During the 1990s, Boyz II Men was a quartet with bass singer Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to health issues after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

When "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You," Boyz II Men became the third musical act, after the Beatles and Elvis Presley, to replace themselves atop the Billboard Hot 100.

The group, originally named Unique Attraction, was formed in 1985 by Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA)[7] along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker.

After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989, they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center.

Cooleyhighharmony's drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing.

The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanyá Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.

Wanyá was "Squirt," Shawn was "Slim," Michael was simply "Bass," and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool," after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.

(The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.)

While traveling the country, their tour manager Roderick 'Khalil' Rountree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him.

[12] While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road," co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang.

The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.

Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2).

Several of II's tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".

Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".

Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.

Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company.

Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on April 30, and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.

After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol.

The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love".

In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.

[15] In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base.

The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame.

As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.

Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.

On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped".

Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.

On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipina singers Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.

[33] On December 31, 2022, Boyz II Men performed the national anthem at the Fiesta Bowl before the Michigan Wolverines and the TCU Horned Frogs faced off in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Ken Jeong, Rita Ora, Nick Cannon, the entire audience, and Mario as "Wasp" (who finished in second place) figured out that Boyz II Men was "Buffalos".

[39] They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.