Boy band 98 Degrees may not be as active as they used to be, but they’re still together and they’re still making music. This week, the group is back on one Billboard chart with their latest single, which arrives just in time to make this season a little more jolly.
98 Degrees’s new single, “The First Noel 2023,” debuts on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart this week. The tally ranks the tunes that perform the best at radio stations across the U.S. that focus on adult contemporary–a more mature style of pop.
“The First Noel 2023” barely breaks onto the Adult Contemporary chart this frame. The tune comes in at No. 40–in last place on the 40-spot tally. With another week or two to go before the holiday season comes to a close, it’s possible that the cut will rise again…but it better do so quickly.
Many adult contemporary radio stations switch over to playing either entirely Christmas music, or they make it their focus for a few weeks at the end of the year. Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart becomes inundated with both new releases and standards in November and December, and it’s one of the only rankings where new holiday compositions can succeed.
“The First Noel 2023” instantly becomes 98 Degrees’ seventh hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. The band last appeared on the ranking in 2017 with a new hit. That year, another holiday-tinged single, “Season of Love,” rose to No. 18.
Five of the seven songs 98 Degrees has pushed to the Adult Contemporary chart became hits during their heyday. They first reached the list in 1997 with “Invisible Man,” which topped out at No. 26. They followed that up with several more wins in the next few years, including two top 10s. Both “I Do (Cherish You)” and “The Hardest Thing” peaked at No. 4.