Nick Lachey & Brother Drew Reflect On How 25 Years Of 98 Degrees Has Brought Them Closer Together
As 98 Degrees celebrates 25 years, Nick, Drew, Jeff and Justin opened up about their milestone anniversary before performing in the Turks & Caicos.
Nick Lachey and his younger brother Drew Lachey have a close bond no matter what — but the siblings admit that being in the same band has ultimately brought them closer. “It’s nice when you get to go through all these incredible experiences being part of a group like this, it’s nice to share with your family and your brother,” Nick said ahead of the 98 Degrees concert presented by iHeartRadio at Beaches Turks & Caicos to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. Drew agreed, hilariously chiming in: “And somebody to split the big gifts for your parents with.”
The brotherly bond doesn’t just stop with Nick and Drew, but extends to their bandmates Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre. “All four of us have become brothers over the last 25 years,” Drew explained. “Clearly when we started Nick and I had the most history, the most connection — but we have all become family over the last 25 years and we all give each other a hard time. It’s no more exclusive between me and Nick than it is between me and Jeff or me and Justin or anybody,” he added, before throwing in another joke. “We’re equal opportunity ball busters,” Drew said, eliciting laughs from the other guys before throwing in his next barb. “We can honestly only spend so much time together so we need to take breaks!” he joked.
Much has changed for the bandmates as they celebrate their milestone 25th anniversary: three of the four members are now dads, which has given them a whole new perspective on their successes, past and present. “The beauty if being able to do this now is your kids get to see it — these guys have older kids so they get it more than mine do,” Nick — who shares kids Camden, 10, Brooklyn, 7, & Phoenix, 5, with wife Vanessa Lachey. “My oldest [Camden] is going to be 10 in a couple weeks. For them to see us on stage seeing us do what we love to do, I think it’s inspiring to them…it shows them we were cool once…It’s cool for us to be able to share that. It’s a big part of our lives and it always will be — you don’t have to tell them, ‘back in the day’ — they get to see it now live and understand it in person. It’s a pretty neat thing to be able to share it.”
And now 98 Degrees — who dropped a new single last year — has another epic show to add to their resume in the Turks & Caicos. “We’re having fun. Taking it in stride, enjoying the moment, those are some of the things maybe when you’re taking yourself so seriously in an industry that’s so difficult, you don’t take a deep breath and internalize all the blessings and things coming your way that you might not get to do it again,” Jeff added. “To Nick’s point, we’re here a quarter of a century later and having a blast and just taking and enjoying the moment, every moment.”
Nick echoed the sentiment. “I’ve been here once before but I’m the only one. I told these guys you’ll never see prettier water than you’re about to see in Turks. It’s just amazing. Everyone here has been so welcoming and hospital and showing us a great time. It’s been an awesome trip,” the Ohio native said, hilariously joking that the “company” (meaning his bandmates) is “average at best” but the “setting makes up for it.”