Boy bands can outlast boyhood

CHICAGO — One Direction is rumored to be “going on hiatus,” which some believe is music industry code for “breaking up.” But don’t believe the hype.

The first platitude of boy bands is that they will always exist. As long as teens and pre-teens pine for cute boys lip-syncing love songs on TV, teen boy bands will always be there for them — in part because corporate marketing departments know that five cute guys is so much better than one.

The second platitude of boy bands is that they’re not built to last. But pop history tells us that there are exceptions. Though the life span of a boy band in its prime is often a few years at best, the most successful of them find a way to have second and third lives. One Direction stands poised to be one of them, in part because there’s too much money at stake. The band’s four albums have all debuted at the top of the Billboard charts and Forbes estimated that the group earned $75 million in 12 months spanning 2013-14.

It wouldn’t be the first time that a “boy band” has outlasted boyhood. Groups that helped build the boy-band template, from the Jackson 5 to New Kids on the Block, had decades-long careers that included solo spinoffs, reunion tours,and new albums that piled up tens of millions of sales. Though the major commercial successes and media attention showered on groups such as the Osmonds and Boyz II Men were confined to a few years, they nonetheless enjoyed or continue to enjoy relatively long careers that catered to their most loyal fans. Though the Backstreet Boys aren’t dominating mainstream media the way they did in the late ’90s, they remain popular, even though the group members are now all in their 30s and 40s.

Not every boy band is so fortunate. The Wanted arose out of the U.K. around the same time as One Direction in 2009, released three Top-10 albums in its home country, and then broke up a few years later with no sign of a comeback. Unlike the Wanted, One Direction broke out of its home country and became true international stars. It was one of the few groups in any genre that could sell out stadiums in the U.S., though there were signs of decline — the group played two sold-out concerts at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2014, and only one last weekend. But One Direction was still selling out shows from Helsinki to Hong Kong this year, even though member Zayn Malik quit a few months ago, citing “burnout.”

The group was assembled for Simon Cowell’s “X Factor” singing competition in 2010, and built its following the same time-honored way that groups such as NSYNC and O-Town had, through sharp visuals, choreography and trite songs with immaculately buffed harmonies. In the tradition of boy groups since the ’60s, each of the group members filled a critical teen-dream role: Malik was mysterious, Niall Horan cute, Liam Payne “the sensible one,” Harry Styles the charmer and Louis Tomlinson the joker.

But there was a 21st century social-media twist, with the group building brand loyalty by piling up more than 24 million Twitter and 10 million Instagram followers and 38 million Facebook “likes.” It fostered an illusion of closeness with One Direction fans that is likely to help the group members navigate their solo identities, then reunite a few years later for the inevitable reunion tour.