Howie D. for Sarah CD launch

Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys was in Manila recently to join Sarah Geronimo in promoting “I’ll Be There,” the first single from her latest album Just Me which was produced by Christian de Walden of Hollywood.

Howie recorded a duet with the local Pop Princess for the CD. The song, a new original, is titled “I’ll Be There.” It is a composition by Al Taweel and Pamela Philips-Oland, the same team that did one of the most successful duets in pop music history, “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” by Johnny Mathis and Denice Williams.

Sarah was very excited about Howie’s visit. “I feel so honored that he agreed to come here for the launch of my CD,” says Sarah. “Sikat na sikat kasi sya. He is one of the Backstreet Boys. I used to just listen to them or watch them but now ay ka-duet ko na sya.”

Sarah and Howie are scheduled to shoot the music video of “I’ll Be There.” He joined Sarah in Asap 08. This was followed by a performance at the Music Hall of Mall of Asia where they greeted fans and signed autographs. Howie also appeared in MYX with Sarah as the music channel’s celebrity VJs for October.

Howie D reached worldwide fame as a member of the BSB along with AJ Mclean, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and Nick Carter. They have sold 75 million records worldwide and won multiple awards from Billboard, MTV VMA, American Music and People’s Choice Awards, while also consistently selling out concert venues all over the world.

He is the youngest in a family of five who started performing as a kid in Orlando, Florida. He was 19 years old when he auditioned for a musical group that became the Backstreet Boys.

Howie is best known for his falsetto singing which is easily recognizable in hits like “I Want It That Way,” “Drowning,” “The Answer to Our Life,” “The Perfect Fan” and “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely.” He is the lead singer in the songs “Spanish Eyes,” “What Makes You Different Makes You Beautiful,” and “How Did I Fall in Love with You.”

Howie is also an actor who has appeared in commercials, TV series, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Roswell, and feature films like Parenthood, Cop and a Half and others. He also served as music supervisor in one of the latter, the acclaimed independent film Constellation. He has also lent his voice to animated shows like Arthur and Dora the Explorer.

While writing and producing Backstreet Boys projects, Dorough manages other artists. Along with his sister Pollyanna whose debut effort is the Christian crossover album Wings of Hope, his clients include George Nozuka, a Canadian artist with the CD Believe and American Idol Juniors finalist Katelyn Tarver.

Howie has also teamed with his brother John in Sweet D Inc., a real estate development venture whose properties, from six condominiums to their first hotel, the Country Inn & Suites in Cape Canaveral, focus on waterfront property along the east coast of Florida.

He serves as a board member of the Grammy Association’s Florida chapter, where he devotes much time and energy to the Dorough Lupus Foundation, created in memory of his sister Caroline who died of the disease in 1998.

Meanwhile, the release of Just Me is another feather in the cap of popular singing champion, Sarah Geronimo. The CD comes on the heels of the success of the movie A Very Special Love starring Sarah and John Lloyd Cruz, which is one of the year’s biggest box-office hits.

SOURCE: Manila Standard

BACKSTREET BOYS: Backstreet’s back

Former teen-pop group to play MTS Centre

You want it that way? You got it that way.

Former teen-pop sensations the Backstreet Boys are back, and they're bringing their Unbreakable tour to Winnipeg this winter.
The Florida foursome (now comprised of Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough and A.J. McLean; former fifth member Kevin Richardson dropped out two years ago) play MTS Centre on Nov. 12, as part of a Canadian tour that'll likely be jam-packed with hits like Larger Than Life, I Want It That Way and Quit Playing Games (With My Heart).

Tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m., for $39.50, $55.50 and $75 through Ticketmaster (call 780-3333).

SOURCE: Winnipeg Sun

BACKSTREETBOYS:... Coming

Come on everybody, can't you see, can't you see, one of the biggest boy-bands in history is coming to P.G.

The Backstreet Boys have reformed and they bring their tight vocals and dazzling choreography to CN Centre on Nov. 16.
Backstreet Boys arrived just when pop radio and television was in between boy bands. New Kids On The Block had faded, Boys II Men were also fading and weren't really the same kind of group in the first place, and 'N Sync hadn't come along yet. The time was ripe for Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A. J. McLean and Kevin Richardson to break out, and no group of their ilk has ever done it more powerfully.

