98 Degrees Credits Taylor Swift for Inspiring Their Own Re-Recording Project

Taylor Swift has empowered 98 Degrees to re-record some of their biggest hits from the ’90s and ’00s. The boyband has used Swift’s Taylor’s Version project as a jumping-off point for their own “battles with the label.”

The group–Nick Lachey, Jeff Timmons, Justin Jeffre, and Drew Lachey–recently spoke to E! News about the band’s current plans.

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“We’re actually in the studio now working on a new project,” Nick Lachey told the outlet. “We’re gonna re-record five of our classic hits in kind of the re-record/get-your-masters-back move.”

Jeff Timmons went on to credit Swift for the move. He said they have “Been talking about doing it for a while” but that Swift “brought it to the forefront.”

“We thought it’d be natural for us to do this, you know, sort of rerecording of our masters,” Timmons added. “The fans have embraced [Swift]. And so we’re like, ‘OK, now’s the time to do it.’”

Drew Lachey echoed his bandmate’s thoughts, saying he feels Swift inspired a whole new way of thinking in the industry. He said, while prior to Swift’s project re-recording an album might have seemed like a cop-out, it now seems like an empowering move.

“I feel like, almost before Taylor did it, it was like, ‘Oh, you’re re-recording the masters,’” he said. “It was kind of like, ‘I’ll just stick with the original’ kind of thing. I feel like there’s an acceptance and almost an alliance between the artists and the fans now to support the re-recorded masters.”

While the re-recorded masters will no doubt excite fans, Nick Lachey also revealed the band’s plans to record new music. “We’re also gonna have five new songs as well, and a new single coming out at the top of the year,” he explained.

Swift is set to share her latest re-recorded project, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), on October 27. That release will mark her fourth updated album, leaving only her self-titled album and Reputation to re-record.

(Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)