Boy Band Series: Backstreet Boys, Part 1

From auditions in Orlando to international stardom, listen in as we talk all things Backstreet Boys (including infamous band manager Lou Perlman). 

And find out if you can keep up with our lyric revisits -- or fill in our own gaps. 

Stay tuned for our Part 2 that delves into the individual lives of the band members. 

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Transcript

Off Key Intro And Welcome

SPEAKER_02 0:04

You are my fire.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

The one desire.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

I hopped it down. I hopped it down.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Okay. Believe when I say I won it that way. Tell me why ain't nothing but a heart. Tell me why. How come nothing but we switch roles? I don't know. I sang higher and you sang lower. And I don't think we're singing in the same key. We're totally not. Well, that was awful. Welcome to our podcast. Hello, everyone. Hi, everybody. And welcome to Generation in Between, a Xennial podcast where we remember, revisit, and sometimes relearn all kinds of things from being 80s kids and 90s teens. I am Danny. Hello, I'm Katie. And if you couldn't tell by our melodic intro, it was probably anything but melodic, but it was singing nonetheless. Today, our episode topic is about the Backstreet Boys. Yay! Now we are in the middle of our boy band series. I think we've got a couple more to go. We don't know. Maybe just one more. I think maybe just one more. I don't know if we need to do more than that. We'll see. I'm getting kind of like the research for this is so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

I feel like for this era of boy bands too, there is so much information. Well, and there's a lot of controversy as we'll talk about today. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

I think the further, like the closer you get to the 2000s as well, it the information and the what's available for these groups goes up too.

Backstreet Trivia And Fan Allegiances

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Well, and to be fair, Backstreet and NSYNC was kind of the end of the boy band era for myself for a bit. And so we'll see. But there's NSYNC at least coming up. But anyway, we're in the mid, and today is Backstreet Boys Day. And before we talk about our own personal attachment to this group, I'm gonna quiz you. Okay, I'm ready. Okay. So how many members are there? Five. Okay. Can you tell me all their names? I think so. Howie. Howard. Is it or is it two howys? I'm ready to Oh my god. Well, there's a Howie. Oh, there's a Kelly. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. And there's a Brian. Wait, pause. Are you saying you thought there was a Howie and a Howard? I thought there were two with the same name. Oh my god. What? No. Okay. Um it must be confusing. There's another, there's probably another boy band out there. Yeah. But okay, incorrect. So Howie is correct. Isn't Kevin? Kevin is correct. Brian? Brian is correct. AJ? AJ? I guess I'm missing the fifth one. I thought was named Howard. Nick.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Oh, Nick. How could you forget Nick? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

I think he's my least favorite, though. Wow, really? Uh-huh. And he was my favorite. Okay. Well, we'll talk about it when we get there. Um, okay. So doing so good on the trivia so far. Um, who's the oldest? I'm gonna guess Kevin. Correct. Okay. By a lot. Now you remember in New Kids, people always thought Joey was like a lot younger than the oldest. Right. Who was John? It was only like four years. Okay. Kevin, I think, I think he was, I'll have to, we'll get there with the math. I think he was like seven or eight years older. Oh, wow. Like Nick was 13 at the time that they got together, and Kevin was like 20, 21. So that's so pretty big gap. Yeah. Oh, quick thing. I don't know if you just shit on YouTube. Nick is the youngest. That was my next question for it.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Oh, shoot. Nick's the youngest.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Well, I don't know if you saw on our YouTube, someone commented that John Knight, going back to New Kids on the Block, we had said he was the oldest in his family, but I guess he's not.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

The two sisters are older than him. So he's the oldest in New Kids, and he's older than Jordan, but the two sisters in his family are older than him. Oops. That's what she said. Whoops.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yeah, nicely. How did my research fail me?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

I mean, I guess she could be wrong, but that's what she said. I mean, let's see. And I believe her. Let's just trust somebody else over me. Okay. All right. Well, anyway. Anyway, moving on. Two more questions for you. Okay. You're just gonna have to guess on one of them. The other one you'll probably figure out. How many albums have they released? I'm gonna guess five. Ten. Wow, really. I know. Yeah. They're still out there, they're still working. All right. Um, last one is what city were they formed? Orlando. Yes. Okay, you did better on new kids. Except for the oh yeah, I did better on New Kids. So let's let's talk now about Backstreet Boys. So were you a fan back in the day?

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

I loved Backstreet Boys.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

But you didn't know who was in the group. So I guess I wasn't a super fan. Like I like Backstreet Boys. Are you more of an NSYN? I was a huge in-sync fan.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Okay, which is why I'm doing the research for NSYNC. So this is where we're gonna talk because as you were answering the questions, I think people of our generation who loved boy bands, you had one, you I liked both of them, but I gravitated more towards Backstreet than NSYNC. And as you were answering, I was like, I bet she was an NSYNC person. I was the most interesting thing is that you'll find out. I only went into a little bit of it because I want you to uncover the rest of it in your research when you do NSYN. They were formed by the same person, right? And they were formed to compete against each other to make that company more money. That makes sense. So you'll find out more about it. Okay, and we'll talk a little bit about it. Um, okay, so you were a fan, but you didn't like over the top. I wasn't an over-the-top fan. I liked all their music though.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

I liked all their songs. I loved Kevin. Piano player. You loved Kevin. I loved him.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Okay. Tall, cute.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

They were all cute. They were all cute. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

And they're all good dancers, which is really fun to watch. Which I love. Um I went and saw them in concert. I think it was their millennium tour.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Same. Yeah. So like 99. So a big arena or whatever. And it was great. Yeah. And they made some friends. And but I mean, that was about it. I wasn't over the top crazy about them.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Well, I, as we realize, I have an extreme personality. So I love them. But the interesting thing was, I was an older teen when they came out. And I will, as we talk about their timeline, I'll throw in my memories as we go. Because I I've seen them several times. Okay. Um, throughout my life. Because I was like a senior in high school when they came big here in this country. So, all right, so we're fans. We are. But maybe I was a bigger one. But Nick was my favorite. Huh. She said, huh.

unknown 6:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

You know what? He was my age. We're born the same year. Kevin was older than Kevin. He he, I don't know. As we've established, I don't really have a type. Although I'm surprised you said Kevin. I would have thought. Do you know who Nick reminds me of now that I'm thinking about it?

SPEAKER_01 7:11

What the heck is his name on Dawson's Creek, who liked Jen so much that was younger than her, the blonde. Oh, Henry.

unknown 7:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Nick reminds me of Henry. Yeah.

Lou Pearlman And The Ponzi Scheme

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Giving Henry energy. I love me blonde hair and blue eyes. You do love Henry. I do love Henry. I mean, also, I don't know. I I thought because he was younger, I felt like he had the most energy. Okay. When I saw them live a couple times, but then later we saw him and he was going through some stuff and uh yikes. But anyway, so let's chat. So Baxter Boys, and like I said, NSYNC is kind of in the same. So Katie will have some of the same information. They were created. Note I said created in the mid-1990s by the late Lou Perlman, who actually was kind of a dirtbag, and he ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in this country. Yikes. So I watched a documentary on Netflix, it was like three episodes, called Dirty Pop. And it was about him and his whole, and it was it's so elaborate, and there's so much detail. I'm just gonna give you a brief overview. Um, so just to refresh your brain, if you don't know what a Ponzi scheme is, or you're like me, and like, is it this? So a Ponzi scheme is a type of investment fraud that pays like and existing investors with funds collected from other investors instead of having like actual profits earned by a legitimate business. Usually there's fake businesses and you're just kind of moving money around pocketing some, if that makes sense. It does. Yeah. So organizers often like lure people in by promising high returns with like little to no risk. So they find people who have a lot of money that like to invest things, and they're like, oh, here's all this stuff. And they're usually people who run Ponzi schemes are pretty good at lying and knowing business. Like you have to know what you're doing to be successful at this. Yeah. And Lou Perlman was, and he had lots of connections, and he was a good shyster, if like I would say. Um, so before we get into the next few episodes of our boy band series, we do have to spend a little time on this. Um, so like I said, I recomm I recommend that documentary if you want to know the detailed ins and outs. I'm not gonna say everything. Um, but here we go. So basically, he ran a$300 million Ponzi scheme where he defrauded lots of people and the artists who he had on his in his deals. Um, it led to his 2008 conviction, and then he eventually died in prison. Wow. A few years after that. There was lots of lies, lots of shadiness, including he had insurance fraud with his very first company, which was a blimp company in the 80s. Oh, okay. Yeah, like I said, I'm not going into the weeds with this. Um, and then he had like this fancy private like airline company that didn't actually own any of their own airplanes. So what he would do, and they talk and they show this in the documentary, he would have model planes and take pictures on runways with like a fake logo. He would then lease private planes from another company, use those planes to lease to his customers at a higher price. Okay. So he didn't own the ones he was leasing. He leased he did.

unknown 10:34

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

And in all his advertisements and stuff, he's showing these planes, but they were like fake. Everything was made up. So um the name of his company was Transcontinental Airlines. So during this time when he was running this business, he had lots of hands and lots of different business, fake businesses or um whatever made up things. He had the new kids on the block as a client where they rented a private jet from him. And while they were there, he realized oh, so that group has enough money to rent out private planes, and he saw like the lifestyle they were living. So he got the idea for another way to make money. So he's like, I'm going to get into the music management industry. So Transcontinental also became a music management company. Oh my gosh. Okay. Right. So he actually lived in the Orlando area at the time. So in 1992, he put an ad in the Orlando Sentinel.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Okay. Yeah. Shout out.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

And he the ad said he wanted to create a new kids on the block look with a boys to men sound. And he was looking for males ages 16 to 19. Now note that ages because a few of them were not in that age bracket. Actually, probably more than half weren't in that age bracket. So um AJ McLean was the first member to get a spot, even though he was only 14 at the time.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

