What Happened to Boyz II Men’s 4th Member Michael McCary?

Boyz II Men is one of the top-selling R&B groups of all time, landing two albums at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and eight singles that charted in the top three on the Billboard Top 100 chart.

On Monday, May 25, the group is appearing on NBC’s songwriting competition series Songland — but viewers might be surprised to see only three members of Boyz II Men on the show, Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, and Nathan Morris (no relation). Here’s what happened to the fourth member, bass Michael McCary.

The Official Reason Is Multiple Sclerosis

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McCary was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000 when he was 28 years old, though he kept it a secret for a number of years — he didn’t tell his bandmates and even his then-wife didn’t know.

“I stopped trusting the brothers when I was about 29,” he told OWN’s Iyanla Vanzant in a 2016 interview. “I went through a depression, and it just started to separate me more.”

He also told Vanzant that his symptoms and his frequent doctor visits started to interfere with the band’s schedule, which caused a lot of tension and fighting — but he still didn’t tell them about his diagnosis. He didn’t go public with the information until 2016.

In a 2014 interview with HuffPost, the other band members were still under the impression that McCary’s back problem was scoliosis and they said that wasn’t really the reason for him leaving. They said he never really fit in with the group that well and that it seemed like he “kind of gave up when things didn’t go well.”

McCary Tried to Come Back in 2012

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In 2012, McCary told the others he wanted to return to the group, but they wanted him to sign a contract that would protect them if he quit again and he refused.

“Because he left us hanging so many times, we had to cover what we had been doing the last nine years he wasn’t there,” Nathan Morris told HuffPost. “You can’t just run out one day and don’t show up. We had to have some sort of contractual agreement to make sure he was going to be there for everything.”

Shawn Stockman added, “There’s always a chance. Mike is … we experienced that with Mike, so his slot will always be open for him. But he has to go about things correctly for it to happen.”

The 3 Other Members Are Still Making Hits

Zak Waters Performs “Bad Things” (Original Song Performance) – Songland 2020Songland songwriter Zak Waters sings the original song “Bad Things.” » Subscribe for More: http://bit.ly/NBCSongland » Watch Songland Mondays 10/9c on NBC! » Stream Anytime: https://www.nbc.com/songland/episodes SONGLAND ON SOCIAL: Like Songland on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NBCSongland Follow Songland on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBCSongland Follow Songland on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nbcsongland Find Songland trailers, full episode highlights, previews, promos, clips, and digital exclusives here. NBC ON SOCIAL: YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nbc Twitter: http://Twitter.com/NBC Facebook: http://Facebook.com/NBC Instagram: http://instagram.com/nbc ABOUT SONGLAND “Songland” serves as a destination for music’s biggest stars to find their next hit. The series is an authentic peek into the process of songwriting and provides one winner per episode the opportunity to have their song released by chart-topping artists. Season 2 guest recording artists include Boyz II Men, Florida Georgia Line, Luis Fonsi, H.E.R., Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Julia Michaels, Ben Platt, Bebe Rexha and Usher. Four songwriters will perform their original tracks in front of the guest artist and three of the most successful producers in music – Ryan Tedder (lead singer of OneRepublic and four-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer), Ester Dean (Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer) and Shane McAnally (three-time Grammy-winning songwriter and producer). In the end, a winner will be chosen and their song will be recorded and released for a global audience. Zak Waters Performs “Bad Things” (Original Song Performance) – Songland 2020 https://youtu.be/6BPfSLt7W8g Songland https://www.youtube.com/NBCSongland2020-05-22T13:00:02Z

Since losing McCary in 2003, the other three members have continued to make music. They’ve released several albums, including four that charted in the top 10 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

They haven’t, however, had the kind of success Boyz II Men enjoyed from 1990 to 1997. Perhaps their Songland song will be their comeback hit.

Juan Winans, a nephew of the legendary Bebe and Cece Winans, is appearing on the show with his wife, Lisa. They recently told Click on Detroit that they were incredibly excited when they found out they would be pitching their song to Boyz II Men.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Lisa, adding, “To get to work with icons like Boyz II Men and get to hear what they had to say bout our song and the songwriting process … we listened to them our whole lives, it feels like, so that was pretty incredible.”

Songland airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

‘Songland’ Season 2 Judges & Guest Artists