Whatever Happened to Nelson, the '90s Band With Twin Brothers That Never Matched the Hype?

Whatever happened to Nelson? If you were alive and rocking in 1990, it was virtually impossible to miss the twin sibling offspring of Matthew and Gunnar Nelson as they took over MTV and commanded the radio airwaves with a trio of hits — "(Cant Live Without Your) Love and Affection," "After The Rain" and "More Than Ever."

Who Were Nelson?

The core of Nelson were essentially twin brothers Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, who were the sons of rock and TV legend Rick Nelson and the grandsons of TV's Ozzie and Harriet Nelson (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet).

Shortly after the death of their father in 1985, Lorne Michaels agreed to have the brothers perform on Saturday Night Live at the request of their manager. They would be the first ever unsigned band to appear on the show. After returning home from the gig, they decided to split up their current band and start a new setup where both members would be front and center.

After meeting with well respected A&R man John Kalodner (who had helped re-launch Aerosmith's career and overhauled Whitesnake on their smash hit 1987 self-titled album), the group eventually signed to Geffen Records and set about putting together a backing band.

Joining Nelson on their first album were drummer Bobby Rock, guitarist Brett Garsed, keyboardist and piano player Paul Mirkovich and additional instrumentalist and backing vocalist Joey Cathcart.

"(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" preceded the album release in May 1990, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and cracking the Mainstream Rock Top 20 at No. 20. That paved the way to the After the Rain album release in late June, with the record peaking at No. 17.

The title track followed in November 1990, climbing to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "More Than Ever" topped out at No. 14 and a fourth song "Only Time Will Tell" peaked at No. 28.

Nelson, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection"

What Happened to Nelson After Their Initial Success?

Nelson toured for several years, taking advantage of their newfound success. But when it came time to work on a new album, they ran into some resistance from their label.

Where After the Rain was a more polished, upbeat record, the group's proposed sophomore set, titled Imaginator, was a darker and heavier record. According to Gunnar Nelson in a chat with Melodic Rock, this more conceptual record was "about the machine that is the media. That same machine that built us up and was also so ready to tear us down."

When the band presented their new record to the execs at Geffen, they were reportedly given the option of starting from scratch and recording an album more closer in tone to their debut or they would be let out of their deal.

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"it scared the hell out of the people at Geffen and basically they wanted to distance themselves from it as quickly as possible," Gunnar recalled.

"We told them that we felt that they should really release the Imaginator record, that we felt that was where rock, especially hard rock, was going. They didn't believe us," he shared. "Unfortunately, six months later, the Metallica 'Black Album' came out and it was a crossover success, not only for the metal heads but for the pop guys too. And the Imaginator record was really a big step in that direction."

What Was Imaginator Really All About?

Though conceptual in nature and coming from a darker place, Gunnar Nelson shared with Melodic Rock that the idea was more than just railing against media.

"I guess the through-line and the theme was, don't rely on technology or on the media to make up your own mind for you. Make up your own mind for yourself and make your own decisions on what you like to listen to, what you like see, what you like to do, how you are supposed to feel," said Nelson. "That was what The Imaginator record was really all about. It was speaking against the sort of lucidity that we all seem to get hypnotized into by relying on the media to make up our tastes and our flavors of the minute for us so much."

Nelson, "Kiss Me When I Cry"

How Did This Misstep Impact Nelson?

"It was really unfortunate and that one situation really effectively killed Nelsons' career for five years," said Gunnar. At that point, the music industry had overturned. Grunge was now king and the band had failed to release another album after their breakout success. "What I should of done, is I should of taken the record that we were really proud of and should of found
another label. And we were given the option to do that and that is something we definitely should of done," Gunnar says in reflection.

But rather than move on, they stuck with Geffen and eventually completed a new album titled Because They Can, which arrived in 1995, five years after the breakout of After the Rain.

"The powers that were still at Geffen, well they warned us before they released it, they were going to auto-flush the record. They weren't going to put any money into promoting it
or anything like that, which is a real drag because the people that have heard that record come back and say, ''Hey, it's different from ATR and it took too long to get out but it's a record we really like.' So it's unfortunate because that was really good art and it deserved a better shot," says Gunnar.

Shortly after the album was released, the band was let go from their contract.

What Happened to Nelson Post-Geffen?

Still believing in their shelved album Imaginator, Nelson found a home for the record through Victor Entertainment. It did not chart, but the band finally issued this artistic statement that they had stood behind and fans finally had a chance to hear it.

The group then formed their own record label, Stone Canyon Records and quickly turned around a more experimental album, 1997's The Silence Is Broken. The pop rock record Life followed in 1999.

The brothers would branch out from the Nelson band name with a pair of recordings in 2000 — Brother Harmony as The Nelsons and Like Father, Like Sons as Matthew and Gunnar Nelson.

A full decade would pass until the Nelson name was revived again. Two albums — Lightning Strikes Twice and Peace Out — were issued between 2010 and 2015.

Nelson, "Rockstar"

What Has Nelson's Band Members Been Up To Lately?

Though it's now been a full decade since their most recent album release, the brothers and their band continue to tour.

Dates carrying over into 2026 and ticketing information can be found through the Nelson twins' website.

The brothers have also performed as a separate tribute act to their father going under the moniker Ricky Nelson Remembered.

Guitarist Brett Garsed has racked up some name credits along the way, performing with Little River Band singer John Farnham and featuring on recordings from prog keyboardist Derek Sherinian.

Drummer Bobby Rock had started out in '80s band Nitro and he also put out an album titled Out of Body that featured Garsed among the contributors.

Keyboardist Paul Mirkovich may have had the highest profile gig post-Nelson. He currently serves as the musical director and leader of the house band on NBC's The Voice. He's also recorded with Peter Gabriel and Shawn Colvin and previously was musical director and part of the house band for Rock Star: INXS.