So he was here. Um, he had just finished up an acting gig for Nickelodeon, which is kind of how he, I don't know if his agent told him or whatever. We're gonna get more into details about the members on part two. So I'll find more info then. Um so he prepared a song and some choreography. Now, AJ had been dancing since he was four. He was like formally a trained dancer. He took ballet, he took tap, he took jazz. So if you ever watch them and you have dance at some point in your life, his technique just, you know, like people who have any experience with dance, if you're watching people dancing, it's the way people hold their hands or they'll hold their feet or the way they know how to. I don't know. If you watch him, you can say, Oh yeah, he's been now the other ones have been trained too, but he had been trained since a young age. Okay. So, anyway, blobity blue blue, he auditioned at Lou's house. He had like a blimp hanger, and that's where he would hold auditions.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

This is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

He lived in this ginormous, amazing, beautiful property, which I think was in Kissimmee. Okay. It was like outside of Orlando because it was like on a bunch of land and there was like water and all this stuff. So he was the first one to get his spot. He wasn't the first person to audition, but the first person who auditioned who got a spot. And then I don't know how the rest of them came in, but here's our story. So Howie, the only one who's named Howie. Yes. And Howie lives here. He does, he lives on the Space Coast. Um he actually auditioned not under his name. He had a stage name he was using at the time because he had been in the performing world since he was young as well. And he was trying to get into acting in New York, and his manager said, We need to give you a stage name that sounds more interesting. So his stage name was Tony Danetti. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

All right.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Uh they said his birth name was too formal. Yeah. But whatever, Tony Danetti. I don't know. Anyway, so he auditioned for the group, and then like two months went by and he still hadn't heard anything. Well, another agent was like, Hey, you should go re-audition. And he's like, I already did this. And I'm like, No, you need to go back. So he goes back, he goes in for his audition, and he walks in, and they were like, Oh my gosh, we've been looking for you. We've been looking for your phone number because they lost his headshot that had his stuff on the back.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

And because his name was not his real name, they couldn't find his phone number in the phone book era. It's it's easier now, like you go on the internet, find some Isensa or whatever. But they were like, We've been trying to find you because they wanted to offer him a spot. Oh my gosh. So he already went back. I know, and he got lost on his way there. He couldn't find it. So the universe wanted him in this group, obviously. Yes. So that's how he got his spot. Um, AJ and Howie actually already knew each other. They met one time when they were both performing performing at uh the Latin carnival in Orlando. They were both contestants in a singing contest, and AJ beat Howie. Oh and then they just, you know, they were young Latin performers who were seeing each other at a lot of the same things. Yeah, they were probably getting called to the same castings and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

So they kind of already were familiar with each other, plus they had seen Nick around, and so those three kind of already knew each other from the performing scene. So that brings us to Nick. Um he auditioned at the young age of I think he was still 11, almost 12.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Whoa.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Yeah, he was he was young. Um, he auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club that same day, and his mom said, and he got the offers on the same day. So she said, You're gonna have to pick which one do you want to do? And he would have been in the cast of Mickey Mouse Club with Britney, Spears, and Ryan Gosling. Wow. So I think he made the right choice. So he chose, he's like, I mean, either one would have been okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Those those both ended up being it's it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

I know. I know because we have the gift of retrospect.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

But if you're in that moment and they're forming a boy group that has no credentials, or you can be on the Mickey Mouse Club. I think he made the right choice because I think he but also like why was his mom letting him I don't know. That's if that's true. No, he said that in an interview. Oh I said, and he's like, I don't know why she didn't let me make that choice, but whatever.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Maybe she didn't know what to do.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Put it on him.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Uh so that and then Kevin. So now we're at Kevin. He was actually working at Disney World at the time as a um performer. Um, he was Aladdin, he was um, I think he was goofy, he did all kinds of things there. So he heard about the audition while he was working at Disney World. So um he went, he auditioned, he got the spot, and he called his cousin, Brian, who was still they're both from Kentucky. Brian was still there in high school. He actually called him at school. Oh my gosh. Because they were looking for one more member. They had the four and they needed one more. And he's like, Hey, I have a cousin. So he called him at school, they called him out of his history class.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Oh my gosh.

How The Five Members Formed

SPEAKER_00 16:52

And he was like, Hey, you need to come down here. And he got on a plane to Orlando the next day, auditioned, and got the spot. Oh my gosh. Right. That's so cool. I know. So And I also never knew they were related. Yeah, they're cousins. That's cool. Yeah. So April 20th, 1993 is the day the Backstreet Boys became an official band. Now they are called the Backstreet Boys. Do you know why?

SPEAKER_03 17:16

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Okay, so you know a little bit about Orlando, so think of the word Backstreet and think in the 90s and think if you can think of anything. I literally know nothing about the Orlando area. Is it Disney related? No.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Okay, we won't we won't linger. Um, Lou Pearlman decided to call them Backstreet Boys after Orlando's Backstreet Market. Okay. Do you know what that is? Yeah. Um, which he said is an outdoor flea market near International Drive where like a lot of teens would hang out. Okay. Is that valid? I don't know. Yeah. Okay. That's a real thing. I was, I mean, I'm sure it's a real thing. I don't know if the teens hang out there anymore, but early 90s. Yeah. Um, so the lineup on their official day of becoming a band was Nick Carter, who was 13 then. Crazy. Like that's Cooper. Really Cooper and a boy band. Which could do. Which uh yeah, that's not that shocking. Well, I just think about him also being in the group with the oldest person who was Kevin, who's 21.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

That's a big age jump. That's eight years.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

And like a whole lifetime, I feel like. Yeah. From the time you're 13 to 21.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

So Nick was 13, AJ McLean was 15, Brian Lattrell was 18, so he was a senior in high school, I guess. Um, Howie Duro was 19, and then Kevin Richardson was 21. So Howie and Kevin were like adults. And Brian, I guess, technically was, but you know. And then you have Nick and AJ. Yeah. Which is really a wide age span. So on paper, Lou Perlman actually made himself the sixth member of the band. So he made an equal share of whatever they earned plus whatever he earned as their manager. Whoa. So they didn't know this. They they were unaware of this at the time, and we'll talk more about that later. Just remember, okay. Once we start talking numbers. So the Backstreet Boys um often employ polyphonic, is that right? Harmony. Um, which kind of sets them apart from other boy bands that were happening at the time. Um, they're known for a five-part harmony structure. In order to fight the boy band stereotype and the backlash from the new kids lip singing stuff.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

They would sing a cappella and harmony anytime they could. Makes sense. And I was watching, they came out with a 2015 documentary. Like, I was watching snippets of it. Um, and they, I'm sure it's like boys to men, like they've done it so much, it just comes so natural to them to find their notes. And like, I can't stress enough how hard that is. Like, yeah, that is so hard. And when people are good at it, it doesn't seem hard.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Right? So that was kind of their thing. So they would sing a cappella any chance they could get. And I'll tell you a story about that. Remind me when we get to I when I talk about middle schools, okay. It'll make sense in a second. Um, Brian actually said in an interview in 2011, we were fans of new kids, but were we really modeled after them? No, we looked at ourselves as shy, Joe to see, and boys to men, the true vocal groups. That's who we listened to, and that's who we really wanted to be like. Um right, right problem. One problem there. Yeah, right. Okay. You look like new kids on the block. I know. Okay, so here's a little bit about their little persona and the parts they sang in the lineup. Okay. So Brian, he was like the shy, kind of wholesome church boy. He's he's a very devout Christian, still is to this day. Um, he was known for a crispy, clear, or kind of airy tone with minimal vibrato, often handling melodic leads and high-range parts. Okay. So that's him. Then you have Nick, he was little baby faced, heartthrob. Um, he had kind of a bright pop focus and clean tone that kind of anchored a lot of their popular songs, which is valid. Um, but he often shared leads with Brian. Then you have AJ, he was like the LG, LG. What is that? The LG. The LG, the edgy, rebellious one.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

He wanted, he was like the bad boy persona, which he really fed into later and caused some problems. But we'll talk more about that on part two. So he kind of add like added like the grit and the RB flair. Uh, he handled some of the lower parts of the harmony or like soulful, like the belted leads. That was AJ. Then you had Howie, he was kind of the romantic, like the sweet one. And he does just like I was listening to interviews, he just seems so nice. Yeah. He just, not that the other ones don't. It's just yeah, the his tone of voice is just kind of it kind of reminds me of you. Like your voice is like so like I don't I can't think of the right word for it. Which is why it would be baby spice.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Right. So uh that's a good point about him, because every picture I've ever seen of him, even now, like local publications will do stories about him here and there because he's part of a construction company or whatever, part owner.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

Um, he's always smiling. I know. He just always and if you listen to him talk, he just sounds nice. That sounds weird to say, but he just does. Anyway, he was like the romantic sweetheart. He uh fills in the high harmonies with kind of like a smooth mellow, sometimes maybe kind of a nasally tone, but not in like an annoying way, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 22:29

Yeah.

A Cappella Cred And Early Grinding

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Then you have Kevin. He was the oldest, so he kind of was like the mature big brother one. This is Katie's fave. Um, he provides like the deepest bass baritone. I was gonna say it's it's the voice, too. Yeah, true, true. But see, I like that too, but he wasn't for me. So okay. That's fair. Um, he even though he has blue eyes. Okay, so interesting. But he kind of adds like the depth, the stability, and kind of he kind of added like the mature sound in there. So that's kind of where they land in the singing parts. So once they're an official group, Lou, Lou Perlman like rented this. I said house, but it wasn't really a house. It was a warehouse um in Orlando for the group to rehearse in, and they had an intense schedule, just like new kids did. Um, they converted the warehouse into kind of like this dance/slash vocal studio. One of the interviews I watched, they were like, it was so hot in there because they were dancing, you know, and then they were singing because of the acoustics, so they would practice all kinds of stuff a cappella to get their harmonies on point. Um a few weeks after they were an official group, they had their first performance at SeaWorld.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Oh my god, of all places.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

May 8th, May 8th, they had their first performance at SeaWorld for about 3,000 people.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

What?

SPEAKER_00 23:47

I know crazy. So does Lou Pearlman before this time period have any music industry experience? None at all. He just has so many connections. So obviously he had people helping like with the music. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

He was paying Oh, what's going on? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Sorry, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Uh, I don't know. That was weird.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

We had a very weird announcement from why did it go through that way?

