What Happened to Boy Bands?

One Direction (GETTY image)

Since the 60’s, there always has been a boy bands on the scene that would swoop up the charts, be it The Backstreet Boys in the 90s or One Direction in the 2010s. In 2025, we can officially proclaim a drought – there is no fresh and shiny group of attractive young men for teenage girls to swoon over in the Billboard Hot 100. Why is no one stepping up to fill that place?

Simon Cowell has been particularly observant of the lack of boy bands on the horizon. Last year, he embarked on a journey to find “The next One Direction” by hosting auditions around the UK and US. In a statement about his project, he explained “it usually takes someone from outside to put a group together,” adding that being part of 1D was an excellent launchpad for Harry Styles’ solo career. However, turn up rates at these auditions were not as grand as expected.

Platforms like TikTok, where anyone can showcase their talents and gain traction, has changed the way artists introduce themselves to the industry, removing that ‘talent discoverer’ role altogether. The focus has shifted towards solo artists with a distinct identity, vulnerability in their songwriting and constant engagement with their community – three things that boy bands struggle to do.

It is difficult to share a spotlight with five people and act cohesive enough for fans to identify you as ‘the band’ and not ‘a member with a personality of their own’. The selling point of bands like One Direction was their choreography and outfits, rather their instrumental capabilities or songwriting, which was often undermined. Mainstream artists today – like Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams – bring to the forefront their musical abilities, showing their fans there is more than just a pretty outfit and a dance break to their music. And that is exactly what the modern consumer is looking for.

Former boy band Why Don't We, ex-member Daniel Seavey (far left), E! News

In an interview with MILKY, Daniel Seavey, ex-member of now disbanded boy band Why Don’t We, the now solo musician explained, “when you're in a band, you're obviously splitting up sort of the inspiration and what you want it to sound like between five people.” Therefore, music the band created would have “a more generic sound,” he added. To truly become a household name, an artist must create a strong identity amongst the saturated market – and generic music is not great for that.

On top of longer periods to write songs that makes everyone happy, five members also mean five salaries and a bigger budget for PR events. With a solo act, the revenue margins for Western labels are reasonably higher, hence their prominence in today’s industry.

Boy bands as we knew them to be, are dead. However, trends come back in cycles, and once the right group tap into the right niche, persona and style – perhaps we can see the resurgence of boy bands that Simon Cowell hopes for.