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Jeff Timmons // News Articles // ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Former 98 Degrees singer still warming up
Courtesy of Rising Phoenix Media
Jeff Timmons wrote and produced his solo album, "Whisper That Way."
By Sarah Mauet
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
For all the emphasis put on planning, sometimes being impulsive just pays off.
It worked for Jeff Timmons, founding member of the vocal group 98 Degrees, who made his decision to become a pop star, literally, over night.
At a party, some girls asked Timmons, then a psychology major at Kent State University, and his friends to sing them a song. The girls raved about his voice, and the stage was set as far as he was concerned.
"I quit college the next day and went to Los Angeles to pursue a singing career," the Ohio native said. "It was a pretty hasty decision, looking back, but I was young and dumb. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. You take risks you wouldn't ordinarily take if you know all the ins and outs of what you're trying to do."
Spontaneity paid off. Timmons brought together Nick and Drew Lachey and Justin Jeffre in 1995 to form the "boy band" 98 Degrees, which went on to sell millions of records and win several awards. When the intensely popular quartet went on hiatus in February 2002, Timmons again leaped without looking.
"I still like to take risks," he said over the phone while driving from Orange County to L.A. "I think I'm one for throwing caution to the wind and giving everything a shot. I don't mind taking risks. I think it makes life more exciting and you get to kind of ride the waves."
This time the wave involved turning his back on major- record labels to write, record and produce a solo album, well, solo.
"I wrote one or two songs on the other records, but this is probably my debut as a writer," he said of the album he launched on his Web site (www.jefftimmons.com). "I wrote and produced everything on this record myself with a couple of friends. It's a very intimate project. It's a very personal project, and I'm very proud of it."
The album, "Whisper That Way," which is now in stores, has an R&B feel and includes songs about his two children. Timmons will be performing some of his new songs when he stops in Tucson Monday as part of the Jim Brickman and Friends Holiday Concert. This is the second year the former teen idol has toured with the holiday show.
It's a busy time for Timmons, who will soon begin filming his first feature film, "Newport Heights," due to hit theaters next summer. While it's his professional acting debut, the singer said he started acting at a young age and that it comes more naturally than singing.
"Sometimes it's a lot easier for me to get up there and pretend I'm somebody else than to get up there and sing and perform and all that," he said.
Timmons can be seen today on NBC's broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - he'll be on the Discovery Channel float - and the entire 98 Degrees team will be on ABC's "Nick and Jessica's Family Christmas," a TV special to air Wednesday.
"We got back together for Nick and Jessica's Christmas variety show and did a tune for the first time in three years together - a cappella 'I'll be Home for Christmas,' " Timmons said. "We felt good about the whole thing and threw around the idea of doing a new record in the next year or so. It's exciting."
While he's entertaining the idea of another 98 Degrees album, Timmons is finally getting comfortable with his own solo career.
"At first I was nervous," he said. "I was used to the other guys being with me and all that good stuff, but now it's starting to become a lot more fun and I'm starting to enjoy it a lot more. I feel very comfortable on stage now."
Jeff Timmons // News Articles // ARIZONA DAILY STAR