Backstreet Boys have sold more than 100 million albums and according to some industry charts are the best selling boy group of all time. They were launched in 1993 and did not cease dominating the airwaves until 2002, when they took a hiatus. Carter released a solo album in that time. The group's quiet was broken in 2005 when they came out with the album Never Gone which did not excite the critics but shot up to platinum at the cash registers.

At the same time Littrell released his solo all-Christian album which, like Carters, also did well on its own merits.

The group shrank to four when, in 2006, Richardson left the band on friendly terms to focus on his new family life. The band responded by sticking together as a quartet and releasing their most recent album Unbreakable which has yielded the singles Helpless When She Smiles and Inconsolable. They go along with past massive hits Shape Of My Heart, I Want It That Way, Larger Than Life, Everybody (Backstreet's Back) and many more.

It is the Unbreakable tour that brings them to Prince George. Ticket sales go public on Saturday at 10 a.m. available at the CN Centre box office and Studio 2880.

Music fans are also reminded that tickets to see country music icon Kenny Rogers in Prince George on Nov. 19 go on sale Friday.

SOURCE: Prince George Citizen

Howie D in town for Sarah CD launch

SOUNDS FAMILIAR By Baby A. Gil
Friday, September 26, 2008

Howie Dorough planed in from Los Angeles very early in the morning of Sept. 23. “There was nobody at the airport,” he recalls. It turns out the PAL flight arrived one hour ahead of schedule. “But it was OK,” he counters, “I didn’t mind. I already liked the place. It reminds me so much of Puerto Rico and we had this great snack on the plane of chicken in rice porridge. It was delicious.”

This is Howie’s third time to visit the Philippines and all those previous ones were with his group, the biggest selling boy band of recent times, The Backstreet Boys (BSB). The first one was during the Asian promo tour for the launch of their first album right before they exploded as a worldwide phenomenon. The others were for concerts, with the most recent one only three years ago.

Howie or Howie D, though is on his own this time around. He is on one of his occasional sabbaticals from the BSB. “I will literally start climbing walls if I do not have anything to do back home.” In Howie’s case, something to do means performing or recording or anything that concerns being a singer or an actor. So in between his stints with the group, he indulges his passion for music with solo efforts or duets with other artists. “This is something I love to do. It is not just a job. I cannot think of doing anything else.”

Howie was born in Florida of an Irish/Scottish/American, father, Hoke Dorough and a Puerto Rican mother, Paula Flores. The Irish and the Scott only come out when he does not shave his beard or when he drinks beer. The Puerto Rican is there all the time and that must be why he is considered the Latin heartthrob of the BSB. He sings most of the ballads and has a gorgeous falsetto which you can hear in Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely and I Want It That Way.

He was already into performing even as a child, most notably in an Orlando production of The Wizard of Oz and as the Little Drummer Boy in the Christmas Belen at Disneyworld in Florida where he grew up. He was a teenager when he and some friends auditioned for a “manufactured” boy group. They say “manufactured” when a band is not like The Beatles, who started together as a band, but are like the Monkees wherein the members were sourced from auditions and then told they were a group.

Howie though had two friends who also made the BSB, AJ McLean and Nick Carter. There were two other guys, but things were not working out well for them as a group. They were replaced by Kevin Richardson, who was discovered through the auditions and then it was Kevin who brought in his cousin, Brian Littrell. That happened way back in 1992 and they have been the Backstreet Boys ever since, with over a hundred million albums sold and with some solo efforts on the side.

And that is why Howie is in town. The Backstreet Boy graciously agreed to do a duet with Sarah Geronimo for her new album Just Me titled I’ll Be There. Produced by Christian de Walden of Hollywood, the new original is a composition by Al Taveel and Pamela Philips-Oland, the same team that did one of the most successful duets in pop music history, Too Much, Too Little, Too Late by Johnny Mathis and Denice Williams.

“I do something like this whenever I have the time,” continues Howie. “I also recorded with the Gospels. So when I was asked to sing with Sarah I said yes.” Howie met Sarah for the first time last Tuesday. They recorded I’ll Be There separately. De Walden did Sarah’s vocals in LA, then he hopped a plane to Florida where Howie did his. The result is now the first single out of Sarah’s album.

