Mmmbop, remember? The Hanson brothers 25 years and 15 children later!

Their success was unexpected yet they managed to turn one of their late '90s songs into a teenage anthem that still resonates in the minds of millions of millennials to this day.

The Hanson brothers became huge stars in 1997 with "Mmmbop". At the time, Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary were 17, 14, and 12, respectively. Their lives changed over night that year.

With one of the most famous songs of the 20th century, the Hansons were nominated for three Grammys in 1998, reached number 1 in 27 countries including the USA and their debut album "Middle of Nowhere" sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.

Nothing happens by accident. Steve Greenberg, an executive at Mercury Records, discovered the original version of "Mmmbop" by accident and saw the song's potential. Before that they had been rejected by 13 labels.

It was the summer of 1996 when the entire Hanson family (seven siblings and their parents) relocated from their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma to Los Angeles to record their first album. They had to take on the gods of the moment like the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC - not an easy task!

Mercury Records invested a lot in the promotion and the three young talents threw themselves into it. Interviews, big concerts, concerts in remote villages, photo shoots, book signings...

The machinery was there, but Hanson's motto was to make it clear that they were authentic. "We wrote all our songs ourselves and played all the instruments ourselves. We're not a ready-made band," Isaac told the Los Angeles Times in 1997.

The teen magazines of the time helped Hanson's popularity to reach unimagined heights. Every fan had a favourite, but oddly it was Taylor and Zachary who drew the most attention as Isaac was deemed too old at just 17!

But the Hanson phenomenon didn't last long. More specifically, as long as it took them to release their second album "This Time Around". The success did not materialize and Mercury Records decided after merging with Island Def Jam to separate from the teenage trio.

The great experiment "Hanson" turned out to be an insane one-hit wonder, but trying to replicate the success of "Mmmbop" was an impossible mission. In 1999, two years after their breakthrough, the band's career began to wane.

Stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and the Spice Girls had established themselves and pushed them out as teen idols.

The record company even went so far as to withdraw the funds earmarked for the tour to promote the album, leaving the three brothers paying for the tour out of their own pockets in late 2000.

A year later, the Hansons formed their independent label and left the mainstream world to achieve a style and status that allowed them to work together as brothers and as a band to this day.

In modern times, the Hansons have changed a lot, or maybe not that much. It is true that more than 25 years have passed. They have matured, but the three are still recognizable as adults.

The most remarkable thing about today's Hansons, however, is that Isaac, Taylor and Zachary have a total of 15 children... and counting!

Interestingly, Isaac (1980), the eldest brother, has the fewest children, contributing only three to the newest Hanson generation.

Photo: Isaac, Taylor and Zac (left to right)

Isaac (right on the photo) has been married to Nicole Dufresne since 2006. He met his wife at a concert and admits he fell in love with her as soon as he saw her on the fifth row from the stage. It happened in New Orleans in 2003.

Since then, the couple has had two boys and one girl: Clarke Everett Hanson (2007), James Monroe Hanson (2008), and Nina Odette Hanson (2014).

It's Taylor (1983), the band's middle brother, who brings the most children to the family, with a total of seven children.

The band's lead singer married Natalie Anne Bryant in 2002 when he was just 19 years old. Since then, Jordan Ezra (2002), Penelope Anne (2005), River Samuel (2006), Viggo Moriah (2008), Wilhelmina Jane (2012), Claude Indiana Emmanuel (2018) and Maybellene Alma Joy (2020) have all joined the family.

The band's youngest, Zac (1985), has five children, giving the three band members a total of 15 children.

Along with his wife Kathryn, they are the parents of John (2009), Junia (2011), George (2014), Mary (2017) and Quincy (2021).

The question is, will they keep adding to the family? It looks like Zac is sticking with five. "It could all be over," he admitted to US Magazine.

A similar attitude seems to have been taken by Isaac, who seems happy with his three children. "I think the ship has sailed for me. I don't think I'll have any more children," he said in the same interview, in 2021. Whether Taylor decides to have an eighth child remains to be seen.

The three brothers seem well aware that they want to convince their 15 children... not to form a band! However, they "have a guitarist and a couple of keyboardists, so we'll see," Isaac told US Magazine.

But they know firsthand: "If your passion is music, we will encourage you to pursue your dreams. And if you want to be a surgeon, that's fine too," jokes the older brother. And yes, that is Elijah Wood, at the height of the Lord of the Rings boom in 2003 posing with the brothers.

And if there's one thing the Hansons members believe in, it's their passion for music. Raised by their parents along with four other siblings, they grew up listening to  cassettes of Rock and Motown classics.

"We were homeschooled and spent a lot of time reading poetry and listening to rock 'n' roll. Our parents were very supportive and even tolerated a drum kit in the living room of our Oklahoma home," Isaac recalled in a 2018 interview with The Guardian.

After leaving Mercury Records in 2003, the Hanson brothers founded the independent label '3CG Records' to, among other things, release the 100+ songs that were rejected by their previous label for their second album 'This Time Around', which "only" sold just over a million copies.

And that to this day. Hanson is still active. In 2018 they released 'String Theory', a compilation of their hits with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 they released their seventh studio album, 'Against the World'.

And if that wasn't enough, in the summer of 2022 they will embark on a world tour that will take them to Europe, the United States, Latin America and Australia. A tour so big that it begs the question, can Hanson really be considered a one-hit wonder?

By the way, in case anyone is wondering: Yes, they will take all the children and their partners with them on tour. Just by having the family attend, one can expect a large audience!