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98 Degrees Was ‘Definitely’ Inspired by Taylor Swift When Re-Recording Beloved Hits For ‘Full Circle’ Album

98 Degrees were 'definitely' inspired by Taylor Swift to re-record their most beloved hits for upcoming 'Full Circle' LP featuring five new songs.

“She [Swift] was definitely an inspiration to us, and probably to a lot of musicians out there who felt like they just didn’t have ownership of their own creativity, of their own career to an extent,” says Nick, 51, in a recent group Zoom call with his bandmates about their decision to include six “98°’s Version” updates of their biggest hits on the album. “Over the past 20-plus years we’ve developed vocally in different ways, but we wanted to keep the songs with the integrity of the originals, because that’s what people fell in love with,” says Timmons, admitting that sometimes fans will give them feedback if the group messes around with the arrangements or melodies of its top hits. The classically keening 98 ballad, “Got U,” was co-written by Nick along with Soulshock & Karlin (Usher, Whitney Houston) with Alex Cantrall (JoJo) and produced By Anders Bagge (Madonna, Jennifer Lopez), while “Same Mistake” and “Tremble” are heartbreaking tales of regret over the one(s) that got away.

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