The members of 98 Degrees are crediting Taylor Swift for inspiring them to take back control of their music.
Speaking to E! Online, Nick Lachey says, “We’re actually in the studio now working on a new project. We’re gonna re-record five of our classic hits in kind of the re-record/get-your-masters-back move. And then we’re also gonna have five new songs as well, and a new single coming out at the top of the year.”
Jeff Timmons added, “We’ve been talking about doing it for a while … so, we thought it’d be natural for us to do this … Taylor Swift sort of brought it to the forefront. The fans have embraced that.”
In fact, Drew Lachey feels that Taylor’s rerecording project — the latest of which, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), comes out October 27 — is the reason why people finally understand the importance of artists owning their music.
“When she did it and she was like, ‘No, this is my music. I want to take ownership of it again,’ people were like, ‘Yeah Taylor!'” he notes. “Now, everybody’s like, ‘I want to re-record 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 re-recorded masters.”
98 Degrees recently wrapped a tour, and Drew thinks he understands why fans are still loving their favorite boy bands.
“I think that was a unique time that can never be rehashed, and I think people love it and are reliving their nostalgia right now,” he says.
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