The five young Americans of the Backstreet Boys rocked the music scene of the 1990s almost overnight.

The Backstreet Boys conquered the charts and girls’ hearts at the time, and – on tour as always – their appeal remained undiminished.

The 5 guys of the band Backstreet Boys

Since the 1990s, a party isn’t a party without the song Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).

This is a pop classic and most people between the ages of 20 and 60 will sing along.

Released in June 1997, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) achieved multi-platinum status in many countries at the time and sold more than 3.6 million copies.

This is one of the Backstreet Boys’ most successful songs but it was never a No. 1 hit.

Song for the heart

If the 1990s marked the golden decade of boy bands, the concept of forming vocal groups of young male singers is not new.

In the 1960s, a fictional band of four young men created a television sitcom called The Monkees and eventually became one of the most successful groups of the decade.

In the 1970s, boy band Bay City Rollers broke the hearts of girls around the world, and in the 1980s it was New Kids On The Block.

By the 1990s, competition came from techno, dramatic grunge rock with an apocalyptic mood – but young female music fans in particular still wanted feel-good tunes.

The British band Take That filled that gap and they were a huge success.

Backstreet Boys’ 2 years of diligent practice
The voices of the 5 boy band members including Robbie Williams are amazing together and they are great dancers. Their albums sell like hotcakes; Their fan base is very large and consists of young people and women.

Producers quickly realized that the market for boy bands was huge: East 17, Caught In The Act, *NSYNC followed, along with Backstreet Boys – formed on April 20, 1993.

Music manager Lou Pearlman – the man behind the success of many famous bands

Earlier that year, Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson were selected in a boy band audition involving 500 young men in Orlando, Florida.

Music manager Lou Pearlman’s new lineup includes different roles, aimed at appealing to girls’ different interests – “the good boy next door”, “the rebel”, “the dreamy type”, “more mature guy” or “cute” and young man”.

For two years, the boys practiced hard with singing, dancing, and choreography lessons.

The Backstreet Boys were designed as a group of white middle-class boys singing black music such as soul, R’n’B and hip hop – all of which were suitable for the American market.

In October 1995, they released their first single – We’ve Got It Going On. Backstreet Boys achieved success in America and also made a big impact in Europe. They were awarded their first gold record in Germany, and after that, nothing was the same.

The Backstreet Boys became superstars overnight, many teenagers screamed themselves hoarse and fainted wherever they appeared.
Their screams drowned out the music. What caused The Beatles to stop performing in public 30 years ago was simply the driving force behind the Backstreet Boys.

Success and tragedy

The debut album – Backstreet Boys (1996), achieved multi-platinum status, followed by sold-out concerts.

The second album, Backstreet’s Back (1997), achieved huge sales. The band received many music awards and once again performed sold-out tours throughout Europe.

In America too, their music reached top positions on the charts.

Success has influenced young musicians. Always available to fans and press, the pressure to play assigned roles and break the hearts of teenage girls and white straight men alike – that doesn’t work in the long run .

The band members began to break away from the stereotype. Nick Carter and AJ McLean were drinking to excess and using drugs.

“I could have ended up a tragedy,” Nick wrote in his memoir Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It. I used ecstasy, cocaine and drank a large bottle of vodka every night.”

Forgiving fans…

The tabloid media has been closely following Nick Carter’s toxic relationship and eventual breakup with Paris Hilton. But it seems the band’s fans are very forgiving.

Rumors of breakups, hiatuses, and comebacks have not diminished the Backstreet Boys’ continued success.

When Kevin Richardson took a six-year break in 2006, the band continued as a quartet.

Their manager – Lou Pearlman – who also founded *NSYNC, went to prison in 2008 for fraud and money laundering. He died in prison of a heart attack in 2016.

But no matter what happens – every new Backstreet Boys album sells well to this day.

Nick Carter, now married and a father, faces sexual assault lawsuits. He denied the allegations. The vast majority of fans believe their idols are innocent, so the band continues to perform to screaming audiences that have remained loyal to them since the 1990s.

The DNA World Tour is underway and will soon take the band to Iceland, Arab countries, the Middle East, India and South Africa.

The set list included songs from their latest album – DNA (2019). This is part of 30 years of the band’s history and of course includes the band’s megahits including Quit Playin’ Games, I Want It That Way and Everybody.

Backstreet Boys fans have grown old with them. But even in their 40s, women can still scream – though not as loudly as in their youth – and throw things and teddy bears.

Backstreet Boys fans have grown old with them

Nowadays, however, Nick Carter (43), Kevin Richardson (53) and the other guys can fight back by running backstage, arming themselves with hand-signed items and throwing for the audience.

Backstreet Boys have sold more than 130 million records worldwide, 38 million albums in the US alone.

They were the boy band that sold the most albums in the world and earned the most money in the world from 1997 to 2005 (about 533.1 million USD) and became the best-selling band of all time.

According to Billboard, Backstreet Boys is the first band after Shade to have their first 7 albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200.