Nick Lachey says 98 Degrees kept a book listing age-of-consent laws on their tour bus during their early days on the road — a move, he admits, that “sounds super shady” in hindsight.
Lachey, alongside his brother Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre, made up the ‘90s pop group, who were between the ages of 21 and 24 when they first went on tour in 1999.
“This is going to sound super shady, but when we first went out, I remember our first tour, someone at the label gave us a book, and it was the age of consent in every state in the country,” Lachey recalls in the new ID documentary “Boy Band Confidential,” produced by *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone.
“And, like, we kept that book on the tour bus.”
Explaining that the age-of-consent book was meant as a safeguard to keep them out of trouble, Lachey adds: “Unfortunately, there were people out there looking to tear you down.”
Lachey reveals in the documentary — premiering April 13 on Roku — that while the band was surrounded by adoring fans, their financial reality was far less glamorous after signing with Motown, forcing them to be deliberate about spending.
“98 Degrees, we signed with Motown and we got a very nominal advance on our contract,” he says.
“We knew that all expenses were recoupable and so we took the opposite approach [from other bands].
“‘Hey, we’re not paying for anything. We’ll take a break, go around the corner to Wendy’s, and go back to the studio.’”
Instead of luxury perks, the group stuck to basics and often relied on public transportation after long nights recording in New York.
“At the end of the session at 4:00 a.m., we’re not going to get a car service back to Brooklyn,” Lachey adds.
“We’ll take the A train back to Brooklyn, in the middle of winter. The four of us, at 4 in the morning, standing in the subway station.”
Lachey also points to the intense pressure of the era, claiming artists were expected to push through regardless of how they were feeling, with little room for breaks.
“You’ll see a Justin Bieber cancel a tour,” he says.
“You’ll see a Shawn Mendes cancel a tour because ‘my mental health needs to come first.’ That was not an option when we were out there.
“You went out there and you did the show and you came back after the show and you broke down and you cried and you kicked a hole in the wall, or you did whatever you had to do.
“But you didn’t bow out. You work so hard to get there, you can’t let your foot off the gas.”
In November 2024, Timmons said fan behavior could cross the line at times, recalling how people would sneak into spaces they weren’t supposed to be.
“Fans would sneak on our tour bus and we wouldn’t even know they were there until the next city,” Timmons said in the documentary “Larger than Life: Reign of the Boybands.”
“We ordered room service and they were in the room service cart and popped out.”
He added: “Some things are a little too crazy to talk about.”
Formed in the mid-1990s, 98 Degrees broke through with hits like “Because of You,” “The Hardest Thing” and “I Do (Cherish You),” becoming one of the era’s biggest boy bands alongside *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.
They slowed down in the early 2000s as members pursued solo projects, effectively going on hiatus before later reuniting for tours.
Lachey married pop singer Jessica Simpson in 2002, and the pair became reality TV stars with “Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica” before divorcing in 2006.
He is now married to Vanessa Lachey, having tied the knot in 2011, and the two host “Love Is Blind” together.
Lachey and Simpson recently had an awkward run-in on a flight to Hawaii, where both reportedly ended up on the same plane and went out of their way to avoid one another.
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