Backstreet boys
Formed
Year : 1993
Location: Orlando , Florida
Members
Alexander James McLean ( AJ, bone daddy, Johnny no name, Mr. Cool )
Brian Thomas Littrell ( B-Rok, Bri, Rok, Frick)
Kevin Scott Richardson ( kev, Kevy Kev, Train)
Nickolas Gene Carter ( Nick, Kaos, Nicky, Frack, Messy Marvin, Junior)
The founder : Lou Pearman ( 1954 - 2016 died in prison)
manager : Johnny Wright ( 1993- 1998, 2004- present)
Labels: Jive (1993 - 2011), BMG, K-BAHN, Legacy, RCA ( current)
Genres : pop, dance pop, R&B, teen pop, pop rock, adult Contemporary
Howie and Aj were natives of Orlando, Florida, who met each other through a mutual vocal coach and later discovered Nickthrough auditions.The three, realizing that they could harmonize together, decided to form a trio.
Cousins Kevin and Brian both from Lexington ,Kentucky sang in local church choirs and festivals when they were children.
In 1992 Lou placed an ad in the Orlando Sentinel to compose a vocal group. Aj was the first to audition for lou in his livingroom becoming the the first member. During the late 1992 - March 1993 Nick, Howie, and Kevin were ultimately selected after meeting Lou's expectations.
1993 Brian flew from Kentucky to Orlando to join the group on April 20, 1993 after receiving a phone call from his cousin at school about the group. Thus, April 20 became their anniversary date.
Lou decided to call them Backstreet Boys, after Orlando's Backstreet Market, an outdoor flea market which was which was also a teen hangout.
On May 8, 1993 the backstreet boys had their first performance at SeaWorld Orlando.
The group then continued to perform in various venues during summer 1993, from shopping malls, restaurants, to a high-profile charity gala ,With a change in management in the fall, they began to tour schools across the U.S.
February 1994, Jeff Fenster (then senior VP A&R Zomba/JIVE Records) and David Renzer (then senior VP/GMof Zomba Music Publishing) saw the group performing at a high school in Cleveland and signed them to their first record deal.
At the end of December 1994, the group flew to Sweden to record some songs with Max Martin and Dennis Pop including " we've got it going on"which ended up being their first single and completed their work in January 1995. The song was a minor success in the U.S., peaking at only No. 69 by December 1995,but it entered the top 5 in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, and the Netherlands.
European success sent them there on a summer tour and shifted their promotion being mostly done in Europe.
The spring of 1996 the group finished recording their first album Backstreet boys and it was released internationally on May 6, 1996,excluding U.S. and Canada; however, it was later released in Canada in October 1996.
Their popularity grew in Europe. They also earned their first platinum record in Germany in 1996 for selling 500,000 copies of their debut album and shortly thereafter they began touring Asia and Canada.
They also became one of the most successful debut artists in the world, collecting awards such as Durchstarter (Best Newcomers) in Germany's Viva Comet awards in 1996.
"Quite playing games( with my Heart)"originally released in Europe as their fourth single in October 1996, was released in the U.S. in May 1997 for their upcoming self titled U.S debut album .
It managed to peak at No. 4 on the billboard hot 100eventually earning them a platinum-award for selling over one million copies.
In November 1997, doctors discovered that a congenital hole in Brian's heart had enlarged to dangerous proportions. Brian had postponed the surgery twice to meet touring obligations, and he finally underwent the surgery on May 8, 1998, in the middle of the Backstreet Back tour The group postponed the tour until July 1998 to give Brian time to recover.
Brian brought in a lawsuit against Louand Trans Continental in 1998, claiming that Pearlman had not been truthful about the earnings made by the group. From 1993 to 1997, Pearlman and his company took about $10 million in revenue while the band only got $300,000.
In the following year,Aj, Kevin, and Howie joined the lawsuit which eventually resulted in a number of settlements.
Millennium was released on May 18, 1999, on which day the Backstreet Boys made a heavily publicized appearance on MTV's Total Request live .
The album, Black & Blue, was released on November 21, 2000.