SPEAKER_01 24:15

It went through the headphones.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Oh. Did that pick up on our thing? Probably. Okay, sorry. That was a little virus alert. Hopefully, we'll survive. Okay. Um, no, but he, I mean, he paid, he brought in choreographers, he brought in they brought in producers, they brought in vocal coaches. He didn't do any of it, he was just managing it all. Got it. Um, yeah, so that summer they continued to, they had their appearance at SeaWorld in May. That summer they kept performing in all kinds of venues in the local area. They performed at malls, they performed in restaurants. They also performed at some high-profile like charity gallas, which was full of lose investors.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

So they were hobnobbing and you know, impressing people, so they invested more money. Right. Um, and then that fall they began touring the US uh to middle and high schools, middle schools and high schools, performing concerts for free there to promote themselves. Yeah. While they were at a school in like an inner city area, and I can't remember where they said it was, they were getting booed, like their music was going, you know, they're like these little clean-cut kids coming in there and you know, be bopping and their um sound system died completely. And they were being booed, they're like, get out of here, white boys were being yelled at them, even though two of them are not, but you know what I mean. So they that was being yelled at them and their sound died completely. So Brian was like, Hey, y'all just tone it down a little bit. Let us do what we came here to do. They gather around the mics and they sing everything out else a cappella. And by the end of it, they were getting hoots and hollers and yippies. So wow, that just proves their, I think, vocal abilities. Yes. And also good on Brian for being brave enough to be like, hey. I would have been just like bye. I would have been like, I would have, are you kidding? I would have been crying. Yeah. Katie and I would have been like, let's run. How fast can we get out of here? How can we go? I mean, that's really brave. So that reminds me, it's giving Donnie Wahlberg. I know, like prison. I know, except Brian is very not Donnie. No, no, but how he's kind of like the hype, like, like, look, well, I don't know if he's the hype guy, but in that moment he's got a big thing. But in that moment, he was he was the one that said, let's just now he is a leader in another area coming up. So I will say he's a pretty good advocate for them as a group during this time. So, um, so, anyways, so they do that. Um, while they were on that tour, Mercury Records almost signed them. They saw them in like Pennsylvania or something like that, but they had a longtime client by the name of John Mellencamp who told them if they got into the boy band business, he was out. What? He was leaving the label, yeah. Why do you care, John Mellencamp? And I mean, obviously, they gonna listen. That's strange to me though. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

What does them signing the Backstreet Boys have anything to do with your music?

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Principles, I guess. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Like, honestly, because we researched this podcast, I guess I have a little bit of background knowledge on like what labels people are on and stuff, but otherwise I would have no idea who signed with who.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Right.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

That's so weird. So I don't like it.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

But in 1994, a guy by the name of Jeff Fenster, who worked for Zomba slash Drive Records and David Rensner, that just sounds like record industry names. I don't know. Uh he I he also worked for Zomba Music Publishing. They saw them at a high school in Cleveland, and that's where they signed their record deal. Okay. So their promo tour worked, all right. Um, later that year in December of '94, they actually flew to Sweden to record their debut album because they went there to work with some renowned producers by the name of Max Martin and Dennis Pop. Now let me tell you how you write this man's name. It's D-E-N-N-I-Z. Okay. Capital P, lowercase O, capital P. Okay. Let's go. Let's go. I love that so much. Um, other clients that they had were Britney and Sync. They did Cardi Perry later on, Ariana Grande. So they were like big deals in the pop world. So um they were kind of known to create like this polished, kind of perfect poppy sound, which is why they flew them there. So they recorded their first single, We've Got It Going On. Do you remember this one? Yes. We've Got It Go In On right here. That was sent to the radio uh in August of 95. Now I'm gonna tell you a lot of dates this episode because it's important to remember how their timeline kind of meshed with their European stuff and American time. So it was sent to the radio everywhere in August of '95 and released as a single in September, but it was not super successful over here. It only got to like number 69 of December that year, which, if you think of Backstreet Boys now, it's like, what? Um, but overseas it was crazy. It was in the top five in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, and the Netherlands. Okay. So they were huge over there first. They actually went on a European tour that summer, and their promotion kind of shifted to having more of a European focus instead of American, because obviously the European music world was like, yay! So um they were on tour, and Nick is quoted in an interview as saying this. He said, Being so young, I couldn't even go out with the rest of the group. I had to stay in the room with my parents, and I just remember being left out. Some guys went out clubbing, enjoying the Swedish party scene, and then coming to the studio, and I was playing video games with our producers.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Oh, sweet baby. But honestly, I'm glad to hear that.

Europe First Then The US Breakthrough

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Oh, he had plenty of fun later, don't worry. As opposed to him trying to be out there on a young child doing any of that. Oh, he had plenty of fun later on. Don't y'all worry about poor Nick. Okay. Okay, so they finished recording the rest of their self-titled debut album, Backstreet Boys, and it was released internationally in May of '96, excluding United States and Canada. So it went everywhere but here. Yes. And I'm gonna tell you the songs that were on their first release of this album because it changes a bit when it comes on this way. And guess what? Our friend The Parentheses in song titles is back. Oh, oh, someone else commented on YouTube. I was reading all our comments today about that.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Yeah, what'd they say? Our little clip where you're like, Why are there so many parentheses? And we're like talking about it. She said, I think it was a shame shear, he said that it could be because there's already a song with that title.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Yeah, but I looked into that, I forgot. Yeah, that's not true. That's not true. No, well, I mean, there's not other songs named that. But yes, maybe for some, but I as a general consensus, not really. Okay. I don't really know why. So they're back. They're back, guys. So here were songs on that international debut album. So we've got it going on. Anywhere for you, get down parentheses. You're the one for me. I'll never break your heart, quit playing games, parentheses with my heart. Boys will be boys just to be close to you. I want to be with you every time I close my eyes. Darling, let's have a party, roll with it, nobody but you. Now you may not recognize some of those, and there's a reason, which we'll talk about in a second. Um, their European popularity was exploding at this time, especially in Germany. They were super popular in Germany. Um, their single, I'll never break your heart, reached gold status in Germany at this time. They were voted number one international group there in 1996.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Yep. And they also earned their first platinum record there that same year. And so shortly after that, they started touring Asia and then also Canada. And Howie has said, we would go all over Europe and all these other countries. God bless you. We should restart the I'm gonna. Okay. Katie had a sneezy. Uh Howie has said we would go all over Europe and all these other countries. We could barely get on the airplane. You would think it was like the Beatles or Michael Jackson, fans going crazy, and then all of a sudden we'd land back in America and it'd be like chirp, chirp, nobody in the room. Which has got to be so weird.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

So weird.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

So we're like, that's your home country, and like, but I bet that's probably part of their like that was probably part of their allure was they were American group, right? Maybe they were different. So, anyway, so they're having all this success overseas and hardly any here at all. So they started work on their second album together, Backstreets Back, in October of '96, and it was released internationally, but not in the US in August of '97. Okay. It was August 11th, 1997, which is important to note because um something will happen in a second, but I've got all this other shit to say. So hold on. Uh, they also recorded the song at this time, um, if you stay for the booty call soundtrack. Oh, it's a fun fact. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, this isn't on their album, but songs on their second international album. That's important, is everybody parentheses, backstreets back, as long as you love me, all I have to give, that's the way I like it. 10,000 promises. I don't know why I'm counting on my hand. I don't know. I don't know. Like a child, hey Mr. DJ, parentheses, keep playing this song. Set a drift on memory bliss. That's what she said. If you want it to be good, girl, parentheses, get yourself a bad boy. Oh, what? I love that song. We're gonna we're gonna do a singing badly in a minute. Uh if I don't have you. So the second album was released, like I said, August 11th, 97, and it peaked at number one in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, and the Netherlands. Okay. So that's pretty amazing. Um, oh, and Belgium and Austria and Austria. I can't even forget. They sold uh five million copies in Europe alone. Wow. Yeah, or it says over five million. Uh they actually won the MTV Select Award at the MTV European Music Awards in '96 and '97. So again, they're doing well. And the very next day, after that album release over there, August 12th, 1997, they had their self-titled US album, Backstreet Boys, released, which combined songs from their first international album and their second. Okay. Which is interesting because the first um single that they released from that first album release here was Everybody Parentheses Backstreets Back. Yeah, that's weird. Right? Because overseas it was like Backstreets Back. All right, because they're back for their second album. But here it's like, where did you go? Where who are you? So they thought so, like what the the way they kind of like validated was saying, Oh, well, we're back in the US. We're back in our home country. Okay. So whatever. And it's a jam.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

I mean, people love that song. All right.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

So here's the songs that was on their self-titled debut album in the US, Backstreet Boys. And we're gonna do a medley. Let's do it. All right. We've got it going on. We already sang that, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:10

Yeah, we already sang that one.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

We've gotta go win now. All right, we're okay. Quit playing games.

SPEAKER_02 35:15

Quit playing games with my heart.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

With my heart. Okay. As long as you love me.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

As long as you I was gonna start at the chorus. Oh, go ahead. I don't care who you are.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

What you've done. Don't know what you did. I messed that up. As long as you love me. Okay, and everybody parentheses. Back streets back.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Everybody.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Rock your body.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

Yeah. Everybody. Rock your body right. Backstreets back.

unknown 36:02

All right.

