Background and career
Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group and pop boy band consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The group rose to fame with their debut album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year, they released their second album, Backstreet's Back (1997), along with their self-titled U.S. album, Backstreet Boys (1997), which continued the group's worldwide success. They rose to superstardom with their third studio album Millennium (1999), anchored by the worldwide hit "I Want It That Way" and its follow-up album, Black & Blue (2000). They also released a greatest hits album, The Hits – Chapter One (2001). After a two-year hiatus, they regrouped and released a comeback album, Never Gone (2005). After the conclusion of the Never Gone Tour in 2006, Richardson left the group to pursue other interests. The group then released two albums as a quartet: Unbreakable (2007) and This Is Us (2009). Richardson rejoined the group in 2012. In 2013, they celebrated their 20th anniversary and released their first independent album, In a World Like This. Their follow-up album DNA (2019) debuted at number one, nineteen years after they last topped the chart in 2000. They also became the first boy band to top the U.S. album charts in three decades. In 2022, they released their first Christmas album, A Very Backstreet Christmas. They celebrated their 30th anniversary on April 20, 2023. In July 2025, they released Millennium 2.0, a reissued and remastered version of their third album, Millennium, with additional B-sides, live tracks, and demos. The Backstreet Boys have sold over 150 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling boy band of all time and one of the world's best-selling music artists. They are the first group since Led Zeppelin to have their first ten albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, and the only boy band to do so. The albums Backstreet Boys and Millennium were both certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making them one of the few bands to have multiple diamond albums. The group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 22, 2013 (2 days after their 20th anniversary). They released a documentary film, titled Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of in January 2015. In March 2017, the group began a concert residency in Las Vegas that lasted two years, titled Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life. In July 2025, they launched their second Las Vegas residency, Backstreet Boys: Into the Millennium, at the Sphere.
Howie Dorough and AJ McLean, natives of Orlando, Florida, met through a mutual vocal coach and later discovered Nick Carter through auditions. The three, realizing they could harmonize, decided to form a trio. Cousins Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, both from Lexington, Kentucky, sang in local church choirs and festivals when they were children. Richardson moved to Orlando in 1990, where he worked at Walt Disney World and concentrated on music at night. In 1992, Lou Pearlman placed an ad in the Orlando Sentinel to create a vocal group with the "New Kids on the Block" look with a "Boyz II Men Sound". McLean, who was the first to audition for Pearlman in his living room, became the group's first member. Between late 1992 and March 1993, Pearlman held open casting calls and hundreds of young performers auditioned at his blimp hangar in Kissimmee, Florida. Ultimately, Carter, Dorough, and Richardson were selected after meeting Pearlman's expectations. Littrell flew from Kentucky to Orlando to formally join the group on April 20, 1993, a day after receiving a phone call from Richardson about it. Thus, April 20 became their anniversary date. Pearlman decided to call them Backstreet Boys, after Orlando's Backstreet Market, an outdoor flea market near International Drive which was also a teen hangout. The Backstreet Boys performed their first show at SeaWorld Orlando on May 8, 1993. The group then continued to perform in various venues during summer 1993, from shopping malls, restaurants, to a high-profile charity gala in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. With a change in management in the fall, they began to tour schools across the U.S., building a fan base while trying to get a record deal. Mercury Records nearly signed them in 1993, but the deal fell through at the last minute because longtime Mercury recording artist John Mellencamp threatened to leave the label if they got into the boy band business. In February 1994, Jeff Fenster (then senior VP A&R Zomba/JIVE Records) and David Renzer (then senior VP/GM of 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 with Max Martin and Denniz PoP, including "We've Got It Goin' On," which ended up being their first single and completed their work in January 1995. "We've Got It Goin' On" was sent to radio in August 1995 and released as a physical single on September 5, 1995. In North America, Mix 96 in Montreal broke the group after the programmers heard it on the radio in Europe. 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 to mainly being done in Europe.
