New Edition Signs with P. Diddy's Label

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/22/2002 at 01:00 PM EDT

Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs's Bad Boy Entertainment has added a new old group to its family of artists -- New Edition, the former boy band turned New Jack Swingers whose members, including Bobby Brown, had all gone their separate ways in 1987.

Reuters reports that Combs will produce several tracks for the R&B group's as-yet-untitled album, which will be due out in the spring and will mark the group's first release since the 1996 reunion album, "Home Again."

Unlike last time, however, original members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe and Ralph Tresvant, as well as Johnny Gill, will go on without Whitney Houston's hubby. Brown, 34, has opted not to join the reunion. (Gill had replaced Brown in 1986.)

Besides the album, the new New Edition has plans for a 2003 tour and a biopic to celebrate the 20th anniversary of "Candy Girl," the 1983 hit that made stars of the boys from the Boston projects. (Their other albums included 1984's double-platinum "New Edition"; 1985's million-selling "All for Love"; 1985's "Christmas All Over the World"; 1986's gold "Under the Blue Moon" and 1989's double-platinum "Heart Break.")

After the new deal was finalized, Combs, 33, announced in a statement, "I look forward to working with all the members closely on their new album and reintroducing the world to a brand new New Edition. This new collaboration will inevitably make music history."