History
Beginnings and International Successes: 1993–1996
Boy band manager Lou Pearlman was inspired by the success of the New Kids on the Block in the 1980s to create his own clean-cut band. After a series of auditions in 1992 and 1993, he recruited Nick Carter (at 12, the band’s youngest member), Howie Dorough, 19, and Alexander James McLean, 14. Following the departure of two members- Sam Licata (later performing as Phoenix Stone) and Charles Edwards - Kevin Richardson, 21, came aboard in March 1993. The group took its final shape on April 19, 1993, when Brian Littrell, cousin of Richardson, joined the group after a phone audition. Their first concert, on May 8, 1993, was performed for 3,000 teenagers at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Pearlman later booked them at grade-school assemblies and shopping malls, and assigned management duties to Johnny Wright, who had worked with New Kids on the Block.
“Backstreet Boys” (International), 1995.
After a possible Mercury Records deal failed,[citation needed] the band was spotted in Cleveland, Ohio by an executive from Jive Records in February 1994. By June, they were recording their first single; an urban pop song written and produced by Denniz PoP and Max Martin called “We’ve Got It Goin’ On.” The single struggled in the US and reached only #69 on the Billboard charts; but it sold well in Europe, later earning the band their first Gold record in Germany. In the summer of 1996, the band’s first self-titled album was released in Europe and Canada, going gold within weeks in Europe. Jive and Pearlman kept the band busy overseas for the next two years, sometimes putting on tours for five straight months.
European popularity grew, and the Backstreet Boys kicked off 1996 being voted the No.1 International Group by TV viewers in Germany - “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” went gold there and hit No.1 in Austria. The group earned their first Platinum record in Germany and toured Asia and Canada.
Breakthrough in the United States: 1997-1999
“Backstreet Boys” (US), 1997.
By 1997, pop music was returning to the forefront in United States, with the likes of the Spice Girls. Jive and Pearlman decided to bring the boys back to their home country after 8.5 million discs had been sold worldwide.[2] They began recording their second album, Backstreet’s Back, releasing “Quit Playing Games With My Heart” in August, coinciding with the release of their second international album, the band released a self-titled album in the US which collected songs from both international albums. They hit big on the U.S. charts, and debuting at #1 in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Finland and Austria. The two albums sold over 28 million copies worldwide (14 million copies in the U.S.)[3]In December 1997, the band embarked on a 60-city, 20-country tour. In 1997, Littrell (soon joined by McLean, Richardson and Dorough) brought a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman, in which they claimed that Pearlman had hidden and misused money earned by the band. The case was settled in 1998.[1]
In 1998, Littrell underwent open heart surgery in the middle of their sold-out US 39-city tour, at the insistence of his then girlfriend (and now wife) Leighanne Wallace; he had twice postponed the surgery in the past. He had been struggling with a heart murmur since he was born, almost dying at the age of 4 due to a bacterial infection. Littrell needed about 8 weeks to recover from the surgery. Shortly after, the Backstreet Boys cancelled an appearance in Minnesota after learning that Howie Dorough’s sister had died of lupus. In October 1998, the band received the keys to the city from the mayor of Orlando in honor of the tornado relief concert the group headlined in March.
On February 17, 1999, the Boys received their first Diamond award from the RIAA for shipment of 10 million copies of their self-titled album. At that time, they had hired a new manager team called “The Firm”, famous for managing bands including Limp Bizkit and Korn. Along with their new management team, the Backstreet Boys sued Pearlman several more times, until he renegotiated the settlement on terms more favorable to the band. Executives of the Firm stated that the Backstreet Boys had bought out Pearlman’s stake in the band, but he denied this.[citation needed]
Millennium: The follow-up album 1999-2000
On May 18, 1999, the Backstreet Boys released the album Millennium, which sold over 1.13 million units in its first week, setting, at the time, a record for first week sales,[4] until April 2000, when ‘N Sync’s second album, No Strings Attached sold 2.4 million units in its first week. The album also recorded the most sales for an album’s second and third weeks.[citation needed] Rolling Stone reports that sales might have been bigger if some stores had not run out of CDs[citation needed]. The album dominated the worldwide charts, landing at the #1 spot in 25 nations[citation needed]. It was certified 11 times platinum on December 22, 1999, and went on to sell 40 million copies worldwide.[5] The first single “I Want It That Way” was a significant hit, reaching the #1 spot in over 18 countries[citation needed]. In addition to receiving gold and platinum awards in 45 countries,[citation needed] the band’s second album was nominated for 5 Grammy Award’s including Album of the Year. In August, the Backstreet Boys sold out a 39-city tour in less than a day, selling over 765,000 tickets in a matter of hours, prompting additional shows in many markets and shattering a number of box-office records selling out all 53 concert dates of their Into The Millennium Tour which kicked off in September.[6] The tour drew over 2 million fans, breaking the record for largest indoor audience.[citation needed]
Impressed by the success of the Backstreet Boys, Sony BMG, which already owned 20 percent of Jive’s parent company, purchased a remainder for $3 billion, the most ever paid for an independent record company. In the meantime, The Firm negotiated tens of millions of dollars in advance payments for recordings and performances from Jive and the concert promoter Clear Channel.[citation needed] Also by the end of 1999, the Backstreet Boys faced new problems declaring their current Jive contract null and void, soon striking one of the largest record deals ever valued at $60 million with Jive.[7]
In 2000, the Backstreet Boys graced the pages of the new millennium’s first issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Burger King made a deal with the boys for tour sponsorship, videos, and CDs with unreleased live tracks that were available for sale at Burger King restaurants in August and September. In February, Littrell and Richardson confirmed their engagements to their fiancées.
