Biography
HANSON:HOW DID THEY START?
Clarke Isaac, Jordan Taylor, and Zachary Walker Hanson grew up in the middle of the United States, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. These three aren't the only Hanson siblings, however� parents Walker and Diana have seven children, including Jessica, Avery, Mackenzie, and Zoe. The close-knit family has spent plenty of time together, as the children are home-schooled by their mother. Their parents hold a great deal of responsibility for the boys' love of music, and introduced them to rock and roll. Playing oldies from their father's record collection started it all, and before long, the boys just wouldn't stop singing and harmonizing around the house. Eventually, secondhand instruments were purchased-a guitar for Isaac, a keyboard for Taylor and drums for Zac. The threesome began gathering in the living room after they finished their homework to jam in a more "organized fashion".
In time, "The Hansons" (their original title) had polished their act enough to land gigs at parties and state fairs,such as the May Fest, where they sang songs from the Beachboys, etc. Not long afterward, they cut an indipendent CD, Boomerang. With their father working as their lone roadie and their mother making discs, T-shirts, and lemonade, the group traveled around the area, and eventually headed down to Austin, Texas, to take the stage at the 1994 South by Southwest Music-industry Convention. It was there that they managed to convince entertainment lawyer Christopher Sabec to catch their act. Surprised and impressed with what he saw, Sabec agreed to manage the youthful band (When Ike was only 13, Tay was 10 and young Zac was only 8 years old).
Success didn't come overnight, however: the youngsters dealt with their share of rejection slips before Sabec persuaded Steve Greenberg of Mercury Records to catch a Hanson show at the 1996 Kansas State Fair. Once again, seeing was believing, and after several meetings with the Hanson clan, Greenberg signed the fraternal trio to a six-album deal. The Hanson brothers spent the rest of the year in Los Angeles, toiling away on their first major-label album with producers Steven Lironi and the Dust Brothers. The resulting album, Middle of Nowhere, was released in May 1997, and on the strength of the lead single and video, "MMMBop," the three youngsters flew from the middle of nowhere to the top of the charts. Unlike plenty of other teen sensations, the Hanson brothers shared writing credits for every song on the album.
With "MMMBop" jamming up airwaves from Tulsa to Tokyo, the Hanson brothers won music fans of all ages. Their youthful enthusiasm and young good looks understandably captured the undying interest of an enormous chunk of the under-20 crowd. Hanson also made inroads into the Christian music community. Middle of Nowhere doesn't necessarily fit the Christian-rock prototype, but the album's squeaky-clean lyrics certainly don't affront any God-fearing sensibilities. Besides, the Hansons are Christians; even if their religious beliefs aren't expressed overtly in their music, they definitely are manifest in their family-values lifestyle.
In fall 1997, the awesome trio got hard to work on publicity, singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the first game of the World Series, taping a Christmas special for ABC, and releasing albums such as Three Car Garage and Snowed In, a collection of holiday songs. The group also appeared on Saturday Night Live in December and sang Christmas carols for President Clinton and his family a few days later. By the end of that year (a year that was a virtual Hanson dream), Middle of Nowhere had already sold over 3.2 million copies and had become the fifth-best-selling album of the year! Throughout these last three years, Hanson has launched farther then ever expected, releasing Live From Albertane and This Time Around, which has landed them numerous number one spots on TRL. Hanson is beloved throughout the entire world, and will no doubt continue on for many years to come. Not bad for a bunch of lads from, well, the "middle of nowhere"!
