On August 20, 1997, Boyz II Men held a press conference to talk about their first album since 1994's II. They were under pressure with their last two albums cumulatively selling almost 30 million copies worldwide. With Evolution, they worked with their regular collaborators, including Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Babyface. They appeared on many talk shows including The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Vibe Show, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show, MTV Live, and others. The album was released on September 23, and that night, Boyz II Men signed copies of the album at the Virgin Megastore in New York City. Evolution debuted at #1 in the Billboard 200 with 215,000 copies sold in its first week of release. The album also debuted at #1 on the R&B Album Charts. However, the album spent only one week at the #1 spot and quickly fell down the charts. Evolution sold two million copies in the United States and over four million copies worldwide, a disappointment compared with the successes of Cooleyhighharmony and II. This was due in part to Motown Records' little promotion of the album. Evolution was not received well by critics. In October 1998, Boyz II Men went to Japan and Europe to promote the album, and during that year they went embarked on the Evolution Tour.
Singles
The first single released off the album, "4 Seasons of Loneliness", was released in August 1997. The song was Boyz II Men's highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles. It debuted at #2, behind Mariah Carey's "Honey". The following week, the single went to #1, but lost the top spot the following week to Elton John's tribute to Princess Diana, Candle in the Wind 1997. 4 Seasons of Loneliness became Boyz II Men's sixth platinum single. Later that year, the second single, "A Song for Mama", was released, a track which already appeared on the Soul Food soundtrack. The single reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B Singles Chart, making Boyz II Men the only group in history to have seven platinum singles in the United States.