Black And Blue: 2000-2001
In November 2000, the group released a new album, Black & Blue, with the idea of the title of the album coming from Brian as the boys were in Los Angeles for a photoshoot when they were all dressed in black and standing in front of a blue background when out of the blue, Brian suggested the album be called Black & Blue. To promote the release of Black & Blue, the boys traveled around the world in 100 hours to Sweden, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, and the US; 55 of the hours were spent traveling and 45 were spent making public appearances. The album debuted with 1.6 million units sold in the first week in America, making the band the first ever artist to have two albums sell a million or more copies in the first week. In November 2000, Black & Blue had sold more than five million copies worldwide in its initial week, setting a new first-week record in international sales. Globally, Black & Blue — whose 13-song selection features six songs co-written by members of the group, including two written by all five Backstreet Boys — achieved platinum status in over 30 countries and gold certification in 10 regions around the world during its first week of release.[citation needed] In the first week of release, Black & Blue’s first single “Shape of My Heart” was played on 170 out of 171 of the Top 40 stations in the U.S.[citation needed] Meanwhile overseas, the song immediately jumped into the Top Five in Sweden (#1), Norway (#1), Canada (#1), Germany (#2), Switzerland (#4), Austria (#5) and Holland (#5) and has sold over 24 million copies worldwide.[8] Towards the end of 2000, McLean first started using cocaine while shooting for the video “The Call”.[citation needed] The album’s second single “The Call” made the Top 10 in the UK and the third single “More Than That” made the Top 20.
In 2001, the Backstreet Boys kicked off the 1st leg of their “2001 Black & Blue World Tour”, in which they were to perform on five continents within the span of 100 hours. The tour also had extremely expensive production costs. The tour was featured on a CBS TV special, The Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life. To coincide with the special, TV Guide issued six different covers of the boys: five individual shots and one group photo.
The second leg of Black & Blue summer tour was put on hold when it was reported that A.J. McLean had checked himself into rehab to battle drinking, drug addiction, and depression, after Richardson had held an intervention for him at a hotel in Boston. The tour was postponed until September. In the September 11, 2001 attacks, a Backstreet Boys crew member, Daniel Lee, was killed. He had been using time off in the tour schedule to travel from Boston to Los Angeles to be with his pregnant wife. The death caused the cancellation of the band’s plans for overseas tours.[citation needed] Despite the attacks in New York that day, the Backsteet Boys went ahead with a planned concert that night in Toronto, where they performed to less than 5000 fans, and angered many in a public struggling to cope with the enormity of what had happened.[citation needed]
Greatest Hits: 2001-2002
“The Hits: Chapter One”, 2001.
In October 2001, the boys released The Hits: Chapter One, a disc of their greatest hits. The band members say they resisted the album, feeling that it was too early in their careers for a “greatest hits” collection, and that it would ruin their long held plan to mark the group’s 10th anniversary in 2003 with such a release.[2] The record sold over 6 million copies worldwide, and yielded an international top 10 hit “Drowning”. The Boys performed at the United We Stand concert in Washington, D.C. as well as The Concert for New York City (two benefit concerts for the victims of September 11) and were a part of the All Star Tribute benefit single “What’s Going On” (with proceeds going to AIDS and 9/11 charities). By the end of 2001 and into 2002, it became clear that the Backstreet Boys were on an extended break with no new recordings or releases.
Hiatus: 2002-2004
In 2002, the band expressed a strong desire to leave their management company, The Firm.[9] Carter chose to remain with The Firm to manage his solo career[citation needed]. It became apparent that this was reason for their lack of resistance to the Backstreet Boys moving on and this unexpected move forced the band to take a break[citation needed]. Starved for a blockbuster album release, Jive, according to industry observers, had no choice but to bank on releasing Carter’s solo album by the end of the year, ahead of the next Backstreet Boys’ album, which was due in early 2003.
In 2002, Nick Carter’s solo album Now or Never was released. The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold.
