They don’t make R&B like they did in the ’90s, which is hailed as the golden age of modern rhythm and blues.
Gone are the soulful harmonies and romantic themes that defined the genre and brought us powerful love songs. Today, R&B borrows heavily from other genres such as pop, hip-hop and EDM.
New sounds and new artists like The Weeknd, Miguel and SZA may have evolved the genre, but nothing tugs at the heartstrings more than old school R&B.
And if there’s one group that defined rhythm and blues, it was Boyz II Men, who are widely considered the most successful R&B group of all time.
The iconic band, made up of Vanya Morris, Nathan Morris and Sean Stockman, are set to take fans down memory lane later this year when they tour Australia and New Zealand in late November and December, performing in Perth, Geelong, Auckland, Sydney, the Hunter Valley and Mt Cotton in Queensland.
In an interview with news.com.au, Vanya expressed his gratitude to Australia for always supporting Boyz II Men, especially during the five “magical” occasions the band toured Down Under in the past.
“Australia is one of the places I’ve been visiting since we started our careers,” he told us. “So this place has a special place in our hearts because it’s one of those places that supported Boyz II Men because at one point America wasn’t paying much attention to us. So when that happened, we just decided to go where the love is: Australia. It just so happened to be one of those places.”
“We’re very grateful to our Australian fans and friends, man. It’s just something you couldn’t ask for, a better, I guess you could say, team of people supporting you.”
Vanya, 52, has a personal connection to Sydney because one of his nine children lives here – and the singer says it is his family that motivates him to continue singing and keeping the Boyz II Men legacy alive.
“I have nine children. I need to keep working,” he joked, before turning to a more serious note. “I have nine children, and actually one of them lives in Sydney, his name is Neary. And I work and do what I do at this point in my life because I’m lucky to be able to do it. I’m healthy.”
“Just keep doing what God blessed you to do. And that’s singing love songs. Of course, we have other songs, but our love songs are the ones that bring people together. That’s why we come back to Australia, man, because (the fans) want to feel the music. They want to remember that time.”
Boyz II Men will be joined by special guests Bell Biv DeVoe and Salt-N-Pepa, two iconic groups who also topped the charts in the ’90s and revolutionized R&B and hip-hop.
“These artists have huge hits,” Vanya said of the lineup. “There are huge songs and songs that connect with each other, songs from the ’90s that make people reminisce and just travel back in time to a place where they knew love existed. So the type of show we’re bringing to Australia will make people remember and hopefully fall in love again.”
This year marks 35 years since Boyz II Men burst onto the scene with their debut album. Kulivahighharmony in 1991.
The group has released a total of 15 studio albums, selling a staggering 64 million albums worldwide and winning countless awards, including four Grammys.
Three decades later, amid a label change and the departure of original bandmate Michael McCary due to illness, they are still going strong.
“People who, after many years, still accept our music and sing our lyrics, that’s really something,” Vanya said. “We’ve been in the game for 35 years and never in a million years could we have predicted such success. It’s all about the music and that’s all I can attribute to the success of the music to God. These songs could have been for anyone, but by the grace of God (it was ours).”
We beg to differ. No other band could have brought us such powerful ballads as One day I’ll make love to you and their signature hit End of the road – these songs definitely belong to Boyz II Men.
End of the road reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1992, where it remained for 13 consecutive weeks.
The song broke a 36-year-old record previously held by Elvis Presley, whose double-sided single Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel topped the charts for an impressive 11 weeks.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be part of music history,” Vanya said. “But I will say that breaking records like that and doing things like that is just an attribute of work ethic, because when it happened, we had no idea. Someone should have called us and told us we did it.”
“We were in the UK and found out it broke a record. They said, ‘You just broke Elvis Presley’s record.’ We thought, ‘Great.’ And then we went on stage and performed. And then we went to the hotel and went to bed.”
Vanya said the band weren’t thinking about Elvis when they recorded the song over five hours during a UK tour.
“We weren’t thinking about breaking any records,” he said of the song, written by famed producer Babyface.
“We were just thinking, how can we connect with people and make sure they never forget this song; how can we sing it the best we can and make sure it lives in their hearts forever? And it’s passed down from generation to generation.”
Boyz II Men with special guests Salt-N-Pepa and Bell Biv DeVoe: Australia and New Zealand tour dates in 2026
Thursday 26 November 2026 | RAC Arena, Perth, WA
Saturday, November 28, 2026 | day on green | Mount Dunedd Estate, Geelong, Victoria
Tuesday, December 1, 2026 | Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
Friday, December 4, 2026 | TikTok Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales
Saturday, December 5, 2026 | day on green | Bimbadgen, Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Sunday, December 6, 2026 | day on green | Sirromet Wines, Mount Cotton, Queensland
Tickets go on sale Friday, July 17th at 11:00 a.m. local time, with pre-sales beginning Monday, July 13th.
Full ticket and event details can be found at mg.live and frontiertouring.com.