SPEAKER_00 36:04

Okay. The funniest part of that song is Am I original? Yeah. Am I the only one? Yeah. Am I sexy? Wow. That's what they do every time they sing that lyric. Do they really? I swear to God. It is a oh, it's a body roll thrust.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Every time I see them sing it. Uh, okay. So that song is probably their most well-known song. That's like, I think, in my opinion. Wasn't that one in Napoleon Dynamite? Wasn't that what they did the choreography to? I don't remember. I think it was. I don't know. It's probably okay. So All I Have to Give. Do you remember that one? Because all my love.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Where we keep starting at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

All I have to give. Without two, I don't think I could live. Alright. Yeah, I like that one. Man, I was getting into that. You were. Anywhere for you. I don't know that one. I don't know that one. Okay, great. Uh hey, Mr. DJ. Do you remember this one? Parentheses, keep playing this song. Hey, Mr. DJ. Keep playing the song for me. I don't remember. Out on the floor. And there's more words.

unknown 37:15

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Something that look. I'm gonna take your word for it. I'll never break your heart. I'll never break your heart. I'll never make you cry. Alright. Then they have Darlin. I don't know that. Nope. No idea. Get down parentheses. You're the one for me. You're the one for me. You're my ecstasy. Oh no, that's wrong. I said it wrong. But I know which one you're gonna do. Get down, get down and move it all around. Get down. Swear to God. Get down and move it all around. Alright, that's what it is. Then they they did a mix of set adrift on memory bliss, that PM Dawn song. Set a drift on memory bliss. You don't know that? No. Okay, well. Uh okay, then their last song on that one is If you wanna be a good girl, parentheses, get yourself a bad boy. Tell me you remember this one. I don't know if I do. Maybe if you start singing. I well, I'm trying to remember how it goes. If you wanna be a good girl, get yourself a bad boy. That's it. I don't remember that at all.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

Oh, it's so good. Oh, I want to listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 38:23

I mean, you just heard it. It's perfect. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

I don't need to listen to it. I've heard your version.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

It's like um Danny's version, like Taylor's version. Oh Lord help us all. Okay, it would be like a comedy album. Yes. Honestly, maybe that's what we need to do is do Danny. I was also thinking maybe we need to go to Germany.

unknown 38:40

I know.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Maybe that's what it is. That's our key. Go on a little podcast, live podcast tour of Germany. Oh my god. Super famous there and cricket's here.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Okay. So their first single, Everybody Backstreets Back. Oh, sorry. Parentheses. Let me not leave those out. The video for that single became huge, and that's part of why they blew up. Do you remember their video? I do remember that video. So basically, in the video, their tour bus breaks down and they have to go in this haunted mansion, and then everybody's a different monster as in their like dreams. And then they wake up at the end and it's real or whatever, like a monster comes in or something. It's very thriller-esque. It's inspired by thriller. They even throw in like some thriller moves. So Brian was the werewolf, Howie was Dracula, Nick was a mummy, AJ was fan of the opera. And Kevin was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hive. Yes. So that video was so fun. I had to look it up and rewatch it. Their dancing is just so fun. I was gonna say their dancing so good. It's so fun. So this album in the US, their self-titled debut here, peaked at number four. Okay. Um, they had lots of radio play, and the success on MTV, most notably from TRL, I was gonna say is how they started to explode. So fun fact Brian actually met his wife Leanne because she was cast in the video for As Long As You Loved Me. Oh, that's how they met. And then Kevin's girlfriend at the time, I don't know if it's his wife, but his girlfriend at the time, oh no, who became his wife? I did write that down.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Oh, comma. You guys don't know.

SPEAKER_00 40:08

I'm buried in the depths of this research. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Who became his wife?

SPEAKER_00 40:11

Oh, see? Oh, do y'all know what she just proved? What? She can see my notes. She's always like, I can't see my notes.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

Is it in parentheses? Yes. I was just making that up. Oh, it is there. I was just saying that.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

No, I can see it now.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Okay, though, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Yeah, she's always like, Danny, I can't see that. I'm not cheating.

SPEAKER_01 40:27

Well, as she just read my.

Millennium Era Hits And Ticket Line Stories

SPEAKER_00 40:29

I just saw an opportunity for a little joke. Well, well done, because that's actually what was happening. Good good on you. So his girlfriend at the time, who then became his wife, she was uh cast in the video for I'll Never Break Your Heart. So isn't that cute? That's so cute. So you want to marry a pop star, go work in the videos. I mean, that is a thing. I know. That is a thing. I think she was like a dancer, so like, yeah. All right. So Backstreets Back tour began in December of that year of 97 and went through December 98. So it was a full year. They had 113 shows. Um, it was their first major U.S. tour, as well as tour dates that took them back overseas to Europe, Asia, and Canada. So they were busy. They were busy. Uh, during this time, though, in November of '97, doctors discovered that a congenital hole in Brian's heart um had enlarged. So they knew he had it, but it got in danger. Because sometimes you have them and they keep an eye and it's okay. And he had to have open heart surgery. Oh my god. So they he postponed it um to meet touring obligations, which is crazy. And he's talked about that at the time, how like they just they never stopped working for like years. And he's like, I had open heart surgery, and we didn't even stop the tour. They paused the tour, they didn't even like they they just paused it. Um, they postponed the tour for two months. That's it. Yikes. Two months, and then so he had surgery on May 8th, two months off, and they were back at it in July. I mean, on one hand, I'm like, that really sucks that like the the machine and that way, but also And you have to strike while the iron's hot, and that's what they said, you know, teenagers especially.

SPEAKER_01 42:04

Yeah, you're one day and pop music taste changes so quickly.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

Like, you gotta get out there and sell it as fast as you can. Yeah. So they they had some other kind of hard times that happened during this little time frame. Kevin had two family members pass away. Jeez, Howie lost his sister to lupus, and then their producer, Dennis Pop, died of stomach cancer. So it was a lot of stuff happening while they had all these good things, which is kind of how life be. I know. It sucks. So here's a fun fact. And I brought some fact. I brought some memorabilia, which I almost spilled coffee on. I know fucking relics right here. She almost ruined.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

I didn't just almost spill my butt hit my coffee.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

And it went everywhere, but not on the relics. No, not on the relics. Thank god first hand accounts. Um, so I saw Backstreet Boys perform at grad night um at in Walt Disney World on it was either May 1st or May 2nd. So it was just a few days before his surgery. So it was one of their last concerts before they took a break. And not only did I find my ticket from grad night, hold please, everyone. Now, grad night was something Disney World used to do. I don't know if they still do it. I don't know either. Um, they would close the park um for one night, and then they would have different between April and May, they would have different nights, and high schools, seniors from all over the country would have designated times they could come and you run the park for the whole night. And they bring in pop stars at the time, and you have free concerts. I was trying to look up, I in my brain, I thought I remembered Aliyah being there and Christina Aguilera, but guess what? No, that didn't happen, so I don't know what land I was living in. They said, and internet could be wrong, but if anybody was at grad night in nineteen ninety eight, let me know. It said it was Backstreet Boys, and then I don't know, Rhett Atkins. Okay. Who's that? The country singer. Okay, noted. And then a couple other people. Leboosh. Okay. Remember Labouche? And then somebody else that I can remember. Oh, that's it. So here's my little ticket, everyone. That's my ticket. Aw, it's so cute. Um, May of 98. Then I found pictures I took with my disposable camera that are terrible. Oh. Okay. They're so bad. I'm gonna try. Hold. Okay. So I'll save the good one. So this is the first one I have. I'm going to show it to you. You can see, I think that's AJ with a little dance move. That's some random bitch in front of. Yeah, they're not gonna be able to see that. It's okay. But do you see him?

SPEAKER_02 44:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:42

Okay. Thank you. So that's him. Then this is them from far away. I'm not even wasting time showing. Okay. These are yeah, you can't see its heads. But this was my prized photo because I got one of Nick. I got right-that's a pretty good thing. I know. I got right through people's heads at the exact right time. And what you guys don't understand about disposable cameras is they suck. Okay, we're so spoiled with our phone cameras.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

There's no preview.

Money Fights Lawsuits And Settlements

SPEAKER_00 45:06

There's no preview. Like you don't know what you get. There's no zooming. No. That's why I used to have heads, but I couldn't believe I still had this. And it he was like looking right this way, and I snapped it right at the right time. Loved it. Amazing. So anyway, so that was me right before their little hiatus for just a couple months. So speaking of Brian, during this time, Brian started questioning um the band's financial situation because they're fucking doing great. They had all that European success. They're starting to they're like exploding in the US. So um him and I think the band collectively hired an independent auditor to go to go through their stuff, and they realized their income did not match their fame. And they figured out they kind of had a shady contract where Pearman was acting as both manager and member, unbeknownst to them. Right. And um, he was collecting a higher percentage of the royalties than he was supposed to be. Um, it was also discovered that he was hiding revenue and charging the band for like non-existent fake expenses. Oh shit. Yeah. So Brian initiated a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman and his company Transcontinental with allegations of mismanaged funds um with the band, and eventually the rest of the members joined in, but the band claimed they they only made roughly$300,000 from 1993 to 1998. Now remember all the things I told you they were doing at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

$300,000 each. Yes. Yeah, that's not that much.

SPEAKER_00 46:44

And while Pearlman made over$10 million. Okay. Right. So the rest of the members joined the lawsuit the the next year, and then eventually they settled with him out of court and they bought him out of their contract. Good.

SPEAKER_01 47:01

But they still paid him, which sucks. That sucks.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

It sucks. So because even though he ended up paying them a settlement, I'm sure he pocketed tons more. Yeah, and I'm sure there's even more hidden revenue they didn't. Well, and that comes years later. Okay. That it comes this will come back to haunt him. I'd like them to notice that. And I wonder if it was like them or their parents or like well, I mean, Brian, let's see, he's probably what, 20 at the time or so? It could have been his family. Who knows? I mean, or he just could be just a smart smart guy. Yeah, so NSYNC also had a part in that, but again, that's gonna be Katie's episode. So their legal actions then led to bigger lawsuits a few years later in 2005, and then ultimately all of it together resulted in his 2008 conviction, which he was convicted for conspiracy, money laundering, and false claims. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and then he died in jail in 2016. Okay. Yeah, it's bad. So done talking about him for now. Uh October 7th, 1998 was declared Backstreet Boys Day by the Orlando mayor. Uh, they got keys to the city in honor of a tornado relief concert they did that March. So were you living here at that time? What year was it? Uh 98. Uh no. Okay. I didn't come until 2007. Oh, that's right. Okay. So here is something hilarious. Noted. Well, our podcast has an e-version anyway. So in our social clips, if you're young, don't watch this next thing I'm about to show. Uh, so on my 18th birthday, which was November 11th, 1998, my a lot of my friends in college teased me because I was such a huge like boy band fan, and not all of them were. Some of them were, which we'll talk about later. And the night before my birthday, I had a really bad cold and I was not feeling well, and um I was asleep in my dorm room like really early. They made me a Backstreet Boys cutout cardboard person, but they put the wrong face, they put Brian's face, not Nick's. Okay, but that's okay. And they I have to show you this picture is so stupid. They even hand painted a cucumber and stuck it in the little fake underwear they put on. Okay, you have to see this. It's so stupid. Hand painted by your friends. Okay, you ready? Yes. This was waiting for me outside my dorm room. That's hilarious. What does it say? Am I sexual?

