Editing New Kids on the Block (section)

===1990–1993: ''Step by Step'' and lip syncing allegations===
{{Main article|Step by Step (New Kids on the Block album)}}
By early 1990, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in the United States. That May, they followed up ''Hangin' Tough'' with ''Step by Step'', for which just over half of the songs were cowritten and produced by the members themselves. The first single, [[Step by Step (New Kids on the Block song)|the title track]], hit number one on the Hot 100 Singles Chart<ref name="billboard" /> and became their biggest-selling single. It was followed up with their ninth consecutive top-ten single, "[[Tonight (New Kids on the Block song)|Tonight]]". The group was achieving significant international success, as well: "Let's Try It Again" hit No. 8 on the UK singles chart, while "Baby I Believe in You" went to number one in Japan. The album was eventually certified triple platinum, selling close to 20 million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=new kids on the block|bio=true}}|title=Artist Biography – New Kids on the Block|last= Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author2=Leahey, Andrew |publisher=billboard.com|access-date=September 23, 2008}}</ref> By late 1990, David Dyson assumed the role of musical director.

The group performed an estimated two hundred concerts a year, with an extravagant worldwide concert tour that summer called ''[[The Magic Summer Tour]]'', sponsored by [[Coca-Cola|Coke]]. The tour ultimately grossed $74 million ($133 million adjusted for inflation), making them the top-grossing touring act in the country at the time and one of the highest-grossing concert tours of the decade, with overall attendance of 3.2 million people. Their 1990 [[pay-per-view]] special  broke records at the time.{{clarify|date=November 2021}} During this time, NKOTB licensed merchandise flooded the market, including [[lunch box]]es, [[Badge|buttons]], t-shirts, [[comic books]] (published by [[Harvey Comics]]), and [[Celebrity doll|dolls]]. They inspired a [[Saturday morning cartoon]], developed by the [[Pangea Corporation]] and animated by [[DIC Entertainment]]. In 1991, sales of the group's merchandise was estimated at [[United States dollar|US$]]400 million.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marshall|first=P. David|title=Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|year=1997|page=[https://archive.org/details/celebritypowerfa0000mars/page/170 170]|isbn=0-8166-2725-8|url=https://archive.org/details/celebritypowerfa0000mars/page/170}}</ref>

New Kids on the Block's official fan club had a membership of over 200,000 and was one of the largest in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|last=Warner|first=Jay|title=American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/529 529]|isbn=0-634-09978-7|url=https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/529}}</ref> The official NKOTB hotline, 1-900-909-5KIDs, received approximately 100,000 calls per week. In 1991, the group topped ''[[Forbes]]''{{'}} list of highest paid entertainers, ahead of Michael Jackson, [[Madonna]], [[Prince (musician)|Prince]] and [[Bill Cosby]].<ref name=bostonglobe>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/04/05/around_the_block_again_for_new_kids_fans/|title=Around the block again for New Kids, fans|last=Goldstein |first=Meredith |author2=Rodman, Sarah |date=April 5, 2008|newspaper=The Boston Globe|access-date=September 23, 2008}}</ref> At year's end, Columbia released ''[[No More Games/The Remix Album]]'', a compilation of remixes of the group's biggest hits. It produced two singles, "[[Call It What You Want (New Kids on the Block song)|Call It What You Want (The C&C Pump-It Mix)]]" (UK #12) and "[[Games (New Kids on the Block song)|Games (The New Kids Get Hard Mix)]]" (UK #14), for which videos were also released.

