Still fight in the boys

Still fight in the boys
When all the other boy bands they helped spawn have come and gone, the Backstreet Boys have reinvented themselves -- again.
November 06, 2008
London Free Press

On this tour, the Backstreet Boys give new meaning to hitting the stage.

A boxing ring is rolled forward onto the stage as a hammed-up fight announcement is issued from the speakers, introducing the band: Nick Carter. Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A.J. McLean.

Clad in boxing robes, the band bounces around the ring and kicks into Larger Than Life, a hit off its 1999 Millennium album. Within seconds, the Boys return in leather jackets and black T-shirts and launch into Everyone off their Black and Blue record.

Sometimes, Dorough wears a Black Sabbath T. Well, it is a different look for the still-influential Boys.

You could argue that if it weren't for the Backstreet Boys, there would not be an 'N Sync -- or a Justin Timberlake. Well, you could argue that.

More safely, you could say if it weren't for the Backstreet Boys there might not have been Boyzone, 98 Degrees, React, b4-4, Westlife, Plus One, Dreamstreet, Wave, 5ive, O-Town, a1, the Moffatts, Savage Garden, LFO, Marshall Dyllon, I.D., 2Gether, mytown, soulDecision, BBMak, 911, Take 5 or McMaster & James. (Fans who recall that the last Moffatts concert ever took place at Centennial Hall on Aug. 25, 2001, can take a bow here.)

Other fans will already know the Backstreet Boys return to the John Labatt Centre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

It's never been dull around the Boys. Initially managed by Lou Pearlman (who helped spawn 'N Sync but later faced 25 years in a U.S. prison for financial crimes) and Johnny Wright, the group first met phenomenal success overseas.

Its 1996 self-titled debut sold more than 7.5 million copies internationally, and the 1997 follow-up, Backstreet's Back, shifted 10.2 million units worldwide.

For the next few years, the Backstreet Boys were unstoppable. Millennium (1999) sold a then-record-breaking 1.1 million copies in its first week of U.S. sales (a record later shattered by 'N Sync's No Strings Attached, which sold 2.4 million). It hit No. 1 in 25 countries, leading to worldwide sales of 21.6 million.

There was a problem. The Boys churned out albums even when they thought they needed time off.

"When it's no fun anymore, that's the big thing. I think across the board, none of us were having fun," Littrell says.

The fun stopped completely when McLean's entry into rehab in 2001 forced the band to postpone their Black & Blue tour. Soon after that, the band decided it was time to take a longer break to reassess their future.

The Backstreet Boys scattered, and pursued their individual goals for the first time in years. Carter released a solo album that fared poorly; Littrell and his wife had a baby; Kevin Richardson appeared on Broadway in Chicago; McLean concentrated on his sobriety, while Dorough focused on producing and writing songs for other acts.

Oprah Winfrey deserves some credit for getting the group back together. On a show focusing on McLean's battles with substance abuse, she coaxed the remaining Backstreet Boys to surprise him on air. After the emotional reunion, the group holed up in a hotel room and started talking about a comeback.

"There was probably even some doubt among us when we first started talking about it," says Dorough. "But I think no matter what we did individually . . . we all realized our strength was among the five of us together."

Original member Richardson left the band in 2006. "There's some things I need to do first, for me," McLean recalled Richardson saying after a 2005 concert.

The group had been discussing "when we wanted to start recording again," McLean says. "Everyone was ready, but that was the first time Kevin put it out in the atmosphere that he wasn't."

In June 2006, Richardson made the official statement he was moving on to "pursue other interests."

Although all were supportive of Richardson's decision, McLean says replacing him was never even an option. They turned down an offer to star in a reality show to find a new member, and opted against changing the group name to Backstreet.

"This is a new band, but this is a brand, and it's the Backstreet Boys," McLean says.

The latest transition began for the Backstreet Boys with the 2005 album Never Gone, released five years on from their chart-dominating pop glory days.

By that time, their boy band contemporaries had faded from the limelight, and their second acts were meeting with mixed results. Timberlake found great solo success outside of 'N Sync, but 98 Degrees fizzled as group member Nick Lachey hawked his solo album on an MTV reality show and became tabloid fodder for his brief marriage to Jessica Simpson.

Despite all that, thanks a bunch, Backstreet Boys.

You were the originators of the new wave of teen pop, the first commando forces in the boy band invasion of the late 1990s.

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BACKSTREET BOYS STORY

1992: Orlando, the happiest place on Earth: pop impresario Lou Pearlman getS a stirring in his loins when he realizes the world needs a new boy group and he's just the guy who can make all the money. An ad is placed: "Producer seeks male teen singers that move well." The seed is planted. There would be more.

1993: After numerous rounds of auditions, the final lineup is chosen: Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean and Nick Carter. The Boys perform their first concert at Sea World. Girls scream. The American music press does not.

1994: The Boys release their first single, We've Got It Going On. It tanks.

1995: But the Europeans love it, being frightfully ahead of the curve on such things. The Boys tour and conquer Europe.

1996: The Boys tour Canada.

1997: Armed with glowing press from the UK (and Canada), the Boys release Quit Playing Games With My Heart, an instant hit in America. The self-titled second album, which would eventually sell 10 million copies, is the No. 3 record of the year. The era of boy bands begins.

1998: Legal battle with Pearlman. Demise of group is predicted, even though the Boys are nominated for best new artist at the Grammys. They don't win. Rival boy band 'N Sync appears.

1999: Demise is predicted. Boys release third album, Millennium, which sets a record for the highest first-week sales ever, with 1.1 million.

2000: Demise is predicted. Boys appear on the cover of Rolling Stone without pants, are nominated for five Grammy awards. The merchandising juggernaut hits high gear with everything from comic books to action dolls. 'N Sync snatches the boy band crown with first- week sales of 2.4 million for No Strings Attached. The Boys' fourth album, Black & Blue, is released, .

2001: The Boys announce a world tour, but trouble strikes when the band announces A.J. will enter rehab for alcohol abuse and depression. Dates are postponed, A.J. is released and the tour continues. Demise of group is predicted, but not as confidently. There is speculation that the group disbanded entirely at some point. McLean insists that was never the case. "We kind of took a small break," he says of the time off. "We needed a break, mind you -- we were touring for pretty much nine years straight."

2003: Backstreet's members find their way back together, when they surprise McLean on the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he'd come to discuss his drug problem. "I cried like a little girl," McLean says.

2005: The Boys play London's John Labatt Centre in September with 8,000 screaming fans welcoming them.

2006: Kevin Richardson leaves, Boys continue as a quartet.

2008: The Boys are back at the JLC.

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IF YOU GO

What: Concert by U.S. pop group the Backstreet Boys. Canadian R&B star Divine Brown is also on the bill.

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: John Labatt Centre

Details: $49.50, $65.50 plus applicable charges and fees. Call 1-866-455-2849 or visit johnlabattcentre.com