The weather is heating up across the nation, but for many music fans around the world, it is 98 Degrees every day.
For nearly 25 years, group founding member, Jeff Timmons, along with brothers, Nick and Drew Lachey, and Justin Jeffre have 10 million records sold, churned out eight Top 40 hits, and have toured the globe performing for their dedicated fans.
The Ohio native turned Las Vegas resident, Timmons dreamed of a future in the NFL while attending Kent State University. But after singing at a college party, the very next day, he left school and headed to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. After meeting Nick Lachey and shuffling members a bit, they decided on the name, 98 Degrees as it described body temperature and the style of music they wanted to put out.
The coronavirus has affected all walks of life, especially the music industry. But Timmons is trying to make the best of it.
“My wife and I have five kids and having this time to stay home with my family has been a real blessing for me,” Timmons said. “The group has loyal fans that have been with us over 25 years. Touring is our lifeblood. We had 30-60 dates scheduled when this all began. Nothing has been cancelled, we’ve just moved the dates.”
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Technology has helped during the time off, as he and the other members of the group have been talking and working every day on new material. Always writing and producing, Timmons himself has written 22 new tracks in the last 50 days for other artists as well as advertisements and television.
Jeff recently spent his 47th birthday under quarantine and unfortunately, his children missed prom and even graduation.
“Even though we missed some important things, we are lucky everyone in the family is healthy and fortunate to be home together,” he said.
Using this time to be with his family, be creative, and even get more time for his passion, working out, the real tough part is there is no sports for Timmons, a self-proclaimed sports nut.
“The true heroes are those on the front line, the first responders, medical personnel, food delivery drivers, and grocery store employees, who put themselves out there so we can keep our everyday lifestyle,” he said.
Once this pandemic is over, 98 Degrees will go back to doing what they do best — tour and perform for their many fans. So, be on the lookout for the new tour dates as they always come to entertain and have meet-and-greets available at every show.
“During these difficult times, make lemonade out of lemons,” Timmons said.