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Hanson Information
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'Hanson' is a pop rock band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1990s by brothers 'Clarke Isaac Hanson' (born November 17 1980), 'Jordan Taylor Hanson' (born March 14 1983) and 'Zachary Walker Hanson' (born October 22 1985). They are best known for their hit song, "MMMBop".
History
Early years
As young children, the Hansons lived in Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador and Venezuela due to their father's job in the oil business. There, they grew up listening to Time/Life compilations of music from the 1950s and 1960s, along with the Latin American music that surrounded them, influencing their musical tastes.
The band, which was originally called "The Hanson Brothers", started out as three kids who sang a capella and recorded tapes with oldies like "Rockin' Robin", "Splish Splash" and "Johnny B. Goode", as well as a piece of their very own material. Their first performance as a professional group took place in 1992 at the Mayfest arts festival in Tulsa.
Devoted fans of Hanson are also aware of their early video appearance on Carmans "Yo Kidz The Vidz" which includes Taylor cast as a young biblical David facing Goliath, while Isaac is cast as an event announcer and other members of the family, including Zac, are seen in the stands cheering on this "sporting event."
Later on, Isaac picked up a secondhand guitar, Zac borrowed an old set of drums and Taylor became the keyboard player of what turned into a garage band. Two independent albums later, they found themselves at the South By Southwest musical festival for unsigned music bands. There, they were promptly signed by manager Christopher Sabec, who took them to Mercury Records, where they became instant worldwide sensations with the release of their first major-label album, Middle of Nowhere.
Commercial success
Middle of Nowhere was released in 1997. The album's first single, "MMMBop" debuted at #16 in the United States, reaching #1 in both the US and the UK, #2 in Canada and staying over two months in the top spot in Australia. The group was heavily featured in teen magazines, such as Tiger Beat, and found a wide following among teen and pre-teen girls. The album's second single, "Where's the Love?" followed "MMMBop" to the top of the charts. Their first album's worldwide success was registered in Tulsa, Tokyo & the Middle of Nowhere, an 82-minute videotape with home-videos, interviews, videoclips and live performances.
Since then, follow up albums have failed to match the success of Middle of Nowhere.
Hanson released a new album, This Time Around, in May 2000. They toured through the summer and fall of 2000.
Taylor Hanson married Natalie Anne Bryant on June 8, 2002. Natalie gave birth to their son Jordan Ezra Hanson on October 31 of that year; and their daughter, Penelope Anne, was born on April 19 2005. Zac Hanson got engaged to his long-term girlfriend Kate Tucker in early 2005, but no date for marriage has yet been set.
Independent releases
The brothers left their record label, Island Def Jam, and now work under their own label, 3CG Records due to problems with Island Def Jam. The band toured during the summer and fall of 2003 in support of an acoustic CD entitled Underneath Acoustic, which was comprised of acoustic versions of songs from their forthcoming release, Underneath. The tour culminated in a November 2003 performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall.
Underneath was released on April 20 2004, and the following week debuted at #1 on Billboard's Independent Album Chart and #25 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making Underneath one of the most successful independent albums of all time. Only a few artists such as Prince and Ani DiFranco have released a top 25 self-released album.
The first single from Underneath was "Penny & Me", whose video featured The O.C.'s Samaire Armstrong. Penny & Me reached number 2 on Billboard's Top 200 Singles Chart. "Lost Without Each Other" was the second single from the Underneath album. The video for this song was filmed in Boston and also includes live footage from concerts. P. R. Brown directed the video.
Hanson toured the US throughout the summer of 2004 and continued their tour through Europe and Asia that fall.
In spring 2005 Hanson toured many countries and cities in South America, Europe and Australia during their highly successful 'Live and Electric' tour.
Hanson will be releasing a documentary entitled Strong Enough to Break, directed by Ashley Greyson, which chronicles the struggles the brothers experienced while on the Island Def Jam label and the success of 3CG Records.
In fall 2005, Hanson will be touring the US to support their recently released live CD recorded in Melbourne, Australia on June 6th, The Best of Hanson: Live & Electric. They will also be visiting various colleges in order to promote Strong Enough to Break, and to talk about the problems music industry faces today.
Discography
Studio albums
*Boomerang (1995)
*MMMBop (1996)
*Middle of Nowhere (May 6, 1997)
*Snowed In (November 18, 1997)
*3 Car Garage (May 12, 1998)
*Live From Albertane (November 3, 1998)
*This Time Around (May 9, 2000)
*Underneath (April 20, 2004)
*The Best of Hanson: Live & Electric (October 11, 2005)
Singles
From Middle of Nowhere
*MMMBop (May 28, 1997)
*Where's the Love (1997)
*I Will Come to You (November 11, 1997)
*Weird (1998)
*Thinking of You (1998)
From Live From Albertane
*Gimme Some Lovin' (1998)
From This Time Around
*This Time Around (April 4, 2000)
*If Only (2000)
From Underneath
*Penny and Me (March 23, 2004)
*Lost Without Each Other (2005)
Soundtracks
*Jack Frost (November 24, 1998)
*Malcolm in the Middle (November 21, 2000)
*The Princess Diaries (July 24, 2001)
Promotional
*Pepsi Music Live: Hanson (1998)
*MOE Enhanced CD (January 1, 1998)
*Teen Mag Music 2000 Volume 1 (July 1, 2000)
*HANSON.NET Enhanced CD (May 2, 2003)
*Live & Electric Indie Sampler (2005)
Filmography
*Yo Kidz! The Vidz! (1994)
*Tulsa, Tokyo and The Middle of Nowhere (November 18, 1997)
*The Road to Albertane (November 3, 1998)
*At the Fillmore (April 24, 2000)
*Underneath Acoustic Live (July 27, 2004)
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