Bell Biv DeVoe

Bell Biv DeVoe are an American R&B trio from Boston .

Band history

During the 1980s, the teen band New Edition enjoyed great success in the United States and beyond. After five albums, the band split in the late 1980s and Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill went their own way. That left Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe, who continued together as Bell Biv DeVoe and released their first album in 1990. The goal was a more mature, adult sound with more funk and less ballads. Producers like Hank and Keith Shocklee and Eric Sadler from Public Enemy and Elliot Straite alias Dr. Freeze won. The latter wrote the theme song Poison, which reached number 1 on the R&B charts and became a million seller. It reached number 3 on the official US charts and number 19 in the UK . The album also reached number 1 on the R&B charts and number 5 on the official charts , it stayed in the top 200 for almost a year and a half and sold over four million Copies. With Do Me , written by Bell, Biv and DeVoe themselves , there was a second top 3 song in the Hot 100 and with BBD another R&B leader from the album. One year after Poison was released, the remix album WBBD-Bootcity! the success will be extended again and an additional gold record will be won. For the remix version of the song Word to the Mutha , all New Edition members came together again, including Bobby Brown , who left in 1986 .

In 1992 BBD was a guest together with Tresvant on the single The Best Things in Life Are Free by Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson . The song from the soundtrack of the comedy film Meh 'Geld was an international hit and reached number 2 in the UK charts and the top 10 in the USA and Germany. With the album Hootie Mack , the trio tried to build on success in 1993, but although it reached gold status, it was far less successful than the debut album and only came to number 6 on the R&B charts. Only the song Something in Your Eyes , written by Babyface , made it into the official charts.

In the mid-1990s, New Edition reunited and in 1996 they released their most successful album, Home Again . In 2001 Bell, Bivins and DeVoe tried again with a joint release, but the album BBD flopped and remained in the album and single charts without any notable success. In the following years they toured again with New Edition and released another album. Bell Biv DeVoe didn't return until early 2017, releasing Three Stripes . With this album they came back to number 2 on the R&B charts and in the top 20 of the official charts for the fourth time. The publication was supported by a simultaneous series on the music channel BET about the history of New Edition .

Members

• Ricky Bell (born September 18, 1967 in New Jersey )
• Michael Lamone Bivins (born August 10, 1968 in Boston )
• Ronnie DeVoe (born November 17, 1967 in Boston)

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1990	Poison	UK35 (5 weeks) UK	US5 × 4 Quadruple platinum (77 weeks)US
1991	WBBD Bootcity! The Remix Album	-	US18th gold (27 weeks)US
1993	Hootie mack	-	US19th gold (18 weeks)US
2017	Three stripes	-	US18 (2 weeks) US

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1990	Poison poison	UK19 (15 weeks) UK	US3 platinum (22 weeks)US	Author: E. Straite
	Do me poison	UK56 (3 weeks) UK	US3 (22 weeks) US	Authors: R. Bell, M. Bivins, R. DeVoe, C. Bourelly
	BBD (I Thought It Was Me)? Poison	UK86 (2 weeks) UK	US26 (15 weeks) US	Authors: R. Hooks, E. Sadler, H. Shocklee, D. Durant, A. Stewart
1991	When Will I See You Smile Again? Poison	-	US63 (8 weeks) US	Authors: T. Gatling, A. Stewart
1992	Gangsta	-	US21 (17 weeks) US	Author: E. Straite
1993	Something in Your Eyes Hootie Mack	UK60 (2 weeks) UK	US38 (19 weeks) US	Author: K. Edmonds

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gold / platinum awards in the RIAA database (USA)
2. ↑ Chart placements of The Best Things in Life Are Free (Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: UK charts (OCC) / US charts (Billboard)

Web links

• Official Homepage (English)
• BBD-Music.com (English)
• Bell Biv DeVoe on Allmusic (English)