The Jets (Minnesota band)
The Jets (Minnesota band) | |
---|---|
Place of origin | Minneapolis |
Genres | rhythm and blues |
The Jets | |
---|---|
Birth name | The Wolfgramm Family |
Origin | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
Genres | |
Years active | 1985–present |
Labels | MCA, Shadow Mountain, Liberty Park |
Members | LeRoy Wolfgramm Eddie Wolfgramm Eugene Wolfgramm Haini Wolfgramm Rudy Wolfgramm Kathi Wolfgramm Elizabeth Wolfgramm Moana Wolfgramm |
Website | instagram |
The Jets are a Tongan-American family band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, composed of brothers and sisters LeRoy, Eddie, Eugene, Haini, Rudy, Kathi, Elizabeth, and Moana Wolfgramm, who perform pop, R&B, and dance music. They started performing as a family band in 1977. The group enjoyed worldwide success in 1985–1990, performing three world tours, and producing five top-10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Background[edit | edit source]
The original band consisted of the eight oldest children of Maikeli "Mike" and Vaké Wolfgramm, who were originally from Tonga. The family has 17 children: 15 by birth, and two, Eddie and Eugene, by adoption. The children attended Robbinsdale Cooper High School. The family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The band initially called themselves Quasar
Career[edit | edit source]
The original members of the Jets had a number of Billboard Hot 100 hits, five of which reached the top ten, including the 1986 single "Crush on You", The band was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1988 for the song "Rocket 2 U" that featured lead vocals by Haini Wolfgramm. The Jets also performed the theme song for Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers in 1989.
The group performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the seventh game of the 1987 World Series, held in their hometown of Minneapolis, and at Game 3 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals in suburban Bloomington. The band also performed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Recent appearances[edit | edit source]
- On October 10, 2009, seven of the original band members reunited to perform at the Mega 80s & 90s Music Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii along with fellow MCA recording artists Ready for the World, the Cover Girls and En Vogue.
- On April 9, 2010, all of the original members except Eugene performed at the State Theatre in Minneapolis. It was billed as their 25th-anniversary reunion show.
- In 2015, the band celebrated its 30th anniversary with performances in Manila and Cebu, Philippines.
Line-up[edit | edit source]
The Jets' original lineup consisted of eight of the siblings.
- LeRoy Wolfgramm (born July 19, 1965) – vocals, electric guitar
- Eddie Wolfgramm (born August 14, 1966) – vocals, tenor saxophone, percussion
- Eugene Wolfgramm (born September 24, 1967) – vocals, conga, alto saxophone
- Haini Wolfgramm (born January 25, 1968) – vocals, bass guitar
- Rudy Wolfgramm (born March 1, 1969) – vocals, drums
- Kathi Wolfgramm (born September 6, 1970) – vocals, keyboards, percussion
- Elizabeth Wolfgramm (born August 19, 1972) – vocals, keyboards, percussion
- Moana Wolfgramm (born October 13, 1973) – vocals, keyboards, percussion which appears on international editions of her 2000 album Oops!... I Did It Again. Musical artists Arnee Hidalgo, Pinay and MYMP have also covered the song. "Crush on You" is featured as the base sample for the French house anthem "Intro" by Alan Braxe and Fred Falke (2000).
Pop singer Aaron Carter included "Crush on You" on his first album, which became a top-10 single in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom in 1997. Singer Nayobe recorded a version of "Make It Real" that became a hit in Latin America. Exposé recorded a version of "The Same Love" on their 1992 self-titled album. More recently, the UK electronic music act Nero sampled "Crush on You" on their 2011 track of the same name.
The Jets and the Jets Original Family Band[edit | edit source]
As of 2022, there are two touring groups of Jets, which include original members:
- The Jets: Elizabeth, Eddie, Kathi, Moana
- The Jets Original Family Band: Haini, LeRoy, Rudy
Discography[edit | edit source]
Studio albums[edit | edit source]
Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Record label | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US |
US R&B |
CAN |
UK | |||||||||||
1985 | The Jets | 21 | 16 | 77 | 57 |
|
MCA | |||||||
1986 | Christmas with The Jets | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
1987 | Magic | 35 | 26 | — | — |
|
US R&B |
US Dan |
US A/C |
AUS |
CAN |
NZ |
UK | |
1985 | "Curiosity" | — | 8 | 21 | — | — | — | — | 23 | 41 | The Jets | |||
1986 | "Crush on You" | 3 | 4 | 4 | — | — | 9 | — | 43 | 5 | ||||
"Private Number" | 47 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
"You Got It All" | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | — | 11 | — | — | 79 | |||||
1987 | "Cross My Broken Heart" | 7 | 11 | 8 | — | — | 17 | — | 32 | — | Magic | |||
"I Do You" | 20 | 19 | — | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | |||||
1988 | "Rocket 2 U" | 6 | 5 | 3 | — | 79 | 12 | 90 | — | 69 | ||||
"Make It Real" | 4 | 24 | — | 1 | — | 6 | — | — | — | |||||
"Anytime" | — | — | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
"Sendin' All My Love" | 88 | 72 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
1989 | "You Better Dance" | 59 | 73 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Believe | |||
"The Same Love" | 87 | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
1990 | "Somebody to Love Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"Under Any Moon" (re-issue) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
"Special Kinda Love" | — | 83 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Best of The Jets | ||||
1991 | "Forever in My Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Tours[edit | edit source]
- 1985–1986: The Jets World Tour
- 1986: Christmas with The Jets World Tour
- 1987–1988: Magic World Tour
- 1989: Believe World Tour
- 2015: The Jets - 30th Anniversary Concert
References[edit | edit source]
Ward, Brooke; Spencer, Jenny (September 18, 2014), "Johnny Lingo Cast, The Jets, and Other Mormon Celebs: Where They Are Now", LDS Living, Deseret Book
- Artists
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use mdy dates from February 2022
- Articles with hCards
- Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts
- Articles with ISNI identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with NKC identifiers
- Articles with MusicBrainz identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers
- American dance music groups
- American contemporary R&B musical groups
- Child musical groups
- Family musical groups
- Sibling musical groups
- Teen pop groups
- Musical groups from Minnesota
- Latter Day Saints from Minnesota
- American freestyle music groups
- MCA Records artists
- American electronic music groups
- 1985 establishments in Minnesota