These iconic '90s acts have stopped fighting and started touring together

“You can’t forget the great songs that they contributed to the ’90s era,” George says of the support acts. “Mýa was a force with her dance moves and her crossover music. Total was just funky hip-hop. I loved Total — every song they did. And 702 is going to have a whole new meaning to it, because we just lost Irish (Grinstead) last year. So, having 702 out there performing there songs — with the legacy of Irish out there with us — is going to be special for the fans.”

These should indeed be very special evenings for the legions of fans who are still so passionate about this overall era of R&B music.

“I just feel like the ’90s was just a cool time for R&B. That was a decade where there were so many girl groups,” Burruss says. “Everybody was about really singing and having really strong harmonies. And R&B was really doing great on the charts. That whole era — that’s what we call real music, right?”

Well, Lyons, for one, is in certainly full agreement.

“I think back in the ’90s, everybody was real with music,” she says. “You really went in the studio and actually created something. And it wasn’t as microwaveable as it is now. We didn’t have the access that we do now to, like, Pro Tools and the different equipment they have. It’s so easy now — you can make an album in your house. But, back then, things were so different. Producers actually went inside and created something. And they catered that particular sound to whatever artist they wanted to give that music to.”

Another factor that gives ’90s R&B that sense of realness/authenticity is most certainly its connection to gospel music, with many of the performers having grown up singing in church.

“We stayed in the church as kids,” Burruss says. “When you start singing in the church it’s like you have a different type of soul when it comes to your music — an added flare.”

Both SWV and Xscape sound so thrilled as they talk about this upcoming roadshow that it’s strange to think that — not that long ago — the chances of the Queens of R&B Tour ever happening seemed remote at best.

The original plans for this co-headlining jaunt extend back to the last year’s “SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B,” a six-part reality TV miniseries aired on the Bravo channel that focused on the two groups as they prepared to hit the road together. (That series followed a popular Verzuz webcast that pitted the two bands against each other.)

Yet, things went sideways quickly during the TV show — amid ego-fueled bickering and trash talk — leaving viewers with the impression that a lengthy feud was more likely than any tangible tour dates.

Fortunately for the fans, the two sides were eventually able to put the bad blood behind them and get on with the show.

“I’m glad that we all came back together and really talked it out,” Burruss says. “They said the things that bothered them. We said the things that bothered us. We talked it through and got on the same page. And I’m so glad we did, because I hated that we had that negativity between us.”

That conversation between the two sides changed the whole equation, allowing SWV and Xscape to move past the drama and onto the music.

“I think everything just comes with a change of mind and a change of heart,” Lyons says. “A lot of stuff that we go through is very petty — and it only requires a conversation. That conversation was had with just the six of us and there was a resolve that came out of it. So, that made it easier for us to move forward and to just focus on the thing that the fans wanted — that’s for us to go on tour again. And that made us want to do it.

“We are in a great place right now. We are looking forward to this tour. We are looking forward to making history.”