The question alone sparks a serious debate - what is the best boy band ever? With that conversation, there is a separate debate - what exactly is a boy band?

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What Is a Boy Band?

There are a couple of schools of thought in regards to that question. Someone who's a little more traditional will focus on the word 'band' and disqualify any group that doesn't actually play any instruments. Most of us, however, realize the term 'boy band' is used to describe a certain kind of musical act - a group of young men that target a young female audience with their harmonies and choreography. Then there's what I call a 'hybrid' boy band - that's a group of talented young men that can also play an instrument.

Boy Band Origins

When you look at the way female fans went crazy for The Beatles, and the success the impact they had, it's hard - almost impossible - to NOT say they are the first boy band. A decade later the country fell in love with another boy band - a group of brothers called The Jackson 5.

In the early '80s, the first modern-day boy band - the kind of group we associate with that title - released their first album. I'm talking about 1983's Candy Girl from New Edition. In my opinion, that's what began the nearly 40-year-run of boy bands. Since then, we've seen dozens and dozens of boy bands - making all different kinds of music from just about every country. There are way too many for me to name them all, so I just settled on listing the top 20 I can think of.

20 Boy Bands That Have Made Us Shake Our Booty

Coming up with 20 boy bands is just scratching the surface when you think about how many groups have come and gone over the last four decades.
After the first two groups, the rest will be listed in order of my personal preference.

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