Boyz II Men get 2012's first Walk of Fame star

Boyz II Men get 2012′s first Walk of Fame star

Boyz II Men performing in late 2011 sans Michael McCary, who retired in January 2003 but was present at the Walk of Fame ceremony.

Philly born and bred R&B stalwarts Boyz II Men, who practically provided the entire soulful soundtrack to the 1990s, got a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame last Thursday.

Members Shawn Stockman, Michael McCary and Wayna and Nathan Morris appropriately received a star on the Walk’s Motown section near legends like the Temptations and the Supremes.

Nearly every Philadelphian has fond memories of the group or its music – mine involves an elementary school Christmas pageant, “Motown Philly,” and a bedazzled backwards Kangol cap.

For the rest of the world, the four CAPA grads are finally receiving some of the international recognition they deserve as a historically talented and prosperous R&B group, having won four Grammys, sold 60 million albums, broken countless Billboard records and been named the most commercially successfully R&B group by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Boyz II Men celebrated their 20th anniversary in October by releasing the appropriately-titled “Twenty,” which debuted at Number 20 on the Billboard Top 200, but received tepid reviews and a mixed consumer response.

The group’s Walk of Fame star was the 2,456th star given out and the first awarded in 2012.

Here’s a throwback to the glory days, not only of Boyz II Men, but of Philadelphia music (with a surprise cameo from the Roots’ ?uestlove, who literally is everywhere):