Jeffrey Brandon Timmons (born April 30, 1973) is an American singer, best known as a founding member of the
pop group
98 Degrees
98 Degrees (stylized as 98°) is an American vocal group consisting of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre. Their first Christmas album '' This Christmas'' has sold over two million copies and is widely recognized ...
.
Career
Rise of 98 Degrees
Timmons was the founding member of 98 Degrees. While studying psychology at Kent State, Timmons decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. Although he received several acting jobs (including a commercial for the U.S. Navy), his passion belonged to music and he formed a singing group subsequently. Timmons (along with Justin Jeffre, and brothers
Drew Lachey and
Nick Lachey
Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, producer, TV personality and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees and later starred in the reality ser ...
) formed independently and were later signed to the
Motown label in the mid-1990s. In 1997, they released their first single "Invisible Man" which peaked at number 12 on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
. After building popularity with their appearance in the movie ''
Mulan
Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...
'', singing "True to Your Heart" which had them collaborate with
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
, their success broke out in late 1998 with their album ''
98 Degrees and Rising'', which included the hit singles "
The Hardest Thing", "
I Do (Cherish You)" and "
Because of You". In 2000, the group released their fourth album ''
Revelation
Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...
'' which became their highest-charting album in the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...
. The group took a hiatus in 2002 though they reunited briefly to sing on ''Nick and Jessica's Christmas Special'', a Christmas TV special which featured member Nick Lachey and his then-wife, singer-actress
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Johnson (née Simpson; born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' ...
.
Solo ventures
Timmons and the other members of 98 Degrees decided to take a break in 2002 after their world tour. Timmons launched his solo career by touring with
Jim Brickman
James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...
. After positive reviews, he wrote and arranged his first solo album, ''
Whisper That Way'', which was released in August 2004 and included the singles ''Whisper That Way'', ''Better Days'' and ''Favorite Star''. The album reached #20 on the
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart.
In September 2005, Timmons rejoined his band to perform at Club Purgatory in the neighborhood of Cincinnati to support bandmate Justin Jeffre in his candidacy for mayor of Cincinnati. In October 2006, Timmons participated in the
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
reality TV series, ''
Mission: Man Band''. This TV show grouped four former pop singers, Timmons,
Bryan Abrams of
Color Me Badd,
Rich Cronin of
LFO and
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 ...
of
*NSYNC to form a new band called
Sureshot.
In December 2009, Timmons offered his second album, ''Emotional High'' to fans for free via his website. The album contained the single "Emotional High". In 2012, Timmons joined boy bands
A1 and
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
in a Southeast Asian world tour and performed both his solo songs and 98 Degrees singles.
In 2016, Timmons joined the team on the Discovery Science television series "Droned" as a Co-Executive Producer. The series was picked up for distribution in 94 countries worldwide.
In October 2018, Timmons enjoyed one of the most successful ventures of his career, teaming up with CBS Big Brother Legend and IMPACT Wrestling Superstar Mr. PEC-Tacular Jessie Godderz to record the single ''The Girl Is With Me''. The song (and accompanying music video) garnered rave reviews and went viral, with prominent features in Entertainment Tonight, People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Yahoo, and many more worldwide media outlets, spurring talks of a follow-up single. The song is also scheduled to appear in an upcoming episode of the Amazon Prime series ''New Dogs, Old Tricks'' by Gemelli Films.
Men of the Strip
In 2011, Timmons joined the
Chippendales
Chippendales is a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances and for its dancers' distinctive upper body costume of a bow tie, collar, and shirt cuffs worn on an otherwise bare torso with jeans and undergarment.
Est ...
male stripper revue as a singer / performer and
MC for a limited run. He was initially skeptical about taking up the offer, but was encouraged by his wife Amanda, and his decision launched a new phase in his career.
The success of mixing his performance with the male revue inspired Timmons to propose a more mainstream version with the men performing more than a strip show, but this idea was not supported by Chippendales management.
Together with Emmy-nominated choreographer
Glenn Douglas Packard and entrepreneur "Money Mike" Foland, Timmons created the "Men of the Strip" revue, a process documented in a 2014
docusoap
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
film of the same name, produced for the
E! network.
Timmons describes the film as "like ''
Magic Mike
''Magic Mike'' is a 2012 American independent comedy-drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. The plot revolves around Adam, a 19-year-old ...
'' with elements of ''
Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...
'': the guys' personal lives, they're fighting to be the best at what they can do, but at the end of the day, they're family."
He also said that the film covers the audition process, "how they navigate being on stage" and that while "
ople are going to think they know what male strippers are all about, each of these guys are unique and interesting."
The Men of the Strip troupe earned a contract and regular performances at the
Tropicana Las Vegas
The Tropicana Las Vegas was a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It operated from 1957 to 2024. In its final years, the property included a casino and 1,467 rooms. The complex occupied at the southeast corner of the Tro ...
from 2017,
as well as touring in the United States and Canada. The Men of the Strip performers are required to sing and dance in shows,
at times performing with Timmons who also sometimes acts as MC.
Personal life
Timmons was born April 30, 1973, in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
. He graduated from
Massillon Washington High School
Washington High School, commonly referred to as Massillon High School or Massillon Washington High School, is a 9th to 12th grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District in the city of Massillon, Ohio.
The school colors are ...
in
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city in western Stark County, Ohio, United States, along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Massillon is a principal city of the Canton–Massillon metropolitan area, whic ...
, and Malone College, Canton, Ohio, where he played football for a year.
Timmons met his wife Amanda
while co-hosting a
New Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block had ...
event for
Jordan Knight.
Timmons describes her as the "brainchild behind the rebirth of my career," referring to the Men of the Strip project, and states "
ything that happens forward, if it's a successful endeavor, you can be assured that she's behind it."
Timmons has children by his first wife Trisha Sperry
and he has spoken about the challenge of explaining the Men of the Strip show to them.
Discography
98 Degrees
* ''
98°'' (1997)
* ''
98° and Rising'' (1998)
* ''
Revelation
Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...
'' (2000)
* ''
2.0'' (2013)
Solo albums
* ''
Whisper That Way'' (2004)
Singles
*2004: "Whisper That Way"
*2004: "Better Days"
*2005: "Favorite Star"
*2009: "Emotional High"
*2014: "That Girl"
*2018: "The Girl Is With Me" featuring Mr. PEC-Tacular Jessie Godderz
*2022: "Lit" featuring Pompey
Filmography
* ''
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration'' (2001)
* ''
The Screen Savers
''The Screen Savers'' is an American TV show that aired on TechTV from 1998 to 2005. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV (later known as TechTV) on May 11, 1998. ''The Screen Savers'' originally centered on computers, new techn ...
'' (9/9/2004)
* ''
Mission Man Band'' (2007–2008)
* ''
Dead 7'' (2016)
* ''
Droned'' (2016) – Co-Executive Producer
* ''
Glisten and the Merry Mission'' (2023) – Jinglestar
References
External links
*
Reverbnation pageOfficial Facebook Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmons, Jeff
1973 births
Living people
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
98 Degrees members
American male pop singers
American tenors
Singers from Ohio
Musicians from Canton, Ohio
Malone University alumni
Kent State University alumni
American contemporary R&B singers