New Kids on the Block He was initially surprised by their success.

The band’s self-titled debut album didn’t reach the heights they had hoped for, but everything changed when they hit the road with the singer tiffany In 1989. It was precisely the release of “You Got It (The Right Stuff”) that changed the course of the band.

“We were very lucky that Tiffany herself advocated for us to be the opening act. We suddenly walked out and they saw us. Nobody knew what was going to happen. Nobody knew.” Donnie Wahlberg explains in Larger Than Life: The Reign of Boybands.

The boy band, which included Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Danny Wood, suddenly found their audience as a group of screaming, devoted teenage girls.

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“I started hanging out with someone Jonathan but he made a bit of a splash because a lot of my female fans wanted to be with him,” shares Tiffany, who also appears in the documentary.

It wasn’t long before New Kids on the Block fans were booing the “I Guess We’re Alone Now” singer at their own show, while also dwarfing the crowd numbers.

“When we were on tour, fans were yelling and screaming at me, calling me names, pulling my hair. I was shocked. The girls were so tough,” the 53-year-old actress recalls.

For one portion of the tour, the band became the headline act, with Tiffany opening for them. This also came as a shock to the band, who were conflicted about their sudden success.

“We questioned whether we really deserved this success. Are they comparing us to the Beatles? We’re just a boy band,” shares Wahlberg, 55.

You can read more about New Kids on the Block’s rise to fame and continued success, as well as stories of other boy groups, at: Larger Than Life: The Reign of Boybandsis now streaming on Paramount+.