BBMak are a British band consisting of Mark Barry,

Christian Burns Christian Anthony Burns (born 18 January 1974) is an English singer. He is the son of Tony Burns of the Signs, a Liverpool-based rock band signed to Decca Records in the 1960s. Career Burns was a member of the popular British band BBMak, a ...

and Stephen McNally. Formed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1996, they sold over three million albums worldwide between 1999 and 2003. The band first achieved success when their single "

Back Here "Back Here" is a song by English pop rock band BBMak. It was written by the three members of the group ( Christian Burns, Mark Barry, and Stephen McNally) along with songwriter Phil Thornalley. It was originally released in August 1999 as the ...

" gained popularity in radio stations in Asia and they later signed with

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

in the U.S. The band reworked their debut album '' Sooner or Later'' for an American release in 2000, and the album charted at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart with "Back Here" becoming a top 20 hit. BBMak's success in the American market helped the band finally break through in their home country. In 2002, the group released their second album ''

Into Your Head ''Into Your Head'' is the second studio album by the English music group BBMak, released on 27 August 2002 by Hollywood Records. It peaked at #25 in the US, spawning the hit single "Out Of My Heart (Into Your Head), Out of My Heart". The album is ...

'' which charted at number 25 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. In 2003, the group dissolved as each member went on to pursue solo careers. BBMak reunited in 2018 after a 15-year absence. They recorded and released a third studio album, '' Powerstation'' (2019).

Career

1996–1998: Formation and debut

, who was raised in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, learned to play rhythm guitar when he was fourteen years old. Burns's father had been a guitarist for the band The Signs, which opened for

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

in their early years. Stephen McNally, of

, aspired to be a guitarist and initially had no ambitions to sing. Mark Barry, of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, got his musical start playing the bagpipes as a kid. The trio met each other while playing with different bands on the Northwest England music circuit and began performing as a group in 1997. McNally came up with the group's band name, which is a combination of the first letters of the band's surnames Burns, Barry, and McNally. After the group recorded a demo, they traveled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the hopes of securing a record deal. "'We went to Sony Records in London carrying this book with all these record company contact numbers and names. We went in and said we had a meeting with Tommy Mottola. We didn’t realize that he was in New York. And they were like, 'Really?' It was quite funny. I think a lot of record companies admired the cheekiness of us just going and doing it.'" The trio would sing outside the offices of major record companies. Once they generated enough industry buzz, BBMak put on a five-song, acoustic showcase in Liverpool. The show drew the attention of record label executives and sparked a bidding war for the band. The band secured a record deal with

Telstar Records Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004. Background Telstar Records was founded in 1982 by Sean O'Brien and Neil Palmer with a government loan of £120,000. It was launched as a specialist compilation marketi ...

in the UK in 1998.

1999–2001: Breakthrough and ''Sooner or Later''

The group's debut single "

" was initially released in August 1999 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, reaching only number 37 on the UK singles chart that month. The group did not achieve breakthrough success until their debut in North America. The group performed live at Walt Disney World's Epcot park in February 2000; their performance was recorded for an episode of '' Disney Channel in Concert'' which focused on both BBMak and M2M and aired on 29 April on Disney Channel. BBMak's debut album, '' Sooner or Later'', was released in the United States on 16 May 2000, peaking at number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200. "Back Here" reached number 13 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in July 2000. "Back Here" was subsequently re-released as a single in the UK on 12 February 2001, and the single eventually climbed to No. 5 on the UK singles chart and No. 1 for 11 weeks on the US adult contemporary chart. The album would eventually go on to sell over one million copies. The band appeared in episodes of the ABC show ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' in May 2000 and opened for

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

on the North American leg of her Oops!... I Did It Again Tour tour. BBMak closed out the year with a sold out 26-date US concert tour and a live performance on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

New Year's Eve 2001 special. The band's next single, " Still on Your Side", was released in 2001 and reached No. 8 in the UK and No. 54 in the US, respectively. That year, BBMak released a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

called ''Sooner or Later: Our First Year in America.'' The band released their third single, "

Ghost of You and Me "Ghost of You and Me" is a 2001 single by British pop music, pop band BBMak. It appears on BBMak's debut studio album, ''Sooner or Later (BBMak album), Sooner or Later''. The song peaked at number 8 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. It was writ ...

", on 11 May 2001; it peaked at No. 8 on the US adult contemporary chart. The band also appeared on an episode of Disney Channel series ''

Even Stevens ''Even Stevens'' is an American comedy television series produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2000, to June 2, 2003, airing a total of 65 episodes spanning three seasons. It follows ...

''. BBMak continued to tour U.S. stadiums in 2001 as a supporting act for

NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...

on the

PopOdyssey PopOdyssey was the fourth concert tour by American boy band NSYNC. Sponsored by Verizon Wireless and Chili's, the tour promoted the band's fourth studio album, ''Celebrity (album), Celebrity''. The tour's name is defined as "an adventurous journe ...

tour. In July 2001, the group's track "Miss You More" was featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to '' The Princess Diaries''. In October of that year, Christian Burns' vocals were featured along with those of

Lance Bass James Lance Bass (; born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, actor, and producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the Bass (voice type), bass singer for the boy band NSYNC. The band has sold over 70 million records, becoming one of ...

and Joey Fatone,

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot ...

and True Vibe on the single "On the Line" for the film of the same name; the group's song "Don't Look Down" was also featured on the soundtrack. In 2002, the band covered the song "Always Know Where You Are" by John Rzeznik of the

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986. After starting ...

for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''

Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction film, science fiction adventure film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and written by Musker, Clements and Rob Edwards (screenwriter), Rob Edwards. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' soundtrack. BBMak also covered the song " Do You Believe in Magic" for Disney's ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' sequel, '' Return to Never Land''.