The group finished recording their first album Backstreet Boys in the spring of 1996. 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. "I'll Never Break Your Heart" reached Gold status in Germany, selling 250,000 copies. They were voted the No. 1 international group there in 1996. They also earned their first platinum record in Germany in 1996 for selling 500,000 copies of their debut album. Shortly after that, 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. "Anywhere for You" was released as the last single from their international debut album on February 17, 1997. "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)", initially released in Europe as their fourth single in October 1996, was released in the U.S. in May 1997 for their self-titled U.S. debut album. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually earning a platinum award for selling over 1,000,000 copies. The group began working on their second album, Backstreet's Back, in October 1996. They also recorded the song "If You Stay" for the Booty Call soundtrack in the same year, which was released in February 1997. Backstreet's Back was released internationally (except in the U.S.) on August 11, 1997. Their self-titled U.S. debut album, Backstreet Boys (1997), which consisted of songs from their 1996 international debut album and Backstreet's Back, was released in the U.S. a day later, on August 12, 1997. The U.S. self-titled debut peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. album chart and eventually sold 14 million copies. Meanwhile, the second international release, Backstreet's Back, peaked at No. 1 in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria, selling well over five million copies in Europe alone. The most successful singles from Backstreet's Back and the U.S. debut album were "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "As Long As You Love Me". The two self-titled albums, the international debut and the U.S. debut, sold more than 28 million copies worldwide. In November 1997, doctors discovered that a congenital hole in Littrell's heart had enlarged to dangerous proportions. Littrell postponed open-heart surgery to meet touring obligations. He underwent heart surgery on May 8, 1998, in the middle of the Backstreet's Back Tour. The group postponed the tour until July 1998 to give Littrell time to recover.
Littrell filed a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman and Trans Continental in 1998, claiming that Pearlman had not been truthful about the group's earnings. 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, McLean, Richardson, and Dorough joined the lawsuit, which eventually resulted in several settlements. On Valentine's Day 1998, the group debuted in Latin America at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile. Later that year, on October 7, 1998, the group received the keys to the city from the mayor of Orlando in honor of the tornado relief concert the group headlined in March that raised over $250,000. The day was also declared "Backstreet Boys Day" in Orlando. They also began recording their third studio album, Millennium, at the beginning of that month while in the midst of a lawsuit. The worldwide hit single "I Want It That Way", which topped the singles charts in over 25 countries, made anticipation for Millennium high. 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 entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1 and sold 1,134,000 copies in its first week of release. Four singles were released from Millennium: "I Want It That Way", which is widely regarded as one of the greatest pop songs of all time, "Larger than Life", "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely", and "The One". Millennium became the best-selling album of 1999 in the U.S., selling 9,445,732 copies. It also holds the record for most shipments in one year, with 11 million shipments. Millennium remained on the Billboard chart for 93 weeks, eventually selling over 12 million copies in the United States and being certified 13 times platinum. As of January 2013, the album stands as the fourth-best selling album in the U.S. of the SoundScan era. On June 2, 1999, the Backstreet Boys embarked on the Into the Millennium Tour, which comprised 115 sold-out shows in 84 cities, with some additional dates scheduled due to high demand. The second leg, which was sponsored by Sears, sold out on August 14, its sale date, and broke sales records. The concert at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, was the 5th-most attended concert in American history and the most attended concert by a pop artist. By October 1999, the Backstreet Boys faced new problems, declaring their current JIVE contract null and void, soon striking one of the largest record deals ever – valued at $60 million with JIVE.
The group members made a trip to the Bahamas in May 2000 to write songs for their fourth album. They began recording the album on July 1, 2000, in Stockholm, Sweden, and wrapped up the recording sessions in September. A song completed during the July recording sessions, "It's True", was released on August 28, 2000, in a compilation album sold exclusively at Burger King restaurants, titled For the Fans. The album, Black & Blue, was released on November 21, 2000. The album recorded the best international sales in a week for an album in history by selling over 5 million copies in its first week. In the United States, it sold 1.6 million discs in the first week making them the first artist since the Beatles to achieve back-to-back million plus first week sales. To promote its release, they traveled around the world in 100 hours, visiting Stockholm, Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City. Fifty-five hours were spent traveling, and 45 were spent making public appearances. A DVD of the short tour was released in 2001, titled Around the World. Three singles were released from Black & Blue: "Shape of My Heart", "The Call", and "More than That". On January 28, 2001, the Backstreet Boys performed the American national anthem at the Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, Florida. A week earlier, the group began the "Black & Blue Tour," which featured shows in five continents. The tour was put on hold in July when it was reported that McLean had entered rehab to battle alcoholism and depression after Richardson held an intervention for him at a Boston hotel. The tour resumed in August and concluded in November. The Hits – Chapter One, their first compilation album, was released on October 23, 2001. It also included a previously unreleased song, "Drowning". The album entered the top 5 in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Canada, and the top 10 in Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. In the U.S., The Hits: Chapter One was certified platinum for selling over one million copies. It was also certified platinum by IFPI for selling over one million copies in Europe. "Drowning" reached top 10 in many countries and as of 2002, the album had sold almost six million worldwide.
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 Carter's solo album Now or Never at the expense of the group. In November 2003, McLean appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about his addiction to alcohol and drugs and his struggles in 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.
