It’s been 15 years since the New Kids on the Block stepped back onto the music scene, and they’re celebrating the milestone with a treat for boy band fans — near and far.
On Friday, NKOTB announced the release of The Block Revisited, a special 15th-anniversary edition of their 2008 reunion album The Block. The deluxe collection features four previously unreleased songs, additional bonus material and a new remix of their single “Dirty Dancing” featuring Joshua, DK and Dino from K-pop supergroup Seventeen.
The collaboration marks the first joint project for the two popular boy bands, who have been posting cryptic teasers for their fans (affectionately known as Blockheads and Carats, respectively) on social media.
The New Kids are made up of bandmates Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, while Seventeen has 13 members — which also includes S.coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Vernon, Woozi, Jeonghan, Seungkwan, Hoshi, Jun and The8 — who are split into vocal, hip-hop and performance “subunits.”
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After a 14 year hiatus, NKOTB — who skyrocketed to fame in the late ‘80s with the release of the “Hangin’ Tough” album — reunited with a performance on TODAY show and announcement of their first new album and tour since breaking up in 1994.
“The Block album didn’t only mark the reunion of our band, it sparked the reunion of our band with our fans!” Wahlberg said in a release. “I could never overestimate how much the songs and the spirit of this album mean to all of us.”
Continued Wahlberg: “The Block Revisited is a celebration of the magical bond that we’ve built over the last 15 years.”
When it was originally released 2008, the comeback album featured the hits “Summertime,” “2 in the Morning” and “Single,” as well as collaborations with the Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger, NE-YO and then little-known singer Lady Gaga, who performed on the song “Big Girl Now” and opened for the group on their first reunion tour. The new track list also includes personal audio recordings from Wahlberg’s late mother, Alma, and McIntyre’s late father, Tom.
“The Block Revisited” will be released on Nov. 3.
It has been a year of celebration for the band, who staged their first BlockCon fan convention in Chicago in May and are setting sail on their annual cruise in October.