5ive Band Member Ritchie Neville Wants To Squash Beef With 98 Degrees

The boys from 5ive say they want to drop their longstanding beef with rival boy band 98 Degree s... even though Nick Lachey's group once again called them out live on-air.

5ive singer Ritchie Neville tells TMZ ... the band genuinely wishes 98 Degrees well and wants the best for the guys and their families.

This is coming on the heels of 98 Degrees slamming the British boy group earlier this week ... Nick and the group did a radio hit promoting their upcoming shows with two boy bands they get along with, All-4-One and O-Town, but then the convo took a turn when 98 slammed 5ive, once again bringing up their decades-long beef.

98 Degrees and the hosts ripped 5ive for being the worst boy band ever ... recalling bad blood dating back to the '90s. Nick and the guys have done this before, previously calling out 5ive on Andy Cohen's show, which prompted a strong response from former 5ive member Abz Love.

But Ritchie tells us ... "They can carry on the beef and immaturity if they want. We're just getting on with our lives, playing gigs and raising our children."

According to Ritchie, the longstanding beef started when 98 Degrees went over to the United Kingdom in the '90s for the "Smash Hits" tour, where they shared the spotlight with 5ive, a new band at the time from London.

Ritchie says the rivalry grew out of both bands competing for the audience's love on tour, and he says 5ive won an audience vote and went to the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party -- a televised British awards show. He says 98 Degrees got jealous and had beef with 5ive ever since.

RN tells us ... "We were all kids then, I was 18. I understand losing is hard sometimes but it's a shame that we are now grown men still carrying on this beef."