SPEAKER_01 49:23

Hell yeah. Oh my god. Oh, yeah, that is Brian. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:28

Let me see. Hold on. I'll get closer. Closer. Look at that. Oh my god. That's so y'all can see that.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

Because it blends in. I could see it.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

That was me in college too. Yay. Okay, so that's so funny. I forgot about that. And I was like, yeah, they went, they they were great. So thanks, friends. Anyway, um, so we are in the fall of '98. That month, they started recording their third studio album, which uh probably was their biggest seller, was Millennium. Yeah. The first single, I Want It That Way, um, was released in April of '99. And this is one of their most commercially successful songs. And and this, they said, a lot of different places said it's their considered their signature song. I would have said back streaks back, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:15

I mean, this one is good. I know you get a lot of like remixes of it in online and reels and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 50:22

Yeah. That's what we sang in the intro, right? Yes. Yeah, okay. So y'all already heard some of that, we won't do it again. Sorry. Uh, so this single actually topped the charts in 25 countries. Wow. That one song. So, fun fact um, you're gonna love this as a Britney Super fan. Every version of Britney Spears' debut album, One More Baby One More Time, that was released right before Millennium. Okay, it was released before Millennium, had previews of three songs of theirs as hidden tracks placed at the end of the album.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Oh, that's fun.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

Now, she didn't want to do this, she didn't want uh to do it, but um their record label made the decision for her and forced her to do it. She even like says a little thing like, Hey guys, I'm gonna introduce you to my friends the Backstreet Boys or whatever, something like that. Um, and then so that happened, and years later in 2020, they officially collaborated together, Brittany and the Backstreet Boys, uh, on the song Matches on the deluxe reissue of her album Glory. Did you know that? Yep. I didn't even know that song. I had to look it up and listen to it. It's pretty good. I was like, I don't remember that because I'm not a Britney Super fan, so listen. All right, Backstreet Boys album Millennium was released on May 18th, 1999, and the day it was released, they made a hugely publicized appearance on TRL.

SPEAKER_02 51:42

Yay!

SPEAKER_00 51:42

And oh my god, watching clips from this is hysterical. Did you watch them? Yes. Oh my god, the girls are freaking out, and that like they won't stop screaming to the point where Kevin is like, hey, we're gonna be here for three hours. Y'all need to relax. Like we've gotta say, like y'all save it. Like he was nice, but like I get it. So um they also a few days before that had appeared on SNL and they sang a couple songs, one of which was a cappella. Wow. Smart, smart, but brave. Yeah, yeah. Um, they also that week, while in in New York, they filmed a Disney Channel special called Backstreet Boys in Concert.

SPEAKER_01 52:23

I don't remember that, but that adds up.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

I was watching clips from it, and it's just it's so 90, like late 90s, yeah, early 2000s Disney. It was fun to watch. Um, okay. So the second single they released from this album was Larger Than Life in September. Show me the meaning of being lonely. What did I we say what songs were on this? I didn't list them. How dare I? Yeah, not all of them. I didn't. Okay, well, we may have yeah, pull it up on your Apple Music or Spotify. Okay, because how did I not list those songs? Well, anyways, I'll keep chatting while you look that up. So Larger Than Life was second single, Show Me the Ming of Being Lonely was the third, and the one was the fourth and final single album of the alb of the album that was released in May of 2000. And that actually had a little fun drama. So pause so I can tell you this. Yeah, ready. So the Back Street Boys actually held a fan vote on TRL. Do you remember this?

SPEAKER_01 53:20

I actually do have a memory of this.

SPEAKER_00 53:23

So they wanted the group, um, they wanted the fans to choose their last single they were gonna release from this album, and they could pick between two of them. Um, it was Don't Want You Back or The One. Don't Want You Back was in the lead by a lot until Nick was on there and started like pulling for the one to be released. And once he did that, everybody voted for the one, and that's what came out.

SPEAKER_01 53:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 53:49

So there's a little bit of drama there.

SPEAKER_01 53:50

I love that though.

SPEAKER_00 53:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:52

Okay, so here's what was on it larger than life.

SPEAKER_00 53:54

Yeah. I won it that way. Did we sing larger than life yet? I don't think we did. All you people, can't you see? Can't you see how your love's affecting our reality? Every time you're down, you can make it right.

SPEAKER_02 54:12

And that makes you larger than life. That's the one in Napoleon Dynamite. Oh, you're right.

SPEAKER_00 54:21

Because the dun dun dun, that's yeah. I'll be running high when you scream it. Alright, sorry. I love that song. Um, I want it that way, which we sang. We sang. Show me the meaning of being lonely. Show me the meaning of being lonely. Why would you want that though? Like, I don't want you to tell me. I don't want to know how it feels to be lonely. Okay, go ahead. Sounds terrible. It's gotta be you. I don't know that one.

SPEAKER_02 54:44

I don't know that one. I need you tonight.

SPEAKER_00 54:46

Don't know that one either.

SPEAKER_02 54:47

Nope. Don't want you back.

SPEAKER_00 54:50

Don't want you back. I don't know that one. Uh don't want to lose you now. Wow, we don't know a lot of these. The one. How does the one go? Um, play it. Play it. Because I'm oh, I'll be the one.

SPEAKER_01 55:05

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 55:06

That's right. Okay. Who will make all you something? Something.

SPEAKER_01 55:11

I'll be the light.

SPEAKER_02 55:13

I'll be the lie. Yes. Okay. Okay. Back to your heart.

SPEAKER_00 55:18

Okay. Don't find another one. Spanish Eyes, No One Else Comes Close, and The Perfect Fan. Oh, that's about their moms.

SPEAKER_01 55:26

Oh, I remember that one. It makes me cry.

SPEAKER_00 55:29

Oh, yeah. That one's really good. Cry. Okay. Oh, they're so sweet. That's that album.

SPEAKER_02 55:34

I mean, look at this album.

SPEAKER_00 55:35

I know. Come on. It's iconic. So good. Iconic. So that album entered Billboard 200 chart at number one, sold over 1 million copies the first week.

SPEAKER_01 55:44

Dang.

SPEAKER_00 55:44

Yeah. So it was the best selling album of 99, remained on the charts for 93 weeks, eventually selling over 12 million copies in the US, being certified platinum 13 times.

SPEAKER_01 55:56

Jeez.

SPEAKER_00 55:56

Holy begolie. As of 2023, it was the sixth best-selling album ever in the U.S. Wow. Now I don't know if it's changed since then. That was three years ago. So January 99, they were nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist. I don't think they won. But they won Music Video of the Year at Teen Choice Awards for All I Have to Give. Favorite song at Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice for Everybody. Of course. Parentheses, Backstreet's Back. I gotta say them. I just want to leave them out. And then favorite pop rock band um or group at the American Music Awards. So this was like the height of their success. That's yeah. This album. Um they are just they're having a grand time.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

They really are.

SPEAKER_00 56:37

A grand time. Um at the year's end, Blackstreet Boys dominates the 1999 Billboard Music Awards. Uh, they won Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Album Artists of the Year, and Album Artist Duo Group of the Year. Jeez. The fuckers swept. Yeah, they're like, we're here, we're taking them off. They swept, okay. Um, so the albums tour, which Katie and I both went to into the Millennium Tour, started on June 2nd, 99 and ended on March 15th, 2000. They had 123 shows in 84 cities spanning three legs. So here's my story associated. I waited in line for tickets in August in South Louisiana overnight outside a mall for 19 hours. Jeez. To buy these fucking tickets for a hand. I I was gonna buy the, I think you could buy like five or something. And so I bought the max amount because I had some friends who wanted to go, and I was like, y'all better pay me back because this is going on a credit card that I barely like right, so but I was the only one who lived there because I was at home for the summer and working, and it was so hot. Like, you guys, August in Louisiana, anywhere in the south, miserable. And I remember there was a McDonald's down the street, so we'd have to, you had to like make friends with people around you so you could leave and go to the bathroom and come back. And um, yeah, it was crazy. And I I was a smoker at the time, and I don't even know how many cigarettes I smoked while I was sitting there. It's disgusting, disgusting, and I was sweaty and disgusting. And I got the tickets when they opened in the morning at like 10 or whatever, went home, showered, went to work, no sleep. It was ridiculous. Oh my gosh. I know. So we saw so the tickets for that tour went on sale August 14th, 1999. They sold out that day all their dates. Wow, all their US dates.

SPEAKER_01 58:27

So I my friend's mom had tickets somehow. Probably waiting for it. She waited in line or got them through work or what, but that's how I got to go. I want to say she had five because it was like, Yeah, I think you can buy five. And then four of us girls, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:43

And so that's how I got to go. Well, let me tell you, people, waiting in line for tickets like that is so stressful because number one, the whole fucking nation is buying tickets, just like online, but you are physically there, and depending on how fast the worker is, depends on what seats are available.