2002–2003: ''Into Your Head''

In August 2002, BBMak released their second album titled ''

''. The album reached No. 25 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The first single from the album, " Out of My Heart (Into Your Head)," peaked at No. 56 on the Hot 100 chart and No. 25 on the adult contemporary chart. In 2003, the single "Staring into Space" was released in select countries. The band split amicably in 2003.

2018–present: ''Powerstation''

On 29 March 2018, Christian Burns confirmed that the band had reunited. On 1 April 2018, the group uploaded a video to Facebook of a performance of their first single, "Back Here". In January 2019, the band confirmed plans for a worldwide tour and a new album. After numerous delays, the first single from their new album, "Bullet Train", was released on 3 May 2019. The album, titled '' Powerstation,'' was released on 11 October 2019. In 2021, BBMak released ''The Lost Tapes'', composed of nine B-sides. In 2023, BBMak joined the Pop 2000 Tour hosted by *NSYNC band member

Chris Kirkpatrick Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick (born October 17, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, music producer, podcaster, and actor. He founded the pop group NSYNC, in which he sang countertenor. The band has sold over 70 million records, becomin ...

, which featured other best-selling acts from the 2000s including LFO, O-Town, and Ryan Cabrera. The band returned for the 2024 Pop 2000 Tour.

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - ! scope="row", ASCAP Pop Music Awards , 2000 , "

" , Most Performed Song , ,

Members

* Mark Barry (born on 26 October 1978 in

, England) –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

(born on 18 January 1974 in

, England) – vocals,

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

* Stephen McNally (born on 4 July 1978 in Liverpool, England) – vocals,

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Discography

Studio albums

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - ! rowspan="2" style="width:12em;", Title ! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;", Album details ! colspan="2", Peak chart
positions ! rowspan="2" style="width:8em;", Certifications
( sales threshold) , - style="font-size:smaller;" ! style="width:40px;", UK
! style="width:40px;", US
, - ! scope="row", '' Sooner or Later'' , * Release date: 16 May 2000 (US),
28 May 2001 (UK) * Label:

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

* Formats: CD, cassette , 16 , 38 , style="text-align:left;", * US: Gold , - ! scope="row", ''

'' , * Release date: 27 August 2002 (US),
18 November 2002 (UK) * Label:

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

* Formats: CD , — , 25 , , - ! scope="row", '' Powerstation'' , * Release date: 11 October 2019 * Label: Triple Jet Music/Topanga Creek * Formats: CD, digital distribution , — , — , , - , colspan="5" style="font-size:8pt", "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" , - ! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;", Title ! rowspan="2", Year ! colspan="9", Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2", Album , - style="font-size:smaller;" ! style="width:35px;", UK
! style="width:35px;", AUS
! style="width:35px;", CAN
! style="width:35px;", IRE
! style="width:35px;", NZ
! style="width:35px;", US
! style="width:35px;", US AC
! style="width:35px;", US Adult
! style="width:35px;", US Pop
, - ! scope="row", "

" , rowspan="1", 1999 , 5 , 47 , 11 , 26 , 18 , 13 , 1 , 12 , 8 , rowspan="3", ''Sooner or Later'' , - ! scope="row", " Still on Your Side" , rowspan="1", 2001 , 8 , — , — , 30 , — , 54 , — , 40 , 14 , - ! scope="row", "

" , rowspan="2", 2002 , — , — , — , — , — , 110 , 8 , — , 28 , - ! scope="row", " Out of My Heart (Into Your Head)" , 36 , 65 , 22 , — , 19 , 56 , 25 , 23 , 20 , rowspan="2", ''Into Your Head'' , - ! scope="row", "Staring into Space" , 2003 , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , - ! scope="row", "Back Here (Acoustic)" , rowspan="2", 2018 , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , rowspan="2", Non-album singles , - ! scope="row", "Out of My Heart (Acoustic)" , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", "Bullet Train" , rowspan="4", 2019 , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , rowspan="4", ''Powerstation'' , - ! scope="row", "So Far Away" , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", "Uncivil War" , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", "Wolves" , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , - ! scope="row", "Painting Lights" , rowspan="1", 2023 , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , rowspan="1", Non-album single , - ! scope="row", "Collide" (BBMak & The Last Arcade) , rowspan="1", 2024 , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , rowspan="1", Non-album single , - , colspan="15" style="font-size:8pt", "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

" (UK & US version) – directed by Dani Jacobs *"Still on Your Side" (UK version) – directed by Dani Jacobs *"

" – directed by

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is an English music video director and filmmaker. Originally from Catterick, North Yorkshire, he is based in Los Angeles, California. He has directed music videos for artists such as Britney Spears, Toto, Ba ...

*" Out of My Heart" – directed by Katie Bell *"Staring into Space" – directed by Katie Bell

DVDs/videos

*2001 – ''Music in High Places: Live in Vietnam'' (DVD/VHS) *2001 – ''Sooner or Later: Our First Year in America'' (DVD/VHS) *2002 – ''Out of My Heart (Into Your Head)'' (DVD)

References

External links

{{Authority control English pop rock music groups Hollywood Records artists EMI Records artists Telstar Records artists Musical groups from Liverpool Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 English musical trios Musical groups reestablished in 2018 1996 establishments in England