Who would have believed in the nineties that the Backstreet Boys would still be around today? But in fact: Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell and Alexander James McLean are still around - and were actually "Never Gone". The music is firmly anchored in the quartet's "DNA". That's probably how it can be explained that, as one of the most successful boy bands of all time, they have survived decades, the "millennium", three lengthy breaks, persistent break-up rumours, Kevin's exit and re-entry, as well as numerous ups and downs. With mega hits like "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)", "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", "As Long As You Love Me", "I Want It That Way" and "Shape Of My Heart", the Backstreet Boys have written pop history. When the boys perform these and other unforgettable songs live, it is nothing less than pure magic.
In 1993, the Backstreet Boys come together in sunny Orlando, Florida. Their first single "We've Got It Goin' On" was already a hit in this country - in contrast to their US homeland, where the big success came a little later. The Boys take the hearts of German teenage girls by storm. The gold-plated singles "I'll Never Break Your Heart" and "Get Down (You're the One for Me)" were followed by "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)", the first #1 hit in Germany, which only just missed pole position in the US charts. The track comes from the self-titled debut album, which is released in 1996 and propels the Backstreet Boys straight into the pop Olympus.
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"Backstreet's Back", "Millennium" and "Black & Blue"
The resounding success in Europe prompts the Boys to follow up immediately. In 1997 they release their second album, "Backstreet's Back", which contains three of the group's all-time faves, "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", "As Long As You Love Me" and "All I Have to Give". On tour, hordes of screaming girls bust down the doors of the sold-out venues. To speak of a hype borders on understatement. After the break-up of Take That and the New Kids on the Block, the Backstreet Boys kept the boy band myth alive from 1997 onwards. With their third album "Millennium", the five-piece succeeded in winning over American fans once and for all. The biggest hit on the album is "I Want It That Way". In the new millennium, the Backstreet Boys picked up exactly where they left off in the old one: With "Black & Blue", they once again greet us from the international chart tops.
The Backstreet Boys without Kevin?
After the "Greatest Hits - Chapter One" album, Nick Carter's solo record "Now Or Never" fuels the rumours about the Backstreet Boys calling it quits. But the Backstreet Boys didn't even think of breaking up and refuted the rumours in 2005 with their fifth studio album "Never Gone", which reached #1 in the German album charts as usual. The fans remained loyal to the Boys and they proved once again in 2007 that they are "Unbreakable". Nevertheless, there is one loss: From 2006, the band has to do without Kevin Richardson - both "Unbreakable" and the successor "This Is Us" are recorded by the "Backyard Boys" as a quartet. But instead there is a boy band fusion that makes fan dreams come true: Together with the New Kids on the Block, the Backstreet Boys release the album "NKOTBSB". At a joint live show, the group finally announces that Kevin is back.
So on "In a World Like This" (2013) and "DNA" (2019), the Backstreet Boys are five again. The high chart positions of the two albums illustrate the equally high status in the pop world that the boy band still holds. The title of the first single "We've Got It Goin' On" is as true today as it was then - anyone lucky enough to see the Backstreet Boys on tour can see for themselves. All the timeless hits and new songs live - what could be better for a fan!
