# New Kids on the Block
**New Kids on the Block** (often shortened to NKOTB) is an American boy band formed in 1984 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, consisting of [Jonathan Knight](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-knight), Jordan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, and [Danny Wood](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-wood). Guided by producer [Maurice Starr](https://www.edgepedia.org/maurice-starr), who had previously created New Edition, the group became the dominant teen pop act of the late 1980s, hit number one on the Billboard 200 with its second album *Hangin' Tough* in 1988, and laid the groundwork for the boy-band boom of the late 1990s.[1](https://www.ticketmaster.com/new-kids-on-the-block-tickets/artist/735744?tt_scene=anchor_view) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Formed in 1984 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; originally named Nynuk, renamed New Kids on the Block in 1986[1](https://www.ticketmaster.com/new-kids-on-the-block-tickets/artist/735744?tt_scene=anchor_view) • [3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/) |
| Members | Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Danny Wood; Mark Wahlberg was briefly an early member before Joey McIntyre joined[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/) |
| Peak hits | *Hangin' Tough* (1988) and *Step by Step* (1990) both reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200[1](https://www.ticketmaster.com/new-kids-on-the-block-tickets/artist/735744?tt_scene=anchor_view) |
| Career sales | More than 80 million albums worldwide[4](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725) |
| Hiatus and reunion | Disbanded in 1994 after *Face the Music*; reunited in 2008 with *The Block*, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography) |
| Recent albums | *10* (2013) and *Still Kids* (May 17, 2024), their first album in 11 years[5](https://www.bmg.com/news/New-Kids-On-The-Block-announce-first-new-album-in-11-years-release-lead-single-Kids) |
| Las Vegas residency | Debut residency "The Right Stuff" at Dolby Live at Park MGM, extended into late 2026 with 24 shows in 2026[4](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725) |
## Formation
Maurice Starr, a songwriter and producer who had created and produced the Black teen act [New Edition](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-edition) in Boston in the early 1980s, parted ways with that group in 1983 and immediately began assembling a new act. In 1984 he launched a talent search across Boston looking for trainable, good-looking young men. Dorchester native [Donnie Wahlberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/donnie-wahlberg), then 15, impressed Starr with his rapping and became the group's first member. Wahlberg recruited school friends [Jordan Knight](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-knight) and Danny Wood, and Jordan's older brother Jonathan Knight joined later; a brief early member, Jamie Kelly, left before the final lineup. Starr then found 12-year-old Joey McIntyre of Jamaica Plain, whose youthful tenor completed the quintet.[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/)
The group's original name was Nynuk, which the band's official biographer Nikki Van Noy described as meaningless rather than a reference to the 1922 silent film *Nanook of the North*; they settled on New Kids on the Block, the title of a rap song Wahlberg had written for their first album.[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/) Starr rehearsed the members after school and on weekends, mirroring the regimen he had used with New Edition, and secured them a contract with [Columbia Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-records) in January 1986.[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/)
## Breakthrough and heyday
The self-titled debut album appeared in 1986 and produced three singles that failed to chart significantly.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography) The second album, *Hangin' Tough*, released in August 1988, changed the group's fortunes. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 after a 55-week climb, one of the longest climbs to the top in the chart's history, and produced five Billboard Hot 100 top-10 singles: "Hangin' Tough" (No. 1), "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" (No. 1), "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" (No. 3), "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" (No. 8), and "Please Don't Go Girl" (No. 10).[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/) • [6](https://device.report/m/c86ce39d5bc7cf1ef4fca47f4d34a2e86835bab58008574c9fe6eda7e7f347f1.pdf) The following year NKOTB became the first music group to headline a [Super Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl) halftime show.[1](https://www.ticketmaster.com/new-kids-on-the-block-tickets/artist/735744?tt_scene=anchor_view)