The Hits – Chapter One, their first compilation album, was released on October 23, 2001.
In 2002, the group expressed a strong desire to leave their management company, The Firm.However, Carter chose to remain with The Firm to manage his solo career. Shortly afterward, the rest of the group began recording their next album without him. The relationship with JIVE Records worsened when the Backstreet Boys filed a $75–100 million lawsuit against Zomba Music Group (JIVE's parent company), claiming breach of contract. They claimed that the label promoted Nick 's solo album Now or Never at the expense of the group.
In November 2003, Aj appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about his addiction to alcohol and drugs and his struggles rising to fame for the first time in public.The rest of the group surprised him by appearing in person to give him support, marking the first time the Backstreet Boys had appeared together in public in almost two years.
The group began to reform and reconcile their differences, planning to start recording a comeback album at the beginning of the following year.After spending more than a year recording, the Backstreet Boys finally released their comeback album Never Gone on June 14, 2005.
On June 23, 2006, it was announced that Kevin had left the Backstreet Boys to pursue other interests.
Two days after Kevin's departure announcement, the Backstreet Boys entered the studio to record their sixth album. The album, titled Unbreakable, was released on October 30, 2007.
On October 6, 2009, the group released their next album, This Is Us.
A few days after promoting the new album and filming the music video for "Bigger" in Japan, Brian contracted swine flu, causing the group to cancel a signing at Hard Rock Café in New York for the NYC Pinktober event on October 5, 2009.
In May 2011, the group announced that they had left their longtime label JIVE Records. In the same month, they embarked on a joint tour with New Kids on the Block as NKOTBSB.
The Backstreet Boys finally announced that Kevin had rejoined them permanently during a show in London on April 29, 2012.
A few days later, Aj and Brian revealed on separate occasions that Kevin had returned since 2010, before NKOTBSB Tour started.
The Backstreet Boys celebrated their 20th anniversary, which was on April 20, 2013, with a fan celebration event in Hollywood that day. They received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame two days later, and had the day, April 22, 2013, declared as Backstreet Boys Day in Hollywood. In May 2013, the group embarked on their 20th-anniversary tour, officially titled as In a World Like This Tour.
Their documentary movie, titled Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of, was released in theaters and online on January 30, 2015, in the U.S., on February 26, 2015, in UK and Europe, and on March 28 worldwide.
On September 23, the Backstreet Boys confirmed their Vegas residency show happening in 2017, titled Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life.
Albums
Backstreet boys ( self titled debut for Germany 1996)
Backstreet boys ( self titled debut for USA 1997)
Backstreet ( 1997 Germany)
Millennium (1999)
For the fans ( though burger king a set three cds 2000)
Black and Blue (2000)
The greatest hits ( 2001)
Never gone ( 2005)
Unbreakable ( 2007)
This is us ( 2009 )
In a world like this ( 2013)
DNA ( 2019)
A Christmas album ( TBA 2022)
TV
1997
1998
2005The View1998
2010The Oprah Winfrey 1998Sabrina The Teenage Witch1997
1998Live With Regis and Kathie Lee performance1999Saturday Night LiveThemselvesSeason 24, Episode 191998
1999
2000
2001The Rosie O'Donnell ShowThemselves[203][204][205][206]Performance1998-1999All ThatThemselves2001
2005Otro RolloThemselvesPerformance, Special Guests2002Arthur[207]ThemselvesEpisode: "Arthur: It's Only Rock 'N' Roll"2002Sesame Strret Special Guests2003The Oprah Winfrey ShowThemselvesThe boys surprised A.J. McLean as he was talking about his drug addiction2005
2007Live With Regis and KellyThemselves,2009El Hormiguero 2012The View2013This Is the EndCameo appearanceAppear at the end of the film performing "Everybody (Backstreet's Back) 2013El Hormiguero 2015Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of2016Undateable2017Drop the Mic 2018The Voice 2019Live With Kelly and Ryan2020Good Morning America2020Watch What Happens Live 1999Disney Channel In Concert
Cousins Brian and Kevin
Aj, Howie, and Nick
Brian
Kevin
Howie
Aj
Nick