Dream Street Is Back on Stage After an Unexpected Tragedy &x27;Brought Everyone Together&x27; (Exclusive) Stephanie PetitMon, March 2, 2026 at 10:25 PM UTC 0 Dream Street in 2002Credit: John Shearer/WireImage Dream Street's Matt Ballinger and Greg Raposo are back performing the boy band's biggest hits The death of Dream Street member Chris Trousdale in 2020 "brought everyone together," Ballinger tells PEOPLE While Jesse McCartney and Frankie Galasso aren't part of Dream Street's revival, they are all friends and gave their "blessing" After climbing the Billboard charts and dominating Radio Dis...
Dream Street Is Back on Stage After an Unexpected Tragedy 'Brought Everyone Together' (Exclusive)
Stephanie PetitMon, March 2, 2026 at 10:25 PM UTC
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Dream Street in 2002Credit: John Shearer/WireImage -
Dream Street's Matt Ballinger and Greg Raposo are back performing the boy band's biggest hits
The death of Dream Street member Chris Trousdale in 2020 "brought everyone together," Ballinger tells PEOPLE
While Jesse McCartney and Frankie Galasso aren't part of Dream Street's revival, they are all friends and gave their "blessing"
After climbing the Billboard charts and dominating Radio Disney as teenagers, the guys of Dream Street are all grown up.
Twenty-five years after releasing their eponymous album featuring their hit song "It Happens Every Time," Dream Street is back performing. But what started as a boy band of five members — Jesse McCartney, Greg Raposo, Matt Ballinger, Frankie Galasso and Chris Trousdale — in their early teens is now a duo of Raposo and Ballinger, who are collaborating with other early 2000s pop groups like O-Town, LFO and BBMak for nostalgia-packed shows.
Raposo and Ballinger, both now 40, continued to pursue music after Dream Street broke up and remained in touch with their fellow members. However, it wasn't until Trousale died as a result of complications from coronavirus in 2020, shortly before his 35th birthday, that the group really reconnected.
Ballinger tells PEOPLE, "Chris passing away, unfortunately, gave us a lot of perspective like, 'Wow, life is short.' I think that brought everyone together."
In addition to the remaining members performing a tribute to Trousdale after his death, Raposo and Ballinger started writing music together while maintaining their "day jobs" — Raposo in real estate and Ballinger in recruitment. Then the pair did an "impromptu" performance for Raposo's 40th birthday, creating a buzz that resulted in getting contacted to perform again.
"We've just been saying, 'Yes,' " says Raposo. "It's been a game of 'yes,' and here we are."
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Matt Ballinger and Greg Raposo of Dream Street with O-TownCredit: Vicki/Garnet Dahlia
McCartney went on to have a solo career after Dream Street, with hits like "Beautiful Soul," while Galasso performed in the national tour of Jersey Boys. While they aren't part of Dream Street's revival, Ballinger says they gave their "blessing."
"We're all really good friends at this point, and there's no pressure on anyone to do anything at this point in any of our lives. We're doing it, they've been supportive and it's been all good," he says.
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Dream Street in June 2001Credit: Gabe Palacio/Getty
While they have been introducing some new material during sets, such as a tribute to Trousdale called "Smile," and recently recorded a new song, Raposo says at a Dream Street show, "It's all about the nostalgia."
"We're going to give the people what they want and play those songs, but we've also reimagined them because we're not 13-year-olds with voices that haven't dropped yet," he adds. "It's old and fresh at the same time."
Raposo also says that seeing Dream Street songs brings him "right back" to being that teenager on stage, with Ballinger adding, "Even though it's over 20 years ago, for some reason, it doesn't feel that long."
Matt Ballinger and Greg Raposo of Dream Street in 2026Credit: Vicki/Garnet Dahlia
In those two decades, a lot has changed for the pair off-stage as well. Both Raposo and Ballinger are married with children — and their families have roots in Dream Street as well.
At Dream Street shows, Raposo would bring a girl up on stage to sing his solo ballad, "Jennifer Goodbye" — and during a performance at a local mall, he performed to his now-wife, not knowing that they were actually classmates at the same high school.
"That was technically our first time ever meeting," he recalls. "It wasn't until bumping into each other in the hallways at school that she's like, 'What are you doing here?' "
Matt Ballinger and Greg Raposo of Dream Street in 2026 (left) and 2000 (right)
Ballinger also first met his wife during his Dream Street days. After she happened to be in Times Square while they were filming a music video, putting the group on her radar, she interviewed them for her local newspaper when they had a concert near her in Pennsylvania. The teenage journalist was memorable to Ballinger, and they later reconnected via Facebook during college.
"We exchanged messages through college, and then we reconnected in New York City," he explains. "Now we're married and have two kids."
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: March 2, 2026 at 05:45PM on Source: PRIME TIME
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