Getty The members of Boyz II Men, from left, Shawn Stockman, Nate Morris, Wayne Morris and Michael McCary display the three awards they won 30 January 1995 at the 22nd Annual American Music Awards.
Boyz II Men is one of the top-selling R&B groups of all time, landing two albums at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and eight singles that charted in the top three on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
On Monday, May 25, the group is appearing on NBC’s songwriting competition series Songland — but viewers might be surprised to see only three members of Boyz II Men on the show, Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, and Nathan Morris (no relation). Here’s what happened to the fourth member, bass Michael McCary.
The Official Reason Is Multiple Sclerosis
McCary was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000 when he was 28 years old, though he kept it a secret for a number of years — he didn’t tell his bandmates and even his then-wife didn’t know.
“I stopped trusting the brothers when I was about 29,” he told OWN’s Iyanla Vanzant in a 2016 interview. “I went through a depression, and it just started to separate me more.”
He also told Vanzant that his symptoms and his frequent doctor visits started to interfere with the band’s schedule, which caused a lot of tension and fighting — but he still didn’t tell them about his diagnosis. He didn’t go public with the information until 2016.
In a 2014 interview with HuffPost, the other band members were still under the impression that McCary’s back problem was scoliosis and they said that wasn’t really the reason for him leaving. They said he never really fit in with the group that well and that it seemed like he “kind of gave up when things didn’t go well.”
McCary Tried to Come Back in 2012
In 2012, McCary told the others he wanted to return to the group, but they wanted him to sign a contract that would protect them if he quit again and he refused.
“Because he left us hanging so many times, we had to cover what we had been doing the last nine years he wasn’t there,” Nathan Morris told HuffPost. “You can’t just run out one day and don’t show up. We had to have some sort of contractual agreement to make sure he was going to be there for everything.”
Shawn Stockman added, “There’s always a chance. Mike is … we experienced that with Mike, so his slot will always be open for him. But he has to go about things correctly for it to happen.”
The 3 Other Members Are Still Making Hits
Since losing McCary in 2003, the other three members have continued to make music. They’ve released several albums, including four that charted in the top 10 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
They haven’t, however, had the kind of success Boyz II Men enjoyed from 1990 to 1997. Perhaps their Songland song will be their comeback hit.
Juan Winans, a nephew of the legendary Bebe and Cece Winans, is appearing on the show with his wife, Lisa. They recently told Click on Detroit that they were incredibly excited when they found out they would be pitching their song to Boyz II Men.
“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Lisa, adding, “To get to work with icons like Boyz II Men and get to hear what they had to say bout our song and the songwriting process … we listened to them our whole lives, it feels like, so that was pretty incredible.”
Songland airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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What Happened to Boyz II Men’s 4th Member Michael McCary?