SPEAKER_02 59:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 59:05

So you can't even nothing you can do nothing, even on your internet, like whatever, you can't do anything. I but but I feel like it's so much more fair when like you're actually there in line waiting, and then you don't know, like you don't get to say uh whatever, you just say give me the best seats you have. That's that's it. And I had shitty seats, but whatever. We still went, they were crappy seats, we had fun, and I have a ticket. You want to guess how much it was, guys? I'm gonna guess 35. You're close. So uh the t this ticket was$38.50. Okay, the convenience charge was four dollars and seventy-five cents. Ticket was bought, like I said, August 14th, 1999, and the concert was November 20th of 1999. Okay. So it wasn't too long after that. And that Sears was the sponsor of this tour, and it says Sears presents.

unknown 1:00:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:03

Yeah, and my sister said the Dillards had the ticket master um window in our mall, but I swear it was not that. I think it was Mervyn's or JCPenney, but it doesn't matter, whatever. I was in a mall parking lot. So my our seats were crappy, we were in the upper level, section 305. Like they were they were not good, but who cares? That's pretty cool though. We were there, yeah. We were there, and so you were at the same concert.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

Well, not the same concert, but the same tour, the same tour. Long before we knew each other. Isn't that so funny?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

Do you remember the part where Kevin sat down at the piano and played? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:36

That big white grand piano.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:38

Yes, amazing. It was so amazing. Um, so that tour was hugely successful. Um, it actually the concert they did at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta was the fifth most attended concert in American history. Jeez, crazy. Now, I have a feeling maybe Taylor Swift has changed that. Probably. Yeah. But I in 2023, when I found the research that this was right, because Ares was after that. Right. So that might be a little skewed, but still. So in 99, they actually the Baxter Boys were getting really fed up. And they while they had had issues with Lou Pearlman, they still were with Drive Records. Okay. And they were getting kind of fed up with them. They threatened to leave the label because they felt like they still had kind of a heavily one-sided deal where they were not receiving their fair share of profits. Um at this point, they were one of the label's biggest moneymakers, and they didn't feel like they were being accurately compensated. So they threatened to leave. They ended up staying with the label after they were offered a$60 million settlement and 20% royalties.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:49

Which is a big number. That's huge. Yeah. So they were like, okay. Like, well, I guess we're not that mad anymore. So again, we're still at the height of their of their fame here. Here's the awards they received in 2000. Best group at MTV Europe Music Awards, favorite pop rock band, duer or group at American Music Awards, best-selling album at the Juno Awards for Millennium, favorite musical group at People's Choice Awards, and Choice Album at the Teen Choice Awards for Millennium. So they're still sweeping it. Um, in May 2000, the group took a trip to the Bahamas to write songs for their new album. Oh, sure. Sure. Probably it's like, oh, that's a business expense, but whatever. Uh, so their fourth album, Black and Blue. Um, then they wrote the songs in Bahamas and they started recording them in Sweden. They went back to Sweden to do that, and they finished up that fall. So fall of 21, I guess. Or is that wrong? 2001. Was it 21? Yeah. Sounds right. Yeah. So also during this time span, they had a limited edition release, and this is hilarious. It was called For the Fans. It was exclusive exclusive, limited collection of three separate enhanced music CDs. We'll talk about that in a second, and a VHS tape from the Backstreet Boys at Burger King. Okay. The music CDs were um only and the VHS were only distributed at Burger King. Okay. Uh with the purchase of any value meal. That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:20

And that was in August of 2000.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:22

Okay. Yep. August of 2000. I think I wrote the dates wrong because yes. So it wasn't 2001.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

It was 2001.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:32

It was 2000. I think it was May of '99, then when they took that. I don't know. Whatever. It doesn't matter. Somewhere around that. Somewhere, I think I just wrote the year wrong. So, yes. And they also even had Baxtree Boys Happy Meal toys at the time. Really?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:45

I can't happy meal. Burger King ones.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:47

Well, whatever the Happy Meal is at Burger King is. Yes, Kids' Meal. What whatever. Well, I just wanted Happy Meals McDonald's. Okay. Uh whatever. Burger King's version of a Happy Meal. Yeah, whatever video they had where they were dressed like a superhero, do you remember that? No. Oh, well, that's what they were. Okay, got it. Um, so and that was the toy. Yes. So let's talk about what an enhanced music CD was. Okay. So a music CD that was enhanced was one that you could listen to on a CD player or put into your CD-ROM.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:18

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:18

Yes. Um, and have all these special things on the CD-ROM. So with these, the CD-ROM unlocked a whole new world of additional content, is how the advertisement said. Um, it had a special screensaver. You remember when that was a big deal? Uh, a combat a compatibility quiz of who you were compatible with. That's cute. Uh-huh. Um, it had a special wallpaper, a scrapbook generator, and then links to all the Backstreet Boys websites. Okay. So, yeah. I wrote I forgot about enhanced CDs. Yeah. So, so depending how young you are, a CD-ROM.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:58

Right. Oh, shoot. Gotta little, they don't even come really in laptops or desktops anymore, but you would push a little button and uh something a CD size would shoot out and you'd put it in like it was a CD player, but it would show things on your computer. So sometimes it would have a game or you could like save things to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:15

I remember. It was like a floppy disk. Yeah, yeah. If you don't know what a CD ROM is, we really fucking don't know what it's really, they're really well. We had before thumb drives, but it's cool that you could just listen to it normal. Right. Or you could pop that in. It was a special treat. Yeah. Special treat. Only at Burger King. Only at Burger King. All right. So have it your way. All right. Well we'll sponsor. Sponsor us. That's fine. That's fine. All right. I actually love Burger King.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:40

Do you like Burger King?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:41

No.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:42

Oh, well, you just have some the sponsor us.

Black And Blue Era And AJ Rehab

SPEAKER_00 1:05:45

I actually love their burgers. You like their hamburgers? Mm-hmm. Okay. Because they're flame boiled? I think so. Okay, well look, we're advertising for you. There we go. I'm just I I am not a huge I love french fries. Um, I do like their French fries. They're good. Okay. I'm a French fry like whore in the fact that that's all I care about when I go to rest fast food restaurants. Like, Chick-fil-A's are the worst. The waffle ones. They're fucking bland. They're so bland and gross. And I don't want to be sponsored by Chick-fil-A because y'all be a problem company. Yeah. All right. Moving on. Now like they're lining up. They're lining up the sponsor. Darn. They've got their heads hung low. All right. So their next album, now we're getting the year straight again. I fucked them all up, but it's fine. Here we are. The album Black and Blue was released November 21st, 2000. Okay. This album was a little different than the others. And I don't know if you remember this. I I was listening to it the other day, like yesterday. Um, and I remember when I bought it, I was so excited, and then I didn't like it as much because they wanted to have a different, more mature kind of RB sound. So it's a lot of slow songs. Okay. There were not a whole lot of poppy ones except for this one called The Call. Yes. You remember that one? And we'll talk about that one in a minute. So everybody was excited about this album, and it sold 1.6 million discs in the first week. Uh, it made them the first artist since the Beatles to achieve back-to-back million plus sales in the first week. So it happened with their last album and then their second. It's crazy, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:17

That's wild.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:18

Um, to promote this release, they traveled around the world in a hundred hours. What? Wait, is that right? That can't be right. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that's what I've done. It said because it says they visited Stockholm, Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and New York. 55 hours were spent traveling, 45 were spent making public appearances. That's wild. That's fucking crazy. That is some promotion right there. Yeah. So a DVD of this short tour was released in 2001, titled Around the World. They look so tired. They're so excited, but they look so tired. Um, so songs from this album, like we said, The Call, Shape of My Heart.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:57

Oh, I love that song.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:58

Yeah, remember that song? Uh, Get Another Boyfriend, Shining Star. I'm counting on my hand. I don't know why I'm doing this. I promise you parentheses, they didn't leave us with everything I am. Oh, wait, let me let me resay that title because I don't want you to think it was they didn't leave us, but it was in parentheses. The name of that song is properly uh I promise you parentheses with everything I am. Okay. The answer to our life, everyone, more than that, time, not for me. Yes, I will. It's true. How did I fall in love with you? So it's a lot of slow like ballads. Um, they do sound like older songs, but I remember being so disappointed. Yeah. It's so hard because I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:40

I mean, I feel like as an artist, you do want to evolve and you do want to do different stuff, but your fan base, like your previous album or whatever, did so well because of the type of music that was on it. I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:55

I know. And I still have both of these CDs that I bought from the store. Um, the first single they came out with was Um Shape of My Heart.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:03

Do you remember how that's that one goes? Um now let me show you the shape um. Is that the one that goes looking back on the things I've done? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:18

Uh then the call was was that one was so funny because it was like he's like on a cell phone talking. Listen, baby, I'm sorry. And it's all about this dude cheating on his girlfriend. Yes. It's it's so silly. I remember the video for that one. Yeah. Yeah. I gotta go. Remember that? Yeah. Okay. We're going to a place nearby. I gotta go. All right, anyways. Uh, what was the other one I said? Booty booty booty. Okay. First single was Shape My Heart, then The Call, then More Than That. I don't know if I remember that one. Maybe I'd know it if more than that. I more than that.

unknown 1:09:55

More than that.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:56

No idea. Well, we've done really well so far. So okay. The band members uh wrote two songs on this album and then they co-wrote five. So this was more than they had done on previous albums. So that's pretty good. So, you know, what are you doing? I was just gonna look it up. More than that. Yeah. I think it says on the fact sheet voice. I can love you more than that. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:18

Oh my god, it's so slow. Oh, chime. Here come the chimes.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:24

Ah, yeah. I remember it now. Go back parallel to the chorus. Here it comes. Here comes everybody. Okay. Oh, I can love that's a part. Here it comes. Now remember.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:41

Here it comes.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:43

Oh, I can love you more than that. Yeah, now I remember. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:50

That's a good song.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:51

All right. I like that. So uh moving on. In January of 2001, they performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa.

unknown 1:11:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:00

Look at that. A week earlier, they had started their black and blue tour, uh, which featured shows in five continents. It was put on hold in July when AJ had to enter rehab.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:13

Oh, AJ.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:14

Um yeah, Kevin actually was the one who led an intervention for him.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:21

Like there was he didn't show up for a rehearsal or something. They actually like broke into his house and he locked himself in a room. It was it was bad. Um, but AJ says to this day, if it wasn't for Kevin and the other band members confronting him, he wouldn't have gone. So so he went to rehab, got got sober, um, and then the tour resumed in August, concluded in November, which I have to say, as being close to several people who um had to go through a journey like that, I can't imagine being on tour where all your vices are met, right? Going to rehab, getting clean, and then re-entering the exact same scene. That's rough. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people live in like a halfway house when you come out of rehab to kind of slowly integrate. It's kind of like when you, you know, some when you get out of jail sometimes, you're in a half to to help that transition. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:16

Cause I mean, I don't I don't know for sure, but isn't that one thing they kind of talk about is avoiding the environments that feed. Yeah. And it doesn't sound like the other band members were feeding that, but the lifestyle and the triggers are there.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:30

