Biography

Isaac, Taylor and Zac are the first three children of parents Clarke Walker Hanson, born June 1, 1954) and Diana Frances Hanson (née Lawyer April 30, 1954). The Hanson family also includes younger siblings Jessica Grace, July 31, 1988), Avery Laurel (November 4, 1990), Joshua Mackenzie, (January 7, 1994), and Zoë Genevieve (January 14, 1998).

The band was originally called The Hanson Brothers. The three young boys sang a cappella and recorded songs like “Rockin’ Robin”, “Splish Splash” and “Johnny B. Goode” as well as their own material. Their first performance as a professional group took place in 1992 at the Mayfest Arts Festival in Tulsa.

Hanson also appeared on Carman’s Yo! Kidz: The Vidz which included Taylor cast as a young Biblical David facing Goliath, Isaac cast as an event announcer, and other members of the family including Zac in the stands cheering on this “sporting event.”

The three boys all started out playing the piano. Taylor and Isaac formed the band, but needed one more player, so Zac entered the group. Later on, Isaac picked up a secondhand guitar, Zac borrowed an old set of drums, and Taylor became the keyboard player of what turned into a garage band. The band recorded two independent albums in their hometown of Tulsa, Boomerang (recorded autumn 1994, released 1995) and MMMBop (1996). The latter featured the original version of the song”MMMBop”, which would later become the runaway single on their debut commercial record Middle of Nowhere. The boys then found themselves at the South By Southwest music festival for unsigned music bands in Austin, Texas. There, they were promptly signed by manager Christopher Sabec. He shopped them to several record companies, most of which dismissed the band as either a novelty or fraud before Steve Greenberg, an A&R representative for Mercury Records, heard them play a set at the Kansas State Fair. After this performance, they were signed almost immediately by Mercury. They soon became a worldwide sensation with the release of their first major-label album, Middle of Nowhere.

Middle of Nowhere was released on May 6, 1997. The album’s first single, “MMMBop”, debuted at #16 in the United States, reaching #1 in both the US and the UK, reaching #2 in Canada, and staying over two months in the top spot in Australia. The group was heavily featured in teen magazines such as Tiger Beat and found a wide following among teen and pre-teen girls. The album’s second single, “Where’s the Love”, followed “MMMBop” to the top of the charts. Their first album’s worldwide success was registered in Tulsa, Tokyo and the Middle of Nowhere, an 82-minute videotape with home videos, interviews, video clips, and live performances.

During the Summer of 1998, Hanson began a highly successful concert tour, the Albertane Tour. They performed a string of shows throughout stadiums and arenas in the US, targeting young audiences with its playful and energetic theme. A live album, titled Live From Albertane, was released the following fall.

Hanson released their second album, This Time Around, in May 2000 but due to lack of sales the label pulled funding on their tour. They toured through the Summer and Fall of 2000 on their own funds.

The brothers left their record label, Island Records, due to a conflict with the producers, who felt their material was lacking quality and had refused over 80 songs from the band. The band now works under their own independent label, 3CG Records (“3 Car Garage Records”), named for the three-car garage in which their studio lies today. The label has distribution deals through Alternative Distribution Alliance in the United States, Cooking Vinyl in Europe, Sony BMG in Asia, and various other distributors throughout the world.

During the struggle with their former label, Hanson signed with their current management company, 10th Street Entertainment, which also manages artists such as Meat Loaf and Blondie.

The band’s “Underneath Acoustic” tour occurred during the Summer and Fall of 2003. The tour was composed of acoustic versions of songs from their then-forthcoming release, Underneath. The tour culminated on November 5, 2003, with a performance at the prestigious Carnegie Hall.

Underneath was released on April 20, 2004, and debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Independent Album Chart and #25 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making Underneath one of the most successful independent albums of all time (only a few artists, such as Prince and Ani DiFranco, have released a top 25 independent album).

