Discussions after Liam Payne’s death
Is there a future for the boy band system?
After Liam Payne’s death there are new discussions. Has the boy band system had its day and why does only one have a big solo career?
“Ultimately only one wins the race”: Stephan Rehm Rozanes (born 1980) and Fabian Soethof (born 1981), the authors of “Back for Good. Why the music of the 90s won’t let us go” (Reclam), have written in She also deals with the boy band system in her book. In an interview with spot on news, they explain why usually only one singer becomes a successful solo artist after the groups end. They also reveal why they believe nothing will change in the music industry after the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne (1993-2024).
In your book “Back for Good” you dedicate yourself to the music of the 90s. Among other things, you also describe the boy band phenomenon. After the death of Liam Payne, this form of celebrity development is being discussed again. Do you think there will be a shift in thinking about mental health in the industry?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: The numerous recent documentaries from Robbie Williams to Echt to Britney Spears have given us a frightening look behind the scenes. If you wanted to live their lives so much back then, today you are happy that you spent a comparatively uneventful but protected youth. So the topic of mental health cannot be overlooked. However, a lot of money is being made from this right now, so we don’t suspect that structures are currently being set up to better protect pop stars.
After Payne’s death, Guy Chambers, the songwriter and friend of Robbie Williams, called on the industry to stop working with talent under the age of 18. Do you see a chance for this idea to be realized?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: Unfortunately no, because it has always been teenagers who bring the music industry the biggest sales. And young people in search of identity usually orient themselves towards people of the same age who are perceived as capable of connecting.
Have you followed Liam Payne’s career after One Direction, what impression did you get?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: Payne’s solo career was blessed with far less success than that of his ex-colleagues. While Harry Styles in particular rose to become a global star, Payne’s only solo album in 2017 only reached number 111 in the USA. This cannot leave you unscathed if you had the same starting conditions – and started your career at an age when you are not normally particularly stable in life. It was only in 2023 that Payne apologized for an appearance on a podcast in which he had railed against his old band members and sheepishly viewed his statements as an attempt to “stay relevant”. In addition, Payne did not develop a notable musical identity after One Direction: While Niall Horan successfully relied on Ed Sheeran-like folk pop and Zayn Malik succeeded with future R’n’B, Payne’s material remained interchangeable dance pop.
Is there still a future for the boy band system?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: Lou Pearlman, the fraudulent inventor of the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync, repeatedly said during his lifetime: “As long as God keeps creating little girls, there will always be boy bands.” He forgot that they might long for other, for example female, identification figures or that they might not want to spend their teenage years in the hands of a pop product based on appearance. Nevertheless: If you see K-pop with bands like BTS, Stray Kids and Blackpink as a logical, almost machine-made continuation of the classic boy and girl bands, then the genre has an absolutely rosy future from a commercial perspective. However, the success of these ensembles is likely to be very much to the detriment of their members. The suicide rate among K-pop acts is alarming.
You also write about Robbie Williams in your book. He mourned Liam Payne on social media and shared his own experiences growing up at Payne’s age: “At 31, I still had my demons. I relapsed.” After Heath Ledger’s death, he thought it would be his turn next. What do you think contributed to Williams turning the corner?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: It was probably simply luck, a supportive personal environment – and his absolute desire for a lasting, worldwide solo career. There was no breakthrough in the USA, but in 2003 he reached 375,000 spectators with three concerts in a row in Knebworth and achieved the same number with what was then the largest music event in the history of the United Kingdom. At first he wanted to prove it to his ex-rival Gary Barlow, then to himself and the British press. He was a driven person who only found peace and confidence in time when he met Ayda Field in 2006. Only Williams himself and his therapist can really and seriously answer this question.
When boy bands have passed their peak, there is often only a single artist left who has a major solo career, such as Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake or Harry Styles. Why is that?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: This is probably mainly due to market mechanisms. You just want to concentrate on one character and build him up to become a solo star, and you don’t want the others to distract from that. We saw how sensationally it worked with Michael Jackson and this successful formula will be repeated forever. Some initial rivalry, such as that between Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams after Take That’s split, doesn’t hurt, but ultimately only one wins the race.
Boy bands work primarily for young female audiences; conversely, girl bands don’t seem to captivate teenage boys as much. What are the reasons for this?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: (Pre-)pubescent boys want to be cool and please their friends. This is easier if you are familiar with, for example, footballers, musicians who wear the same clothes as you or other “real” guys. They may rave among themselves about certain girls in their environment, but presumably and because of the ongoing socialization in certain traditional male role models, they do not want to expose themselves to a “soft” side by posters or attending concerts by female acts. Even back then, they found the cool rapper in a boy band more identifying than any of the Spice Girls, although they certainly found one or two of them “hot”. It’s not for nothing that the Spice Girls were invented as new role models for girls.
Your book is also about Britpop. Are you surprised at how much hype there is about the Oasis comeback tour?
Rehm Rozanes and Soethof: On the one hand, the hype is grotesquely exaggerated – after all, after five albums by the band, which no one knows anymore, no roosters had crowed to Oasis when they split up in 2009. On the other hand, we – and especially the UK, which has been hit by Brexit – now live in a world that constantly intimidates us and gives us little hope. You just wish you could restore the mid-90s for one evening, a journey back in time to your own, safe youth, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nostalgia there. Oasis provide the perfect soundtrack with their always life-affirming anthems like “Live Forever” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol”.
Stephan Rehm Rozanes is a member of the editor-in-chief of “Musikexpress” and has worked as a DJ, podcast and radio presenter. Fabian Soethof is a journalist, author and columnist. From 2013 to 2023 he worked as online editorial manager at “Musikexpress”.
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Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