Yes, and he I mean, he was drinking, he was doing drugs, it was lots of things. Yeah. Um, so back in they got back on tour, they stopped in November of that year of tw of 2001, and then that fall in October, they released their first compilation album called The Hits Chapter One. They never had a chapter two. Oh. But it was a little early for a hits album. It seems strange. And I won't go over all the songs because we've already talked about them, but it was um, it features 15 songs of like their big hits so far, and then they had one new song called Drowning. Um, the hits debuted and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, um, with only like 197,000 copies, which is a lot. Um, it was kind of skimpy compared to the other sales.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:18

Yeah. But you know, with Boys to Men, they kept doing that too. I know. Remember, they had like and now there's a hits album, even though they've only had two albums or whatever it was. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:27

Right. So the band itself wasn't ready to put out a greatest hits album. They were like, we don't want to do this yet, because what they wanted to do was to release it in 2003 on their 10th anniversary of becoming a group. Oh, because they were a group in April '93.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:41

So they were like, Well, we want to do that on our 10-year anniversary, which I think probably would have been better. Yeah. Um, but Jive Records said, nope, we're doing it anyway. And from a marketing perspective, it would have been better. But again, the record company is just trying to sell your popularity for the moment. I know. So back to some more legal things. 2002, we arrive, and the group is ready to leave their management company, the firm, and their record label Jive Records. Um, however, at this time, Nick was working with them on managing his solo career as well. Um, Baxter Boys ended up in a legal battle with Zamba Music Group. Um, that is Jive Records' parent company, so that's just the legal, whatever. Uh, they said that Zomba purposely stalled approving songs for their fourth album, the one that they were gonna do after Black and Blue, to avoid paying um a contractual five million dollar advance. And instead of doing that, they pushed Nick Carter's solo album Now or Never at the expense of the band. So they were felt like they were being pushed to the side after they already had an agreement because they wanted to promote Nick instead. And not pay out$500 million. Correct. And actually, ironically, Nick was part of the group lawsuit.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:01

I was gonna say, I wonder how Nick felt about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:03

He was part of it. Sounds like he didn't like that. Right. Wait, the group lawsuit meaning with the band. He was with the band, even though it was about his solo career. Right. Well, so it's interesting. Right. Because really, no matter what happens, he's gonna benefit. True. I don't know. So anyway, um, so they they looked they sought over$75 million in damages plus another 20 to 25 million, and then they wanted to end their contract with Drive Records. Um, and at at this time, they were still involved in the in legal stuff with Lou Pearlman. Because remember, like I said, all that so they had a lot of crap going on. So they reached some type of settlement. I couldn't find the exact details. Um, and then after a couple years hiatus, the group actually reconciled with the label for their comeback album. What? Yeah, but I mean it's business, whatever. It is so they had a couple year hiatus, and during this time in November 2003, AJ actually went on Oprah. Did you watch a clip of that at all? Yes. Okay. He went on Oprah to talk about his recovery journey. Um, he had relapsed and then went back to rehab in 2002, which is pretty common. I I I can think of the addicts. I know that most of them went to have gone to rehab more than once because it's hard. I I mean, like this is like a really lame in comparison, but I think about when I was a smoker, I had to like quit probably three or four times before it stuck.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:32

I mean, that's true of any habit, even ones that aren't addicting, right? Like anything, whether it's good you're trying to do, like working out or whatever, or if you're trying to stop, you know, doing something, even if it's like a mindset shift. Oh, yeah. Oh, I'm gonna be more positive, I'm gonna be more grateful. Like, you don't get it right on the first try. No, and you have to keep at it.

Comeback Album And Kevin Leaves

SPEAKER_00 1:16:53

And the brain chemistry stuff with um addictive personalities is a whole thing. So definitely it's really tricky. Um, so, anyways, so while he was there on Oprah, um, the rest of the Baxtery boys showed up as a surprise. Oh, and they um they wanted to show up and give their support and kind of tell their story with him. And that was the first time they had been seen in public together in a while. Um, so after that, they began to kind of reform and they said, Okay, let's let's work on a comeback album like the this upcoming year. So January 2004, they started working on a comeback album called Never Gone, the first single, Incomplete. Do you remember that song? Incomplete. And listening to it now, knowing AJ's journey before that, makes it really like go listen to that song.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:43

Um very emotional.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:45

It is, it's it is. It was released uh on the radio March 28th of 2005, and then they started their up close and personal tour that same month. The full album came out that summer in June and debuted at number three. So it I it was better than the album before. It was, but again, it was a drastic style pivot. Um, it kind of avoided their pop sound completely and kind of focused more on the pop rock like adult contemporary sound. They were older, they were doing something different, but I felt like it worked better on this album than it their little shift for the last one.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:19

Um, and it was their first album to incorporate live instrumentation throughout. So, because like they had electronics, like soundboard stuff, and this one had live drums, live guitar, you know, that kind of stuff on the album. Um, and they hadn't done an album together in four years. So it was kind of a big deal. So they started tour that summer, July 22nd, and then ended, or I put look the year 200. That's I left off a number, guys. It's 2005. That makes sense. And then they concluded their tour in February 2006 in Australia. But in June of that year, Kevin announced he was leaving the group to uh do you remember when he was gone for a while?

SPEAKER_01 1:19:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:05

Okay. And it was amicable. He said he was just ready. You know, he was the oldest, so he was older at this time. He's like, I'm a grown-ass man in a boy band. What am I doing? Um, and he was ready to kind of do some other things. He had they he had like this whole letter they put on their website. Um, the group said, the door's always open and we're not gonna replace you. In fact, they turned down an offer for a reality show that was gonna have a contest to be the new fifth member, and they said, nope, we're not, we're not gonna replace him. It's just gonna be the four of us. I'm glad they did that. Um, because like you gotta think how hard they worked, and then it's like it's not the same. Not that there's anything wrong with replacing a member.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:43

What is it?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:43

Like Queen has replaced members, Journey has replaced members. I think I think there's a difference between like finding someone that's a good fit and holding a reality competition. I know. You know what I mean? Yeah, it's different. Yeah, like Adam Lambert is great, they found him because he performed with them on American Idol, and they were like, shit. But that seemed like then that's organic. Right, that's what I mean. Because it's like, oh, this actually works. Right. That's what I mean. Yeah, yeah. So, um, so two days after Kevin announced his departure, the remaining four uh started recording their sixth album, Unbreakable. So they filmed it with just the four of them. It debuted in October 2007, and then they had a worldwide tour. These fuckers tour, like they do not play. Um two years later, in October of 2009, they released another album. I got kind of tired with my research at this point. I'm gonna be real.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:34

That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:35

Uh and it was called This Is Us. They had another tour that lasted a whole other year and had 123 shows. Jeez. The reason I like to say number, well, your numbers, a numbers uh girly.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:47

But I also think it's important to show, like, this they worked.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:51

Yeah. Like they ain't 123 is so many.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:54

Listen, we'd be crying. We have four shows in a weekend. Or like, this show I'm only gonna do 16 performances over a month. But also, if we were paid to do it, it'd be different. Totally. Because we're also doing that show while we have a whole full life. And a tour is a huge moneymaker. Oh, absolutely. Between the tickets, the merch, then people continue to buy your music more.

Cruises Reunions And Late Career Runs

SPEAKER_01 1:21:19

Like, it's literally there's a reason I don't even know how many Taylor Swift did any year with Eros. I'm sure it was more than that. Who knows? And like, shh, she doesn't need the money, but like the amount of money just for that is unbelievable.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:34

It's crazy. So during this time, Backstreet Boys had a cruise. Remember how we talked about new kids on the block cruise? And Boys to Men. Oh, yeah, and Boys to Men. So this was like a thing. So they started in uh December 2010. It was a fan exclusive, full ship charter event. It had concerts, themed parties, and close fan interaction.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:53

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:54

Um, they partnered with Carnival and Royal Caribbean for this. They had theme nights, group activities, and also like rare opportunity for fans to interact with all five of them. Now, I don't, I guess they got Kevin mixed in on that because he would still kind of come in and out of things. So he every now and then he'd pop up for the case.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:11

He's like, cruise, I'm there.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:13

Okay, so the Backstreet Boys cruises continued until 2018. So in May of 2011, they uh finally left Drive Records. Wow, took him that long, and they also announced they were gonna go on a joint tour with New Kids on the Block called NKO T B S B.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:33

Oh, that's so fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:34

Yep. I was there, guys. I talked about this on the New Kids episode. Um, and I have some pictures on my phone. Um, prior to the tour, uh, they actually released a compilation album with the New Kids that had both of their some of their collective biggest hits, New Kids and Backstreet, and then they had some mashups they did together, and then all that. It's really good. Go listen to it. Okay. Um so the tour uh started in May of 2011 and lasted until June of 2012, and they had 80 shows in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. So here this is the one. If y'all listen to our new kids episode, my sister and I went in Kansas City. Um I had bought her tickets for her birthday that year, and we were determined to have good seats because y'all heard my story about how they were like ants. I think my sister said that. We had the best seats, and I showed y'all pictures last time of Donnie being right behind us. You ready for the back street? I'm ready. Okay, hold. Well, ah fuck. This was the first picture I got. Oh my god, it's so good. Of them entering. It is giving millennium album cover. Oh, there we go. I love it. Then here they are right in front of us. Hold. Oh. Wow. I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:49

Oh, those are hard.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:50

I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:50

That's such a good seat.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:52

And don't you worry, this is my favorite one. This is when they sang Back Streets Back. Wow, look at how he getting down with his bad self. Get down. Um, I think there was one more. Oh, we had a picture. This is, I think they were like all starting to come on stage together. Me and my sister. We were like, let's take a picture. Can y'all see him right behind us? Yeah. We were like, let's take a picture to show that we are actually close. Right. Because, like, and yeah, this is when I think one, two, three, four. Yeah, this is them all together. They were coming on all together. That's so great. And um, so anyway, I had to show these pictures. So I will say smart marketing, because two groups, maybe two different generations, because think about my sister who is Gen X, and then we're in between, you know, and then you get some millennials too.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:48

So you get a whole broad span of people. So they did that tour and it was it was pretty successful. Um, and I forgot to mention this about Kevin earlier, but since his 2006 departure, Kevin would occasionally have cameos at performances and concerts and stuff. He didn't officially rejoin until spring of 2012. So I think he was on some in some of the concerts at the end of this one. I can't remember if he was there or not. I don't think he was.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:20

That wasn't him in any of those pictures?

