:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Jonathan-Knight-Jordan-Knight-Joey-McIntyre-Donnie-Wahlberg-Danny-Wood-042325-d16a34a2bb8f40929d7d6c97ca0d1354.jpg)
NKOTB is celebrating their official day in a big way.
On April 24 — named New Kids on the Block Day in 1989 by former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis — the band announced the reissue of Step by Step, a special 35th-anniversary edition of their hit 1990 album. The new collection will feature previously unreleased songs, new remixes, live tracks and behind-the-scenes archival material.
The group — made up of members Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight — released Step by Step as a follow-up to their 1998 breakthrough album Hangin’ Tough, which turned the then-teenagers from Boston into one of the biggest pop acts in the world, selling millions of records, performing in packed arenas and stadiums, and causing a fan frenzy that was often compared to Beatle mania.
“I think Hangin’ Tough is the album that always gets talked about most because it’s how people came to know us and it was so big, but Step by Step was really important to us as a band — then and now,” Danny tells PEOPLE of reissuing the LP, which will be released June 13, and is now available for pre-order. “I feel like that record is significant and I’m glad it’s being celebrated.”
Paul Natkin/WireImage
The original album included the top 10 singles “Tonight” and “Step by Step,” which, Danny says, the band “immediately knew was going to be a hit record.”
“We knew it the first time we heard it. Maurice Starr, our producer and songwriter, had written it for another local Boston band at the time but they never did anything with it,” says Danny. “Thank God — I mean, not for those guys. Sorry, it didn’t happen for them, but we always had that song in our heads. So when we went to record the second album, we were like, Maurice, we gotta do ‘Step by Step.’ It was just undeniable that it was meant to be a New Kids song.”
For Jordan, recording Step by Step was a turning point for the band, creatively and musically. “We were always on the road so we had to record the album in hotel rooms or backstage before a show,” he says. “It was a wild time but, at the same time, we were learning a lot about music and absorbing all these different things around us. We were young but we were finding out more about our personalities and styles, and we all had ideas about how we wanted it to sound.”
While the album gave Jordan, Joey, Donnie and Danny a chance to expand their range, it also marked Jonathan’s first lead performance on the song “Happy Birthday.”
“I never wanted to be front and center but I remember Maurice was very adamant about me singing it. He said, ‘Everybody has a birthday and it happens every year. So you have to do this because fans are going to play this every year on their birthday for the rest of their lives.’ And, yeah. he was right,” says Jonathan, who performed the song live during every performance of the band’s 2024 Summer Magic Tour. “It’s such an amazing gift that we’re still singing these songs that we recorded when we were kids and that our fans still love singing along with us 35 years later.”
As part of the 35th celebration, the New Kids are also releasing a guided sleep story collaboration with the Calm app called “Step By Step To Sleep,” in which the bandmates tell soothing stories, drop cheeky fan-focused Easter eggs and share their top tips for getting a restful slumber.
“At first, I was like this is corny — then I thought it was cute,” says Jordan with a laugh. “I took some of that sleep advice to heart. I was like, hmm, let me try to turn the temperature down to sleep in a cooler room and it actually works. I don’t want to move because I’m so cold. But, you know, I am sleeping better now.”
The band will need to bank on good sleep as they prepare to kick-off their first Las Vegas residency this summer. Named “The Right Stuff” after their 1988 hit song, the shows will run in three sessions from June 20-July 5 and Nov. 1-15, 2025 and Feb 14-28, 2026 at the Dolby Live at Park MGM.
“Vegas is going to be insane,” says Jonathan. “It’s definitely gong to be very different from other shows that we did. I mean, we are in Vegas, so it’s a little more upscale, a little more sexy. And the stage is absolutely huge.”
Says Joey: “It’s been really exciting to plan and think about what we can do. But, c’mon, it’s Vegas so we have to do it right and take up the showmanship and don’t hold anything back,” he told PEOPLE during an interview with PEOPLE in March. “We’ve all been talking and giving different ideas and it’s coming together in a really joyful, organic and authentic way. I don’t want to give too much away but I’ll just say that it’s going to be a show that fans won’t forget.”
Kevin Winter/Getty
Jordan says it’s been inspiring getting input from all the bandmates. “It’s collaborative, and I like hearing everyone’s thoughts because it can inspire something new. I just came back from Donnie’s place in Chicago, and we were hanging out for three days just listening to songs and the arrangements, switching orders around,” he says. “We would ask, ‘How does this one sound? How about putting it after that one?’ We’d play it and say, ‘Maybe let’s try this’ or ‘Let’s put a string line to connect both of them together.’ Putting a show together is like stringing together moments, kind of like a movie. You just want to take people on an amazing ride.”
Along with the performances, the New Kids are planning several extra events and activations in Las Vegas to celebrate the residency. Located at Double Barrel Roadhouse, the band’s Block-E’s Clubhouse will feature an NKOTB museum displaying memorabilia, live entertainment and panels, themed food and drinks and, Danny says, appearances by the band.
“We always try to over-deliver as much as we can so I’m really excited about having a New Kids headquarters for the fans to hang out,” says Danny. “And me and the guys will definitely all be coming in there, take selfies with people, and just to be in the middle of everything. It’s going to be a blast.”
The band is also planning a series of after-parties hosted following their performances on June 21, June 28 and July 5 at On the Record Speakeasy inside the Park MGM, and ticket on-sale dates will be announced soon. Although officially hosted by Donnie, Jordan promises the rest of the members will catch the Vegas spirit and be “partying with the Blockheads like crazy.”
“It’s going to be one big party when the New Kids and our fans get to town,” says Joey. “We’ve been thinking about Vegas and planning it for so long and that I’m ready for it to be here, and for us to experience it all together.”
