Boy band

A boy band (American English) or boyband (British English) is a style of somewhat to mostly prefabricated pop group featuring between three to six young male singers who are usually also dancers. Often, they evolve out of church choral groups, or are put together by managers or producers who audition the groups for appearance, dancing, and singing ability. They are similar in concept to Girl groups. Though the term is mostly associated with the 1990s onwards, antecedents exist throughout the history of pop music. The Temptations, popular in the 1960s, may be considered a boy band, while The Monkees certainly were prefabricated, and Latin boy band Menudo was founded in 1977.

Links

• "Sluts and Teddy Bears" - A cultural critique of the boy band phenomenon on Salon.com.