SPEAKER_00 1:25:21

I don't think so. I was trying to zoom because the one I showed you was just four people.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:25

I thought the last one you showed me was four.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:27

Well, but Backstreet Boys was coming on with them. Right. So I can't remember. Okay. Um I is he in that picture? Well, see, there's Jordan, Joey, and then you had Backstreet. Yeah, that's what I was trying to look for. So he may have been there and he may not have. Right. One, two, three, four. Yeah, that's only four of them. And then that's but I think that might be there's one, two, three, four, five, six people. I think they were all on state. So I think it was just the four of them when we saw. So anyway, neither here nor there. But he um he's back. He came back in spring of 2012, and the first single they released with all five of their vocals again was a Christmas song. Yay! And it was called It's Christmas Time Again. It premiered on AOL Music, everybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:13

Get out of here.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:13

Yep. Uh they celebrated their 20th anniversary on April 20th, 2013. They had a big fan celebration, um, and then they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame two days later. And then it was uh declared Baxtery Boys Day in Hollywood. So they have several in lots of different cities. Um, to May 2013, the group started another tour called In a World Like This. It lasted over two years. They had 170 shows in multiple continents. Their first album released under their own independent music label called K-Bon, which is capital K hyphen, capital B, capital A, capital H, capital N. Do you know why it's called that?

SPEAKER_01 1:26:57

It's their initial names. It's their name, which is better than just their names, which is what Boys to Men did.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:02

Yes. Um, and it was the title of their album was in a world like this. So um it came out in June 25th, 2013. Here's a fun little movie fact, a couple of them for you. Baxter Boys made a cameo in the movie This Is the End. Have you seen this one? It has Seth Rogan and um the guy from the office who is the janitor. I forget his name. It's so funny, and I forgot they were in it. Um, they're like in heaven. And they play a fictionalized version of themselves and they perform everybody parentheses backstreets back. I sent you the clip, so go look at it later. I will. Um, they also released a documentary movie titled Backstreet Boys Show 'em what you're made of, uh, in theaters in January of 2015. It's on Amazon Prime for free. I have been watching little bits of it because I didn't realize that it was a thing until I was finishing up my research yesterday. I didn't I don't have time, guys. You know how it'd be. Look, I'd be doing

SPEAKER_01 1:28:00

It at 4 a.m. I know. It's like we'll be it's listen.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:03

I cannot get up at 4 a.m. when I'm I don't get home from rehearsal until midnight.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:06

I'd be doing it day up sometimes. I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:08

So we just do the best we can. Yes, we do. But I was watching bits of it and it's really pretty good. Um they filmed it. Uh it was it's really about their entire like career journey um up to the making of this album that we're talking about right now. And it was interesting watching their process. I and I'm gonna go into more of it when I get into the members' research. But Brian was having some vocal problems at the time, uh like kind of like some vocal paralysis, but it was like a mind-body thing, and but it was weird because like they got into this big fight because nobody really wanted to talk about it, and like Nick was getting all mad. That was just one part of the movie, but they went back to all their childhood homes. Like it was good. I it was like this is a really interesting documentary, so I recommend it. Anyway, uh also during this time in August of 2015, Howie, AJ, and Nick filmed a sci-fi network movie that Nick wrote called Dead Seven, and it was about a ragtag band of gunslingers operating during a post-um apocalypse zombie plague.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:08

What is happening?

SPEAKER_00 1:29:09

I love it though.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:10

I know that's so creative.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:12

Uh yeah, I I that that was on my list of things to look up when I ran out of time, so I will do that for the next one. Uh, they had a Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood from March 1st, 2017 to April 27th, 2019. Um, they got a key to that city too, y'all, and another Backstreet Boys Day was declared. My goodness. So all the Backstreet Boys days.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:33

Go to a city any day. Yeah. And it will be Backstreet Boys Day. I know. Pick, yeah. Pick a pick a city.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:40

Their ninth studio album was titled DNA, and it came out in January 2019. They were supposed to have a tour that May, um, but then they eventually had to postpone most of it because of the pandemic in 2020. Uh so April 2019, they actually opened an exhibit at the Grammy Museum, which had like various outfits from their tours and concerts and childhood memorabilia. I don't I don't. I mean, we saw that with the new kids on the block, especially.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:08

People were very obsessed with like I mean, I would go see that. Their their homes, their families, where they went to school.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:14

If there was a lunchbox to be had, people would probably want to see that. Like well, because it makes them more human, I think. And I mean that goes way back. Like even Elvis. Oh, listen, I've been to Graceland. It's fascinating, and I want to go back. Yeah, you're right. Oops, sorry. That's my husband.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:30

It's Troy. Hi.

Recent Controversies And New Vegas Plans

SPEAKER_00 1:30:31

Sorry. Um, so I sent him the video of me busting my ass in rehearsal last night. I'm sure he has a comment about that. The funniest thing is it's so it's just that's just of course of course you tell Danny to be a princess just for like five seconds, and I bust my ass and fall on my face. Hey, that's where we are. So October 2022, uh, they came out with their first Christmas album, even though they had that Christmas song before. And it was called A Very Backstreet Christmas. It's so cute. Uh, the first two singles they released did very well, but I don't remember them.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:04

What are they?

SPEAKER_00 1:31:04

Last Christmas and then Christmas in New York. I think I've heard of both of them, but yeah. But however, due to sexual assault allegations against Nick Carter, many of the pol publicity appearances during that time and interviews were canceled. Yikes. Uh, we'll go into more of that when we get to part two.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:25

Okay. I haven't researched it yet at all.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:28

Uh December of 24, they performed at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting live on NBC, and I remember watching that. Uh, February 2, 2025, they announced a residency titled Into the Millennium. I don't know why. Uh, at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Um, they kept releasing expanded dates. Um not expanded, extended dates. Okay. Then they also released an expanded version of their Millennium album called Millennium 2.0. Um, they came out with that last summer to celebrate its 25th anniversary. If you want to feel old. They have one new single on there called Hey, and it's fun, so go listen to it. Um, since their second and successful, which matters, commercial on the Super Bowl, did you see it this year? It's a T-Mobile commercial. Yes. And people are like crying and stuff. Yes. Yeah. Um back in February, the band has said that um they want to do the Super Bowl halftime show this year.

unknown 1:32:26

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:26

This upcoming year. Now, will it happen? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:28

I thought they already picked someone for the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:30

They probably did, but they said they want to do it. So anyway, they did a Super Bowl commercial in 2019 with um Chance the Rapper for Doritos. Yeah. And it was awful, and it got horrible, horrible feedback. I don't remember that one, but isn't there the one where they're in the picture frame and she's doing her laundry? It's probably Gina. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:50

And she's doing her laundry.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:52

Oh, yeah. And they've done several. They've done several commercials. Yes. But I'm just talking about Super Bowl commercials.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:58

And then she quotes in sync and they're like, No, wrong group.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:00

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's for Fabriz. Is it Fabriz or Downey or something? I think it was Downey. Something. Yeah. Um, but anyway, so that brings us to the end. Uh, there was still way more. It's you will see why it's so hard to do these group researches because there is so much there. And they're like, you can't really leave stuff out. I know. And then we still leave stuff out. But you can actually see Backstreet Boys in concert currently uh on selected dates at the sphere in Vegas. So now I'm like, well, maybe we need to go see New Kids and Backstreet. They're both there at the same time. I'm sure there is a time they overlap. There's got to be. Yeah. Um, and then they'll be in Ger. Uh they're gonna be in Napa Valley for a few dates in May.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:44

Have you ever been to Napa Valley?

SPEAKER_00 1:33:46

No, it's amazing. I've never been, and then they'll be in Germany this fall. So you can see them. You've got chances to see them live if you have yet to see them and do it. And they're still dancing, they're just like new kids. They're still dancing, they're still singing. I don't know what's going on with Brian's voice. We'll find out. I'm assuming he's doing pretty good. So yeah, if he was out there singing.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:04

That's pretty cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:05

I love I love that like uh these groups we're remembering from so long ago, you can still access them. I know it's great. Like voice to men are gonna be in Orlando. I know then we could go to Vegas to see them and new kids, and although that will be the case with InSync.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:22

Yeah. But so far, we can see these other groups, these other boy bands. Um, that's pretty cool. That was so much. I know I told you it's a lot. I'm actually really interested in the individual research too. Oh god, that's gonna take me so long.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:37

I don't know as much, other than that one of the Backstreet boys like lives here by us, and a little bit about him because of that, but like I don't know that much. I didn't even know that Kevin and Brian were cousins till today.

Part Two Tease And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 1:34:50

I know some, and I'm just gonna tell you it's gonna be a haul. It's gonna be a haul. Oh boy, okay. And like I'm I'm sitting here, like eat my snacks is my time. I know, and I'm also you know, I'm in rehearsals right now, and I have to I have to work three times harder than a lot of people because my I'm just a slow learner. So I'm like, I don't know. My husband is so fed up with me. There's no time. I have no time. Like if you're not rehearsing, you're re-researching or I'm practicing what I'm learning in rehearsal. Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:18

But it's fine, and you know, also And Danny is teaching online fitness classes now, right? Right. You would you should post on our socials about that for our listeners who maybe somehow didn't catch it in your other one because anyone, any listener anywhere in the world, yeah, international can access her live online classes and on demand.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:36

Yeah, the crazy thing is I only had four people live with me that day, but it three different countries were represented. That's so that's crazy, right? It's so fun. So I can't wait to see what happens with that. But yeah, oh yeah, also like all of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:48

So listeners, um, we'll make sure we get that up on our special stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:51

Oh, and Katie's book. Well, April 21. I guess we could do a post on each, another one. I think we did one when it went on pre-order. Maybe we'll wait till mine launches and post again. Let's do that, and then we'll do your yeah. So follow us on all the things. Next week is part two. We'll go more into the depths on each person if I can get through it. So we'll do it. All right, all right, everybody. Thanks for joining. Bye.