98 Degrees Reunion: Why Now and What's Ahead? (Video)

6:00 PM PDT 8/16/2012 by Shirley Halperin

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Performing together on television this week for the first time in more than a decade, Nick Lachey, Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre tell THR what took so long and whether a new album is in their near future.

The guys in 98 Degrees come from good genes. For proof: you need only listen as the four voices of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre blend together oh-so-smoothly. And they’re not hard on the eyes either, even some 15 years after first forming in their home state of Ohio.

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Of course, much has changed since then -- marriages, divorces, reality shows, stints in Vegas and Cincinnati politics, not to mention popular music -- but that instantly recognizable tone remains the same, as does the fluttering of a thousand hearts.

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So why reunite now, as 98 Degrees is doing this week when the foursome appears on the Today show on Friday, Aug. 17, followed the next day by a performance at the MixTape Festival in Hershey, Pa.? Like many of life’s benchmark moments, it just felt right, says Nick Lachey in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "We've always left the door wide open about getting back together and reuniting, this just happen to be the time when personal schedules and professional schedules lined up.”

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For the elder of the two brothers, that means a baby on the way (with wife and TV personality Vanessa Minnillo), for the younger, a return to Dancing With the Stars all-stars (Drew Lachey readily admits that it gives him a huge advantage in the microphone grabbing and twirling department). As for pop music, thanks to the success of groups like One Direction and the resilience of the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block, “boy band” is no longer a dirty word.

THR caught up with the guys at a private rehearsal for friends and family (Nick Lachey’s betrothed was in attendance and looking ridiculously adorable in a Cincinnati Reds cap about thisclose to popping), where they gave a preview of what’s in store for 98 Degrees revisited.

Watch the video above.