Looks like 98 Degrees is taking a page out of Taylor Swift’s book.
The band — which includes Jeff Timmons, Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey and Justin Jeffre — told E! News on Monday, October 9, that their decision to rerecord five of their “classic hits” is a byproduct of Swift, 33, doing the same for her own music catalog. (Us Weekly exclusively revealed in September that 98 Degrees was rerecording their masters.)
“We’ve been talking about doing it for a while,” Jeff, 50, explained to the outlet. “Because, look, I mean obviously there have been opportunities for our songs. And you know, you have these battles with the label.”
He continued: “So, we thought it’d be natural for us to do this, you know, sort of rerecording of our masters. Taylor Swift sort of brought it to the forefront. The fans have embraced that. And so we’re like, ‘OK, now’s the time to do it.'”
Drew, 47, credits Swift for paving the way for musicians to rerecord their albums. To date, Swift has rerecorded three of her albums and is set to release her fourth, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), later this month. (Swift set out to rerecord her first six records in 2019 in an attempt to regain the rights to her master recordings after a public battle with Scooter Braun.)
“I feel like, almost before Taylor did it, it was like, ‘Oh, you’re re-recording the masters.”It was kind of like, ‘I’ll just stick with the original’ kind of thing,” Drew said. “When [Taylor] did it and she was like, ‘No, this is my music. I want to take ownership of it again,’ people were like, ‘Yeah Taylor!’ Now, everybody’s like, ‘I want to rerecord my masters and get it back out there.’ So, I feel like there’s an acceptance and almost an alliance between the artists and the fans now to support the rerecorded masters.”
In addition to their five rerecorded tracks, Nick, 49, also said that 98 Degrees will be releasing five new songs and a single “coming out at the top of the year.”
The band, which is now managed by Johnny Wright of Wright Entertainment Group, signed with a record label in 1995 and had their first hit with “Invisible Man” two years later. After pressing pause in 2000 — because they were “ready to have more of our own lives outside the group,” Justin, 50, told Us in September — the band reunited in 2012 and released album 2.0.
Now, the band’s record company, EX1, is “partnering with us and allowing us to own parts of our masters,” Jeff continued, noting that the band — who recently toured in celebration of their 25th anniversary — is “much more relaxed” this time around. “Everything is more fun,” he told Us.
