstage Pass" stream for fan club members. Some of the concert performances were later released on DVD.
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 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, 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, Ontario, 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, "Give a Little", in 2011 would reach Top 40 on the US Hot AC charts, marking 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 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 , Finally It's Christmas and String Theory[]
Their latest album Anthem was released on June 18, 2013. The album charted at number 22 on the US Billboard 200, making it their eighth album to reach the top 40 of the Billboard 200. The album also peaked at number 5 on the US Independent Albums chart. The first single is titled "Get the Girl Back", which was released on April 9, 2013.
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 an after party with the band, and a $10,000 prize.
On March 16, 2017, Hanson announced their 25th anniversary tour called "Middle of Everywhere: 25th Anniversary Tour" to celebrate the band's first signed album release.
Hanson released their second Christmas album, Finally It's Christmas, on October 27, 2017. They also performed a Finally It's Christmas special, which can be found on YouTube. In 2018, they performed backing vocals on the title song for Mike Love's solo album Reason for the Season.
In July 2018, Hanson announced a symphonic tour and accompanying album, titled String Theory. The tour began in August 2018, while the album was released in the third quarter of 2018.
Discography[]
- Studio albums
- Daydreams in the Night (1992) as The Hanson Bros.
- The Beginning (1993) as The Hanson Bros.
- Boomerang (1995)
- MMMBop (1996)
- Middle of Nowhere (1997)
- Snowed In (1997)
- This Time Around (2000)
- Underneath (2004)
- The Walk (2007)
- Shout It Out (2010)
- Anthem (2013)
- Finally It's Christmas (2017)
- String Theory (2018)
- A Piece of String (2018)
- Against the World (2021)
- Black Mesa (2022)
- EPs
- MOE (1999)
- Watch Me Bleed (2003)
- Never Let Go (2005)
- Hanson.net Version 2.3: Members EP 2006 (2006)
- Watershed (2007)
- Leave the Light On (2008)
- Take the Walk (2008)
- Fools Gold (2009)
- Stand Up, Stand Up (2009)
- Time & Trouble (2010)
- Facing the Blank Page (2011)
- No Sleep for Banditos (2012)
- Digital Pants (2012)
- The Sound of Light (2013)
- 21 Years of Music (2013)
- Music Made for Humans (With Robots Trained by Monkeys) (2014)
- Icon (2014)
- Inside the Box (2015)
- Roots & Rock 'N' Roll (2015)
- Loud (2016)
- Play (2016)
- Super Digital Pants (2016)
- In Color (2017)
- Animal Instincts (2018)
- Turn Off the Machine (2018)
- In Real Life (2019)
- Edible Digital Pants (2019)
- Continental Breakfast in Bed (2020)
- TBA (2021)
- TBA (2022)
- Live Albums
- Trinity for Christ (1994)
- Live from Albertane (1998)
- Underneath Acoustic (2003)
- The Best of Hanson: Live and Electric (2005)
- The Walk Acoustic (2007)
- Middle of Nowhere Acoustic (2007)
- Facing the Blank Page Live (2011)
- Anthem Live in New York (2013)
- Compilation Albums
- 3 Car Garage: The Indie Recordings '95–'96 (1998)
- MMMBop: The Collection (2005)
- 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Hanson (2006)
- Strong Enough to Break (2009)
- Middle of Everywhere: The Greatest Hits (2017)
Other Media[]
- DVDs
- Tulsa, Tokyo, and the Middle of Nowhere (1997)
- At the Fillmore (2001)
- Hanson.net Version 2.1 (2004)
- The Walk Acoustic (2007)
- Middle of Nowhere Acoustic (2007)
- Strong Enough to Break (2009)
- 5 of 5: Middle of Nowhere (2010)
- 5 of 5: The Walk (2010)
- 5 of 5: Shout It Out (2010)
- Tay's Music Exchange (2010)
- Re Made in America: The Making of Anthem (2013)
- Anthem Live in New York (2013)
- The Theory of Everything (2018)
- Books
- Hanson:The Official Book by Jarrod Gollihare
- Take the Walk (2008)
- The 113 Painting Book (2010)
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (2013)
- Icon: The Paintings of Anthem (2014)
- Pictures 2013-2014 (2014)
- Pictures 2014-2015 (2015)
- Pictures 2015-2016 (2016)
- String Theory Playbill (2018)
Awards[]
Tours[]
- Albertane Tour (1998)
- This Time Around World Tour (2000)
- Underneath Acoustic Tour (2003)
- Underneath Tour (2004)
- Live and Electric Tour (2005)
- The Walk Tour (2007)
- The Walk Around the World Tour (2008)
- Use Your Sole Tour (2009)
- Shout It Out Tour (2010)
- The Musical Ride Tour (2011)
- Shout It Out World Tour (2011–12)
- Anthem World Tour (2013–14)
- Roots & Rock 'N' Roll Tour (2015)
- Middle of Everywhere: 25th Anniversary Tour (2017)
- Finally, It's Christmas Tour (2017)
- String Theory Tour (2018-19)
- Wintery Mix Tour (2019)