“I liked Sarah instantly,” says Howie. “She seems to be very sweet and humble and she did a good job with the song. I am looking forward to working with her.” Work with Sarah means meeting the local media and doing interviews, shooting a music video for I’ll Be There, taping some spots for MYX, performing the song on A.S.A.P. ‘08 on Sunday and then following this up with an appearance at the SM Mall of Asia’s Music Hall.

It seems like a lot of work but not for Howie who just adores performing and helping newer artists like Sarah. Besides, this trip also allows him to give vent to his other passion, traveling. “I didn’t get to see much of the Philippines the times I was here,” says Howie who has always been curious about this country. His mother’s best friend and his godmother is Filipino. “So I might be able to do that this time.”

It is also a honeymoon of sorts for Howie and his bride, the lovely Leigh Boniello. They were married last December but Howie had to tour with the BSB for seven months. They also suffered through the death of his father last June. So Manila, despite some work to do is an overdue vacation. “We are looking forward to enjoying ourselves here,” he says. The prospect that they will looks good.

SOURCE: Philippine Star

Sarah Geronimo meets Backstreet Boys' Howie Dorough

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/25/2008 2:55 PM

Popular young singer Sarah Geronimo met one of her idols Howie Dorough of the US boy band Backstreet Boys who arrived in Manila, Tuesday, September 23rd. He is in town to record a music video with her and promote her newest album entitled "Just Me."

In an interview with the two, Geronimo and Dorough revealed that it was their first time to meet since they recorded their song “I'll Be There” separately.

"Actually this is the first time I got to meet Howie. We didn't record together," Geronimo said.

"Unfortunately that time I was in between Backstreet Boys tours and I had a very short time to do it. So, Christian de Walden actually came to me in Orlando where I was back home with my family for a couple days off and I recorded my vocals there. I already heard her sing on it and I was already singing with her on the demo," Dorough said.

Dorough said that he is very happy to do a project with Geronimo.

"She's a lovely lady. When I was asked about doing a project with her about four or five months ago by Christian de Walden I was very honored. I went online and I checked out on the internet and realized that she's a huge superstar here and around the world," he said.

"I was in Canada for Backstreet Boys on tour just a month ago in two different areas. I was at a different place where I bumped into some people from the Philippines and I said I was going to the Philippines they said 'ah for vacation' and I said 'I'm actually working with a girl name Sarah Geronimno' and they said 'Oh Sarah Geronimo!'. She's very popular, very, very famous around the world," said Dorough.

The male singer said that he finds Geronimo to be a very humble and sweet girl, while Geronimo confirmed her admiration for the Backstreet Boy.

"I'm a big, big fan super. Very happy. Isn't it obvious that I'm very happy. Happy and honored to work with you Howie Dorough," said Geronimo.

She said that it's actually another dream come true for her to be working with Dorough.

"I can't believe before I'm just listening to my walkman.... 'I want it that way'. Another dream comes true. I've only daydreamed about this and I never thought this would happen," Geronimo said.

Geronimo asked Dorough to try and eat the best Filipino dishes like chicken adobo, pork adobo, sinigang and kare-kare.

Dorough who just got married said that he will take time to try the dishes with his lovely wife. He said he hopes that he could go back to the country for another project.

"You have beautiful islands and people. We're here last time for our tour two or three years ago. I would love to come here and do more projects in the future," he said.

Before the interview ended Geronimo and Dorough invited the people to grab a copy of "Just Me."

"I think this album is a great album. It has original songs and I'm hoping everybody will get a copy of 'Just me,'" Geronimo said.

Geronimo and Dorough will have a music video of their song "I'll Be There."

On Sunday they will be together for autograph signing and a show at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Geronimo, who started her career by joining a singing contest on television, has her next concert dubbed as "The Next One" set on November 8.

"The Next One" is directed by Johnny Manahan with Louie Ocampo as the musical director.

Aside from her weekly performances on the entertainment show, ASAP ’08, viewers can also watch Geronimo in her out-of-town shows.

as of 09/25/2008 3:55 PM

SOURCE: ABS-CBN