**Commercial scale.** At their peak the group reportedly earned over one million dollars per week, and by the early 1990s had sold more than 80 million albums worldwide.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography) • [4](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725) In 1990 the band toured seventy cities in five months, and its merchandising operation was extensive: fans spent roughly $50 million on souvenirs during one six-month U.S. tour, and the band's 900-number hotlines received more than 100,000 calls per week.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/07/13/ringing-up-the-new-kids/48ef60f0-d993-45b0-a49b-13c6c4861b74/) The city of Boston declared April 24, 1989 "New Kids on the Block Day."[8](https://www.nkotb.com/news)
## Disbandment
The 1990 album *Step by Step* reached No. 1 but did not match the sales of its predecessor, and a Christmas album, *Merry Merry Christmas*, sustained their success that year.[9](https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/new-kids-block) In January 1994 the members rechristened themselves NKOTB, a move intended to distance the now-adult singers from their kid-oriented image, and released *Face the Music*, an album showing greater musical maturity. They disbanded after that release, and members pursued solo careers; Jordan Knight scored a gold-selling record in 1999 and Donnie Wahlberg landed film roles.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography)
## Reunion and later career
Attempts to reunite the group in the early 2000s were unsuccessful, but the members reconvened in early 2008 and announced a tour in support of a new album. *The Block* arrived later that year, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and selling 100,000 copies in its first week.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography) Since reuniting, the group has toured consistently to sold-out arenas and has sold nearly four million tickets, according to its representatives.[4](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725) The group received a star on the [Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-walk-of-fame) after the reunion.[4](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725)
**Still Kids and Las Vegas.** After signing with BMG, the band announced its eighth studio album, *Still Kids*, released May 17, 2024, its first full-length album in 11 years, following 2013's *10*.[5](https://www.bmg.com/news/New-Kids-On-The-Block-announce-first-new-album-in-11-years-release-lead-single-Kids) The lead single "Kids" was written and produced by David Stewart and Luke Batt, and the album was promoted on the Magic Summer 2024 Tour, a reimagining of their 1990 tour, with special guests [Paula Abdul](https://www.edgepedia.org/paula-abdul) and [DJ Jazzy Jeff](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-jazzy-jeff).[5](https://www.bmg.com/news/New-Kids-On-The-Block-announce-first-new-album-in-11-years-release-lead-single-Kids) The band's first Las Vegas residency, "The Right Stuff," began at Dolby Live at [Park MGM](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-mgm) in 2025 and was extended in November 2025 with 16 additional dates, bringing the 2026 total to 24 shows across February, June, July, and October 2026.[4](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725)
## Legacy
NKOTB is commonly credited with setting the mold for the boy bands that followed. In the years following the group's rise, a wave of acts emerged in their footsteps: [Take That](https://www.edgepedia.org/take-that) in 1990, Hanson in 1992, the [Backstreet Boys](https://www.edgepedia.org/backstreet-boys) in 1993, *NSYNC in 1995, 98 Degrees in 1996, O-Town in 2000, and the [Jonas Brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonas-brothers) in 2005.[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/) The band was not, however, the first boy band: Menudo formed eight years earlier and New Edition, Starr's earlier creation, formed two years before NKOTB; the Music Museum of New England describes New Kids as the "original white '80s boy band" in a lineage running from Menudo and New Edition.[3](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/) Time magazine's history of the boy-band formula places Maurice Starr, who created both New Edition and New Kids on the Block, in the same lineage of impresarios as Brian Epstein, Lou Pearlman, and Simon Cowell.[10](https://time.com/4810/the-boy-band-blueprint/)
## References
1. [New Kids On the Block Tickets, 2026-2027 Concert Tour Dates, Ticketmaster](https://www.ticketmaster.com/new-kids-on-the-block-tickets/artist/735744?tt_scene=anchor_view)
2. [New Kids on the Block Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5015/biography)
3. [New Kids on the Block, The Music Museum of New England](https://www.mmone.org/new-kids-on-the-block/)
4. [New Kids on the Block Announce "The Right Stuff" Residency Extension at Dolby Live at Park MGM, MGM Resorts Newsroom](https://newsroom.mgmresorts.com/press-releases?item=122725)
5. [New Kids On The Block announce first new album in 11 years, release lead single 'Kids', BMG](https://www.bmg.com/news/New-Kids-On-The-Block-announce-first-new-album-in-11-years-release-lead-single-Kids)
6. [Billboard Magazine, 13 September 2014](https://device.report/m/c86ce39d5bc7cf1ef4fca47f4d34a2e86835bab58008574c9fe6eda7e7f347f1.pdf)
7. [Ringing Up the New Kids, The Washington Post (July 12, 1990)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/07/13/ringing-up-the-new-kids/48ef60f0-d993-45b0-a49b-13c6c4861b74/)
8. [New Kids On The Block News](https://www.nkotb.com/news)
9. [The New Kids on the Block, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/new-kids-block)
10. [The Boy-Band Blueprint, Time](https://time.com/4810/the-boy-band-blueprint/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Idol groups, boy bands, and girl groups › Western and global boy bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license