Justin Jeffre

98 Degrees (stylized as 98°) is an internationally acclaimed, multi-platinum, multi-award-winning, and nominated vocal group consisting of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre.

The group has sold over 15 million albums worldwide with 4 Top 5 Billboard charting radio singles, including mega-hits such as "The Hardest Thing," "I Do, Cherish You," "Because of You," and the number one hit single featuring Mariah Carey called, "Thank God I Found You."

98 Degrees' albums have reached gold or platinum status in more than 60 countries worldwide.

Their first Christmas album, "98 Degrees This Christmas," has sold over two million copies and is widely recognized as one of the most successful holiday albums ever.

The American pop and R&B group was started independently by Jeff Timmons in Los Angeles, California, although all of its members originate from Ohio.

Unlike most boy bands, they were later picked up by a record label, rather than being assembled by a label or a producer.

In 1995 he sang at a college party with three friends and received a positive reaction from the female audience about his voice.

The following day he left college and headed out to Los Angeles, California.

They have sold over 10 million records worldwide and achieved eight top 40 singles in the U.S. Between late 1997 and 2000, the group reached top-twenty status on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 chart, with their debut single "Invisible Man" peaking at No. 12, and 1999's pop/R&B cover of the country ballad "I Do (Cherish You)" peaking at No. 13.

The group successfully charted in the U.S. top five with "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)", "Because of You", "The Hardest Thing", and "Thank God I Found You" (with Mariah Carey and Joe); the latter as featured artists, topping the chart also making it their first and only number-one song.

With their debut single, "Invisible Man" which peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, achieving gold-record status after its July 1997 release, 98 Degrees was off to a promising start.

Although critical response to the debut of the group was mixed, a Billboard review of their first single noted their vocal abilities, and the addition of a new track helped to keep the band in the public eye.

The group also toured extensively, including concert dates in Asia.

They also opened for several dates of Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope Tour, exposing them to a wider audience.

After building popularity with their appearance in the animated Disney movie Mulan, and singing "True to Your Heart", a duet with labelmate Stevie Wonder, their album 98 Degrees and Rising went 4× platinum in 1998.

Production credit included Atlanta-based producer and Babyface co-writing partner Daryl Simmons.

Musician credits on the breakthrough album featured Atlanta-based session musician and former Earth, Wind & Fire guitarist Dick Smith.

After the second album, 98 Degrees left Motown for its parent company, Universal Records.

The band's first major hit was "Because of You" (number three on the U.S. Hot 100 and number five on the Canadian Singles Chart) and went platinum.

"The Hardest Thing" followed the success by reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold.

In 1999, 98 Degrees released their Christmas album This Christmas, which spawned the top 40 single "This Gift".

Within a month after its release the album was certified platinum.

"It was a pretty hasty decision, looking back, but I was young and dumb. Sometimes ignorance is bliss," he said in 2004.

He met a former student of the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts who passed his name on to another graduate, Nick Lachey, who was attending Miami (of Ohio) University to study sports medicine.

Lachey flew to Los Angeles and, after hitting it off, decided to form a boyband.

Lachey suggested inviting one of his friends, Justin Jeffre, to join them.

Jeffre, a history student at University of Cincinnati, had attended SCPA with Lachey and they had performed together before in various outfits such as a barbershop quartet at the amusement park Kings Island and a cover band.

The final member to join the band was Lachey's younger brother Drew, who was working in New York City as an emergency medical technician, as a replacement for founding member Jonathan Lippmann.

After rejecting a series of names (including Just Us and Next Issue), upon the suggestion by their manager Paris D'Jon, they decided on "98 Degrees" describing body temperature and their music.

Taking a series of jobs including landscaping, working as club security officers and delivering take-out food, the band refined its harmonies and presentation, looking to groups such as Boyz II Men, Take 5, and Jodeci for inspiration.

The new group also made the rounds of auditions in Los Angeles and gradually built up its contacts in the music industry.

The group's wait for a manager and a recording contract did not take long, as they seized an opportunity to perform during a radio broadcast of a Boyz II Men concert, which they attended in the hope of passing a demo tape to the band.

They were discovered by music manager Paris D'Jon, who was co-managing Montell Jordan at the time.

Just before the group signed their deal founding member Jonathan Lippman departed the group due to his religious beliefs, he later went on to form CCM group True Vibe.

The group's emergence at a time when teen-oriented acts like the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC were just hitting the top of the charts around the world compelled them to differentiate themselves from the mere "boy band" status that they derided.

From the start, they emphasized that they wrote much of their own material, which reflected R&B influences more than mainstream pop roots.

"There are major differences musically between groups, not to mention the fact that we were signed to Motown, which gives us a little more credibility as far as R&B and soul music goes."

Beginning with an August 2012 performance at the Mixtape Festival in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the group reunited and continues to record new music.

The founding members of 98 Degrees met after Massillon, Ohio native Jeff Timmons decided to quit college and pursue a music career with best friend Jeremy Volk.

He studied psychology at Kent State University in his home state of Ohio, and planned on a career playing football in the NFL.