98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey explains why he's glad his boy band didn't start today
July 2024 ยท 3 minute read
2017-10-17T16:30:10Z
Nick Lachey and 98 Degrees members Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre performing together in 2013. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
The INSIDER Summary:
Nick Lachey is currently competing on "Dancing With the Stars," but you probably know him from boy band 98 Degrees.
He told INSIDER he's grateful 98 Degrees didn't have to deal with social media during when they were up-and-coming.
Lachey says it's easy for boy bands and anyone in the entertainment industry to be constantly under the microscope these days.
He says you have to be careful because you need to assume "you're being taped at all times."
The one positive he sees from social media is that you can share photos and behind-the-scenes videos with fans.
Nick Lachey may be competing on the 25th season of "Dancing With the Stars," but back in the late '90s and early 2000s, he was the lead singer in boy band 98 Degrees. He wouldn't have it any other way for one main reason.
"The one thing I will say about what bands today have to go through versus what we did is the social media dynamic of the industry is there now where it wasn't when we were coming up," Lachey told INSIDER when asked about boy bands today. "I, for one, am incredibly grateful that we didn't have to deal with that because it just adds such an element of intensity to everything."
"Kudos to, not just boy bands, but anybody who's in pop culture today who is under such a microscope as far as social media stuff," he added. "It is more difficult now than it was when we were coming up for sure."
You're not going to find crazy photos of 98 Degrees if you go searching on a photo service or Google images. Most of the search results are press photos of the group.
What a crazy photo of 98 Degrees from 1999. Diane Freed/Getty Images
In contrast, Lachey said it's so easy for anyone to record or snap a photo of anything today.
"It's just the fact that everyone has a phone and a camera on you at all times. Twenty years ago, not that we did anything incredibly stupid, but we weren't under the microscope. Everything you do wasn't videotaped by somebody," said Lachey of today's phone-obsessed culture. "Now, you have to have that sensibility and just assume almost that you're being taped at all times. It's just a different world."
Still, it's not all negative. Lachey says there's at least one positive that comes from the addition of platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
"At the same time, all those things also provide opportunities to be close to your fans," said Lachey. "So, there's a good and bad side to social media for sure, and those guys, those acts, those bands, they get to realize the positive stuff as well. It's not all bad."
Even Lachey has been sharing some behind-the-scenes photos from "DWTS" and preparing for his new Christmas album, "Let it Snow," with 98 Degrees on Instagram. There are also some cute photos of him and his family.
