Born December 31st, 1972 in Needham, Massachusetts, singer-songwriter and actor Joey McIntyre first made it big aged just thirteen as the youngest addition to child star five-piece New Kids on the Block. Rising to prominence in the late 1980s with the group, who went on to top the Billboard 200 with their 1988 album Hangin’ Tough and their 1990 album Step By Step, he embarked on a solo career following the group’s disbandment in 1994. His self-funded debut album, Stay the Same, arrived in 1998, achieving strong sales and racking up substantial national airplay. Wise to this, Columbia Records picked up and re-released the LP, leading it to reach #49 in the US charts before eventually obtaining gold certification. The album’s title track became his biggest solo hit to date, reaching #10 in the US and ranking as the country’s 92nd-best-selling song of the year. He released three further albums in the early aughts: Meet Joe Mac (2001), 8:09 (2004) and the jazz and Broadway-influenced Talk to Me (2006). Although these LPs honed in on contemporary trends in pop, none of them were able to match the achievement of his debut, each failing to enter the Billboard 200. In 2008, he reunited with his New Kids on the Block colleagues, who together embarked on a series of tours and began to record a string of new albums. Most notable was 2008’s The Block, which reached #2 in the US and topped charts in Canada. Continuing to juggle his solo career with his team efforts, he has since released various non-charting projects of his own, including the 2009 EP Here We Go Again, the 2011 Christmas album Come Home for Christmas and the 2020 single “Own This Town”, his first solo offering in nearly a decade. He made good on his comeback with a brand new album in 2025, Freedom (#49), marking his first full-length since 2011 and his first charting album since 1999's Stay the Same.
