With chart-topping hits like “End of the Road,” “I'll Make Love to You” and “It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” Boyz II Men have been one of the most successful groups in history. Courtesy photo

The best-selling R&B group of all time, Boyz II Men captured the nation with a string of No. 1 singles and combined album sales of over 64 million.

“When you look at the landscape of the successful groups in the history of music, especially R&B groups, you first think about the Jacksons,” says founding member Nathan Morris. “So when someone tells you that you’ve been more successful than them, it means something.”

The phenomenally successful group performs at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on April 24. After their Maui show, they head to Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Founded in the mid-1980s by Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman and Michael McCary, with all four members singing lead vocals, they dubbed their sound “hip-hop doo wop.”

The group’s Grammy-winning “Cooleyhighharmony” debut album, highlighted by their gorgeous harmonies, sold nine-times platinum, and their first smash single “End of the Road” remained at No. 1 for 13 weeks, breaking a record set back in 1956 by Elvis Presley.

Their follow-up “II” album entered the Billboard charts at No. 1, and the single “I’ll Make Love to You” held the top position for 14 weeks. The Boyz’ next single, “On Bended Knee,” also made history bumping the first single from the top, making them, along with Elvis and the Beatles, only the third artist in chart history to surpass themselves at the No. 1 position. “II” sold more than 12 million copies in the United States alone, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Such stunning chart achievements led to Grammy Awards in 1995 for best R&B album, best R&B Song and best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals.

Primarily focusing on lush, soulful ballads like “I’ll Make Love to You,” Morris explains, “We were a young group, we were energetic, doing up-tempo stuff and as time went on, people were, ‘We like you doing that, but we want you to do the other stuff.’ That’s what wound up becoming more successful for us.”

Growing up in Philadelphia, the quartet met at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts. Studying voice in classical music, they would practice harmonizing (songs included the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” which they recorded on “II”) in the school bathroom.

“We were all vocal music majors there,” he recalls. “I put the group together over the course of about four years, and we practiced every single day. Half the time we didn’t go to class.”

Intensely practicing their vocal art, the Boyz were influenced by the a capella group Take 6, “as a group, vocally, chord changes, transitions, blends, volumes, technique, everything that we use,” he says.

Multi-platinum, multi-Grammy winning group Boyz II Men will perform at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on April 24. Photo courtesy Chris Martin

Their chart success continued in 1995 when they collaborated with superstar Mariah Carey on “One Sweet Day,” which spent 16 weeks at No. 1. A Rolling Stone reader’s poll hailed it as the best collaboration of all time. An ode to departed loved ones, it was performed at Princess Diana’s memorial service.

When Michael McCary left the group in 2003, for health reasons, they carried on as a trio.

The group’s subsequent albums included “Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA,” with the trio recording such classics as the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” the Miracles’ “The Tracks Of My Tears,” and Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).”

“Motown’s got great records to pull from, so we were more concerned about making sure that they were the most identifiable songs for people,” says Morris. “You wanted to pick the best songs that were recognizable and then just do them in the best way we thought they should go.”

For Gaye’s iconic song, “We had to make that more modern at the time that we did it,” he says. “It was definitely an older song and had a different vibe. We tried to find a way to make it uplifting, not make the message so daunting, but still get the message across.”

A big surprise was their inclusion of the famous protest song “War,” made popular by Edwin Starr. “That was just to be a little different,” he says. “Something that people would not have expected us to do, and that’s the reason why we did it. It’s always a challenge to us to just try those type of songs that no one would think you could do.”

On their most recent album, “Under the Streetlight,” they interpreted songs from the 1950s and early ’60s, including The Drifters’ “Up on the Roof,” a superb version of “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” joined by Jimmy Merchant, one of the original Teenagers, and teamed with Take 6 for the highlight “A Thousand Miles Away,” popularized by the Heartbeats.

“That was an homage to our a capella roots,” he notes. “Something to try to give those guys a little shine, because people tend to forget about a capella music when it comes to R&B.”

And the collaboration with Take 6?

“A dream for us. It was a bucket list for us.”

With their popularity barely diminished since their early days, comments on YouTube continue to praise their hits like “End Of The Road,” 32 years later.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he says. “We talk about it all the time. To be thinking about something that was done 30 something years ago today, it’s amazing.”

Looking forward to returning to Maui, Morris says the audience can expect “a lot of fun, a lot of energy. We haven’t been there performing in quite a long time, so we’re really excited.”

Grateful that so many people are moved by their music, “that’s probably the main reason why we still do it,” he says. “We don’t make a whole lot of records because there’s a lot going on today, there are a lot of options. What we try to do is stick to trying to make people happy, and that’s the reason why we go on the road and do what we do. And you don’t need new music to do it. Fans love you just for who you are.”

They want the hits?

“Yeah, they want the hits. There’s a lot of times you try new songs, you come out and they say, ‘Well, I like that, but where’s the ‘End of the Road?'”

Boyz II Men performs at the MACC at 7 p.m. April 24. Tickets are $49, $69, $89 with a limited number of $149 Gold Circle seats available, plus applicable fees. Prices increase on the day of the show.