The group released no new material in 1991, and instead toured throughout Europe and Asia. That summer, Wood and Wahlberg cowrote and produced the debut album from [[Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch]], headed by Mark Wahlberg, Donnie's brother and a former New Kid. Mark Wahlberg's album, which would end up going platinum, scored a number-one hit with "[[Good Vibrations (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch song)|Good Vibrations]]".<ref>{{cite book|last=Bogdanov|first=Vladimir|author2=Woodstra, Chris|author3=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas|others=Bush, John|title=All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap & Hip-Hop|publisher=Backbeat Books|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780879307592/page/304 304]|isbn=0-87930-759-5|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780879307592/page/304}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Brackett|first=Nathan|author2=Hoard, Christian|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/514 514]|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/514}}</ref> In 1991, they performed the [[Super Bowl halftime show|halftime show]] at [[Super Bowl XXV]], a first for a pop music group, however the performance was not broadcast on TV due to a preemption for a speech from President [[George H. W. Bush]] regarding the [[Gulf War]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-07 |title=The Story Behind New Kids on the Block's Insane (and Preempted) 1991 Halftime Show {{!}} Playboy |url=http://www.playboy.com/articles/donnie-wahlberg-nkotb-1991-super-bowl-halftime-show |access-date=2025-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207111850/http://www.playboy.com/articles/donnie-wahlberg-nkotb-1991-super-bowl-halftime-show |archive-date=February 7, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmPUBC0apTw |title=Donnie Wahlberg on Being NKOTB's 'Bad Boy' and Blue Bloods Legacy {{!}} rETrospective |date=2024-12-15 |last=Entertainment Tonight |access-date=2025-03-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

In early 1992, the group released the stand-alone single "[[If You Go Away (New Kids on the Block song)|If You Go Away]]", the only new track on the compilation ''[[H.I.T.S.]]''. The song peaked at No. 16 on the US charts and No. 9 in the UK. Meanwhile, as the music industry was still reeling from the [[Milli Vanilli]] [[Lip sync|lip-syncing]] scandal, NKOTB found themselves accused of lip-syncing by Gregory McPherson. Credited as an associate producer and string arranger on the ''Step by Step'' album and a music teacher at [[Berklee College of Music]], McPherson alleged that Maurice Starr sang the vocals while the group lip-synced to pre-recorded vocals during their live performances. McPherson also filed a [[breach of contract]] and creative infringement lawsuit against Starr.

The group immediately responded to the allegations and interrupted the Australian leg of their tour to fly to Los Angeles to perform live on ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]].''<ref>{{cite news|title= New Kids on the Block Let Singing Do the Talking|work= The Los Angeles Times|date=February 6, 1992|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-06-me-2060-story.html|access-date=October 9, 2010 | first=Steve | last=Hochman}}</ref> After performing a medley of their previous hits and their new single, the group (along with Starr) was interviewed by Hall. The group admitted to singing with a backing track during live performances and also admitted that Starr sang harmony on some background vocals.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20113177,00.html|title=New Kids on the Block|date=July 27, 1992|magazine=People|access-date=September 23, 2008|archive-date=February 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206092012/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20113177,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="#1hits">{{cite book|last=Bronson|first=Fred |title=The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits: The Inside Story Behind Every Number One Single on Billboard's Hot 100 from 1955 to the Present|publisher=Billboard Books|year=2003|page=760|isbn=0-8230-7677-6}}</ref>

On February 10, 1992, the New Kids filed a [[defamation]] lawsuit against McPherson regarding his lip-syncing allegations. In April 1992, McPherson dropped his suit against Starr and released a statement recanting his previous allegations stating, "[The New Kids] did sing lead on their vocals".<ref name="#1hits" />

By the time the lip-syncing allegations surfaced, the group was starting to experience a [[backlash (sociology)|backlash]]. Despite their success, the group was regularly dismissed by critics for their attempts to promote themselves as an [[Hip hop culture|urban act]] and their practice of using backing vocals for live performances. The group's record sales also began to decline due to a shift in musical tastes to [[gangsta rap]] and [[grunge|grunge music]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200890|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710145432/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200890|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 10, 2012|title=The New Kids on the Block |last=King |first=Jason |publisher=findarticles.com|access-date=September 23, 2008 | year=2002}}</ref>