The Thanksgiving meal hangover has finally worn off, the tree is up and lights are strung. With the holidays upon us, playlists around the world are quickly filling up with the Christmas classics that just never get old.
But before you play Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” for the 147th time, take a trip back to the days when boy bands were all the rage and let some bubblegum poppy goodness soundtrack your holiday season.
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New Kids on the Block??, Merry, Merry Christmas (1989)
Starting off the “boy bands go Christmas” trend that occurred in subsequent years, NKOTB set the bar high (before the boy band era really even began) with 10 holiday tracks, whipping up originals like “I Still Believe in Santa Claus” and “Funky, Funky Christmas.”
Hanson, Snowed In (1997)
Seemingly the first boy band to follow in NKOTB’s footsteps, the band of brothers behind “MMMBop” included a medley of “Silent Night,” “O Holy Night” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” on their Christmas LP, along with other holiday standards. Cue the screaming teens.
*NSYNC, Home For Christmas (1998)
Although they weren’t the first boy band to put out a holiday album, *NSYNC crafted one of the most classic Christmas songs of the decade with “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.” And the oh-so-’90s video? Timeless.
98 Degrees, This Christmas (1999)
While *NSYNC created a holiday banger with “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays,” 98 Degrees followed that with a much more subtle Christmas jam called “This Gift” that is just about as boy band as you can get. There’s something seriously magical about a Christmas song that could easily be mistaken for a sugar-coated chart-topper.
Christina Aguilera, My Kind of Christmas (2000)
Releasing this holiday record before the racy Xtina days, Aguilera teased her forthcoming risque persona with an interlude titled “Xtina’s Xmas.” But rather than making her holiday album promiscuous, Aguilera stuck to what she does best and belted out holiday songs with all of the divalicious runs.
Destiny’s Child, 8 Days of Christmas (2001)
Just months after dropping their No. 1 album ?Survivor?, Beyonce and the girls continued to ride the success wave with a bumpin’ 12-track holiday compilation — most of which Bey actually had a hand in producing (foreshadowing for the future break off, eh?).
Hilary Duff, Santa Claus Lane (2002)
Right in the heart of her Lizzie McGuire days, Duff began her musical venture with some holiday tunes. Sure, 2003’s Metamorphosis brought us wonders like “So Yesterday” and “Come Clean,” but you can’t say that Christmas originals featuring Christina Milian and Lil Romeo aren’t gold.
B2K, Santa Hooked Me Up (2003)
No, we’re not making that title up. The “Bump, Bump, Bump” hitmakers put their R&B boy band spin on a few holiday classics, but primarily opted for ingeniously titled originals like the title track and, even better, “Sexy Boy Christmas.”
Ashanti, Ashanti’s Christmas (2003)
?Throwing a little Christmas spirit into her musical peak, Ashanti ?penned four originals for her holiday record including “Christmas Time Again” and “Sharing Christmas.” The only disappointment? No Ja Rule features.