The first single from Underneath was “Penny & Me”; its music video featured The O.C.’s Samaire Armstrong and was directed by Chris Applebaum. “Penny & Me” reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart. The video for the album’s second single, “Lost Without Each Other”, was directed by P.R. Brown and filmed in Boston, and includes live footage from the concert played in the city that coincided with the filming.

On March 5, 2005, Hanson performed the United States National Anthem at the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series Telcel-Motorola 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in Mexico City.

In Fall 2005, Hanson toured the US and played at certain Canadian venues to support their recently released live album, The Best of Hanson: Live & Electric. They also visited various colleges in order to showcase Strong Enough to Break, their documentary chronicling their struggles with Island Def Jam during the making of Underneath, as well as their subsequent departure from the label. During the college visits, the band also held question-and-answer sessions about the problems that independent artists face in music industry.

In November 2005, Hanson’s old record label released “Mmmbop: The Collection”, a compilation of famous tracks from the first two albums and the consequent B-sides of singles. However, the CD never charted, partially due to poor distribution. The album also received criticism from Hanson’s loyal fan base, as many fans disdained the record label that released the album. This was in large part due to Hanson’s recent documentary and college tour, which did not frame the music industry in a particularly positive light.

Hanson toured South American and Europe and performed their first shows in Australia during the 2005 “Live and Electric” tour. In July 2006, the band recorded with a school choir in Soweto, South Africa to create “Great Divide”, which was released through iTunes in December 2006. All proceeds from the song were directed towards research and prevention of AIDS in Africa.

On September 10, 2007, Hanson began “The Walk Tour” in Nashville. During the tour, Hanson continued their work against poverty and AIDS in Africa, partnering with American company, TOMS Shoes. As part of TOMS’ “Shoe Drop”, for every pair of shoes sold, the company donated another pair for a child in Africa. Hanson brought awareness to this campaign by asking fans to join them in a 1-mile barefoot walk before each concert, to represent what a typical African child goes through on a daily basis.

The Walk tour was suspended after Isaac underwent lifesaving surgery for a pulmonary embolism. Doctors treated his condition by relieving blood flow restrictions caused by excess chest muscle and scar tissue from the repetitive motions of guitar playing. The tour resumed with Midwest and Eastcoast dates March through May, 2008. The brothers wrapped up the second leg of “The Walk Tour” after playing 20 concerts in four weeks. They plan to tour again in fall 2008.

Hanson will embark on the “Walk Around the World Tour” starting on September 7,2008 in Portland, Oregon and ending November 16, 2008 in San Diego, California. Once again Hanson will be helping to fight poverty in Africa by continuing their 1-mile walks before the shows. A coffee table book titled “Take the Walk” will be released in September 2008 to coincide with their “Walk Around the World Tour”. This book will present the bands story behind their inspiration for their fight on poverty in Africa. The book will also feature a special EP with new tracks recorded especially for the project. Both the music and the book will raise further funds for aid groups in Africa.

Personal Life

On June 8, 2002, middle brother Jordan Taylor Hanson married his girlfriend of two years, Natalie Anne Bryant (born December 28, 1983). The ceremony was held at the Ida Cason Memorial Chapel of Callaway Gardens, located in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The couple have four children, Jordan Ezra (born October 31, 2002), Penelope Anne(born April 19, 2005), River Samuel (born September 4, 2006) and Viggo Moriah(born December 9 2008)

Youngest brother Zac married his girlfriend of five years, Kathryn Rebecca Tucker (born November 29, 1983), on June 3, 2006 at a private ceremony held at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The couple have one son, John Ira Shepherd (born May 27, 2008)

Oldest brother Isaac married girlfriend Nicole Summer Dufresne (born November 25, 1983) of Panama City, Florida, on September 30, 2006 at Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Okla. The couple have 2 sons, Clarke Everett (born April 3, 2007) and James Monroe (born July 1, 2008).

Taken from Wikipedia.