Editing Boston (band) (section)

===''Third Stage'' (1986–1988)===
Despite the adversity, progress continued to be made on the third Boston album. A tape of one of the songs, "[[Amanda (Boston song)|Amanda]]", leaked out of the studio in 1983. The song became the lead single when ''[[Third Stage]]'' was finally released on September 23, 1986.<ref name="Boston Encyclo Ref">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1995 |title=Boston |encyclopedia=The New Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll |publisher=Simon & Schuster Inc. |location =New York, NY |id =0-684-81044-1}}</ref>

The album topped the ''Billboard'' 200 while the lead single "Amanda" went to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and the subsequent singles "[[We're Ready]]" and "Can'tcha Say" reached numbers 9 and 20, respectively.<ref name="bostonorghistory"/> "Cool the Engines" also got significant airplay on rock radio. The album sold over 4 million copies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Dennis |date=1987-07-19 |title=PATIENCE PAYS OFF FOR BOSTON, FANS |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-19-ca-4593-story.html |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

The group headed off on tour to promote ''Third Stage'' in 1987 and 1988. ''Third Stage'' was played in sequence in its entirety during the shows, with expanded arrangements of some cuts. Boston opened with "Rock and Roll Band" and brought back the original drummer, Jim Masdea, to play drums for this one song. For the tour, the group was joined by Doug Huffman and David Sikes, both of whom stayed with the band into the mid-1990s.<ref name="bostonorghistory"/>