The relationship with Jive worsened when the Backstreet Boys filed a $75-100 million lawsuit against Zomba Music Group (Jive’s parent company) claiming breach of contract.[10] The group stated the label promoted Nick Carter’s solo album Now or Never at the expense of the group who wanted to promote their fourth album. According to the suit, in November 1999, the Backstreet Boys revised their 1994 contract and committed to releasing two further albums for Zomba. In exchange for delivering them on time as part of a predetermined schedule, the group would receive multiple non-returnable payments that would serve as advances against future royalties.[citation needed]
During their break, Kevin starred on Broadway’s “Chicago” and Nick released his solo album; Brian, Howie, and AJ all worked on their solo records. In November of 2003, Brian’s wife Leighanne gave birth to the couple’s first child, Baylee Wylee Littrell. In December 2003, McLean appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show where he talked for the first time in public about his addiction to alcohol and drugs, and his struggles rising to fame. The rest of the band surprised him by arriving in person to give him support, marking the first time the Backstreet Boys had appeared together in public in almost two years. The band began to reform and reconcile their differences to start recording a comeback album.
In 2004, the Backstreet Boys started performing together to promote their return to the music scene. In September they kicked-off a small Asian tour, visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, as well as Manila. Then, based on the success of this tour, they announced a Mexican tour, visiting Mexico City and Monterrey, performing all new material. Renewed interest grew with the announcement of airing an hour long televised documentary of the Backstreet Boys on VH1’s Behind The Music.
Comeback: Never Gone 2005-2006
After a three-year hiatus, their single, “Incomplete”, was released to radio stations on March 28, 2005. The song mourns the loss of Kevin Richardson’s father.[11] The drastic style change drew negative criticism from magazines such as Rolling Stone, which gave the album one star.[12]
On June 14, 2005, the Backstreet Boys released their comeback album Never Gone, which they spent more than a year recording. The album debuted at #3 on the U.S. chart with first week sales of 291,000 copies, and #1 debuts in Japan, Pakistan, Germany, India, Chile, Brazil and South Korea. In the same year, Brian Littrell’s song “In Christ Alone” charted at #1 on the US Christian Charts. The Backstreet Boys began the first leg of their Never Gone Tour in July in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was their first Australian tour.
Never Gone was certified platinum in the US and four singles were released from the album. Their first single was “Incomplete”, the second single was “Just Want You To Know”, and the third singles were: “Crawling Back To You” for the US and “I Still…” (international). Never Gone has sold 10 Million copies worldwide[13].
Backstreet Boys’ second single “Just Want You To Know” hit the top 10 in the UK, but was not as successful in the United States. It was one of the group’s weakest performing U.S. singles, only peaking at #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The third international single “I Still” debuted at #1 on the Japan International Singles Chart with 2,182 copies sold, making the first ever international single to enter at #1 on the chart in Japanese history. The third US single, “Crawling Back To You” peaked at #30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
“Welcome Home”, 2006.
On May 2, 2006, Brian Littrell released his first solo album Welcome Home with the title track as the first single. Both album and single made the top 3 on the Billboard Christian Charts.
On June 23, 2006, Kevin Richardson departed from the group. The band stated that Richardson wished to pursue other interests outside of the group.[14] The rest of the Backstreet Boys wished him the best of luck in the future. They have no plans on replacing him, and said he would be welcome to return should he wish to do so. Since then, Kevin played a role of young hotshot lawyer named Billy Flynn in the Broadway musical Chicago for a short engagement in Toronto, Canada in late 2006.
Unbreakable: 2007-present
In a recent INROCK interview, Brian Littrell said the Backstreet Boys’ sixth album will include various music styles, combining their earlier mid-90’s sound with their guitar driven pop/rock sound.
The Backstreet Boys have set an October 30th release for their new album Unbreakable (title confirmed by Brian and AJ during an interview at 104.5 on August 13th). The final track-listing has not yet been decided. The group’s follow-up to 2005’s Never Gone will be the first effort since the departure of longtime member Kevin Richardson last summer.
JoJo from 102.7 KIIS-FM in Los Angeles posted a new ballad called “Happily Never After” on www.jojoontheradio.com on May 8th, 2007. It’s available for streaming on that website. It had been hand-delivered to him by Backstreet Boys’ manager, Johnny Wright, the day before. It is now expected that the song will be on an album by another artist. The chances that it will remain on this one are very slim.
“Helpless When She Smiles”, a cover of Bastiaan Ragas’ rock ballad, was also leaked online on May 9th. It was to be the first single (said by Brian) but when found that it was sung by another artist, was withheld.
“Any Other Way”, an uptempo pop/rock song from the Backstreet Boys upcoming record was leaked to music rating sites at the end of May. The song was produced by Dan Muckula, who wrote and produced their 2005 hit single “Incomplete.” It was written by Dan Muckala, Jess Cates, and Lindy Robbins.
On July 25th, the first single was confirmed as “Inconsolable,” a piano driven power ballad similar to Never Gone’s “Incomplete.” It was released to radio on August 27th. [15]. Inconsolable was written and produced by Emanuel Kiriakou (Nick Lachey “What’s Left Of Me”, Katherine McPhee “Ordinary World”), and co-written by Lindy Robbins and Jess Cates. It was premiered on August 6 by Jive at Z-100, New York’s Hit Music Station.