Happy holidays Harmonizers. Mourning fans are still outraged about the 5H she-said, they-said mess from earlier this month, but this is not the first time members have left groups for solo careers. From Beyoncé to Justin Timberlake, here’s proof that the music still rocks and rolls after a break-up.
Beyoncé
Enough said. Queen Bey went from the lead singer of Destiny’s Child to continuing to shine, just without splitting the check three ways. While Kelly and Michelle still went on to have their own solo careers, neither one comes close to Mrs. Carter.
Justin Timberlake
NSYNC melted the hearts of teenagers and cougars all over the world, and devastated fans when they said bye bye bye. Justin moved on to headlining world tours, while JC went on to judge ABDC and Lance traded in his space suit for a pair of dancing shoes on season 7 of Dancing with the Stars. Now BFFs with Jimmy Fallon, Justin can add comedian to his resume alongside actor and successful former boy band member.
Michael Jackson
Let’s face it. Michael Jackson was the most famous member of the Jackson 5. While our parents might be able to name every member, most people born after 1990 can probably only name MJ. No shame, and no need to even talk about how successful he was. RIP.
Omarion
Every B2K fan remembers the often-shirtless front man of the group. When they stopped bump, bump, bump-ing and battling Wade’s crew in You Got Served, they kind of fell off. Fizz dropped the Lil’ from his name became one half of Fizz & Boog, but Omarion launched his solo career, giving us (now throwback) hits like Entourage, Touch and O, Post To Be and starring on Love & Hip Hop Hollywood.
Zayn
One Direction was once compared to The Beatles. This was back before Mr. Malik decided to leave to pursue a solo act, feud with Naughty Boy, cancel performances, and get pretty comfy with Gigi on Snapchat. Zayn shook the world with Pillowtalk, and the group proved they could prevail, by putting out a fifth album before going on “hiatus”.
Nick and Joe Jonas
The Jonas Brothers were another boy group that disbanded after much success. While little brother Nick broke into the solo world first with The Administration behind him, Joe didn’t take too long to get DNCE to the top of the charts.
Danity Kane
This one gets complicated. After Danity Kane split, Dawn joined Diddy-Dirty Money, Aubrey joined Broadway, and everyone except D. Woods tried to reunite. Andrea left before the album dropped, and eventually Dawn and Aubrey fought in the studio. Shannon and Aubrey went on to form the duo Dumblonde and Dawn went solo yet again.
Although some breakouts were more successful than others, this list proves that the music doesn’t end when the group goes down the drain.