Newly released 30th Anniversary Edition of Hangin’ Tough enters Billboard’s Pop/Catalog Albums charts

Multi-platinum-selling pop supergroup New Kids On The Block are back on the charts this week as NKOTB’s newly-released Hangin’ Tough (30th Anniversary Edition) enters Billboard’s Pop Album and Catalog Albums charts at No. 1 while breaking into (at No. 18) the Top 20 of the current Billboard 200.

Released on March 8th by Sony Music Entertainment, the expanded 30th anniversary edition of Hangin’ Tough includes all ten original tracks from NKOTB’s career-making breakout album (first released by Columbia Records in September 1989) in addition to five hard-to-find extended versions and 7″ remixes (three previously unreleased in the U.S.), and three brand-new tracks recorded by the reunited band especially for this collection. The original Hangin’ Tough peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in September 1989 and has spent 133 weeks on that chart.

The new tracks on Hangin’ Tough (30th Anniversary Edition) include the latest NKOTB single, “80s Baby” (featuring Salt-N-Pepa, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, and Naughty By Nature) and “Boys In The Band,” the group’s infectious musical tribute to the history of the “boy band” phenomenon personified by NKOTB.

Thirty years after New Kids On The Block first dominated the world’s pop charts, the group got together to lens a fun-packed music video for “Boys In The Band (Boy Band Anthem).” Directed by John Asher, the video takes a new generation of music fans on a journey through the history of boy bands featuring pop-culture music icons Lance Bass, Naughty By Nature, Debbie Gibson, and Bell Biv Devoe of New Edition (plus a special appearance by Joey McIntyre’s son Griffin). “New Kids On The Block are giving the youth of today a much-needed boy band history lesson in the group’s clever new video for ‘Boys In The Band (Boy Band Anthem),” wrote Rania Aniftos in Billboard while Justine Browning previewed the video for Entertainment Weekly, observing, “With the re-issue of their hit record Hangin’ Tough approaching, the group went back to school to revisit their early years as teens idols for the brand new track ‘The Boys in the Band (The Boy Band Anthem).’ Warning, it’s an earworm.”

As Donnie Wahlberg said of track and video, “I wrote the lyrics to the song as an homage to boy bands, but you can’t truly pay tribute to boy bands, visually, without a little self-deprecating humor. Nobody has thicker skin than boy band members.”

Hangin’ Tough (30th Anniversary Edition) is available digitally and on CD, in a collectible 2 LP picture disc vinyl package, and as a NKOTB.com exclusive cassette. Commemorative Hangin’ Tough album and merch packages, including limited edition autographed items are also available.

NKOTB’s breakthrough album Hangin’ Tough produced hits like “Please Don’t Go Girl,” which became the group’s first Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “You Got It (The Right Stuff),” a global hit that reached No. 3 on the charts, “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever),” which became the group’s first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by the album’s title track which also went to No. 1, and “Cover Girl,” a fan favorite that hit No. 2 on the charts.

In addition to popular sales success, Hangin’ Tough garnered critical acclaim, won two American Music Awards (Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group) while earning a a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Long Form (now called Best Music Film). With sales of more than 14 million copies worldwide and certified 8x RIAA platinum in the US, Hangin’ Tough remains NKOTB’s best-selling album to date.

Following the release of Hangin’ Tough (30th Anniversary Edition), NKOTB will embark on their epic 2019 The Mixtape Tour with very special guests Salt-N-Pepa, Naughty By Nature, Debbie Gibson, and Tiffany. Kicking off May 2nd in Cincinnati, Ohio, and continuing through more than 50 North American cities, The Mixtape Tour will include stops in Boston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and LA’s famed Hollywood Bowl.