Hi-Five

Hi-Five

41 songs 6 albums

Hi-Five is an R&B group from Waco, Texas, originally consisting of lead singer Tony Thompson, Russell Neal, Roderick Clark, Marcus Sanders, and Toriano Easley, who was later replaced by Treston Irby. They released their self-titled debut album in 1990, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and was certified Platinum. This album featured the #1 R&B/Top 10 Pop hit “I Can’t Wait Another Minute,” and “I Just Can’t Handle It,” which peaked at #3 on the R&B Singles chart, as well as their biggest hit, the Teddy Riley-produced “I Like the Way (The Kissing Game),” which hit #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles chart.

Their follow-up album Keep It Goin' On was released in 1992 and featured the hit songs “She’s Playing Hard To Get,” which peaked at #2 on the R&B Singles chart and #5 on the Pop chart, as well as the R. Kelly-produced single “Quality Time,” which peaked at #3 on the R&B Singles chart. Their third album Faithful was released in 1993 and contained the hit singles “Unconditional Love” and “Never Should’ve Let You Go”, which were also featured on the soundtracks to Menace II Society and Sister Act 2, respectively.

The group disbanded in 1994 and Tony Thompson went on to release his solo album Sexsational in 1995. Thompson re-formed Hi-Five with four new members and released the album The Return independently in 2005 but he was issued a cease-and-desist order by the original members of the group to halt sales of the album. As discussions of putting the original group back together were taking place, Tony Thompson passed away on June 1, 2007 in his hometown of Waco, Texas. Treston Irby and Marcus Sanders have carried on with the Hi-Five name, continuing to make music and tour.