50 Fun Facts About Backstreet Boys

In which city did the Backstreet Boys form in 1993?

Two of the five, Kevin and Brian, are cousins from Kentucky who moved south to join.

Which two members of the group are cousins?

Both come from Lexington, Kentucky, and were inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame together in 2015.

Lou Pearlman's 1992 newspaper ad sought a group with a certain boy band's look and which act's sound?

He ran it in the Orlando Sentinel and held auditions in his blimp hangar in Kissimmee.

Where did Pearlman hold the open casting calls that produced the group?

Pearlman's first business was airships, which he had loved since watching them as a boy in Queens.

What was the group named after?

The Backstreet Market near International Drive was also a teen hangout.

Where did the Backstreet Boys play their first show, on 8 May 1993?

That summer they played malls, restaurants and a charity gala in Fort Lauderdale.

Which established artist reportedly killed a 1993 Mercury Records deal by threatening to leave the label?

Jive Records signed them the next year after seeing them at a high school in Cleveland.

The group flew to which country at the end of 1994 to record with Max Martin and Denniz PoP?

The sessions produced their first single, 'We've Got It Goin' On'.

The Backstreet Boys' 1996 debut album was released everywhere except which two markets?

They broke first in Europe; a Montreal radio station brought them home.

Which single, released in Europe in 1996, became their US breakthrough the next year?

The US debut album of 1997 combined tracks from the international debut and Backstreet's Back.

Which member underwent open-heart surgery in May 1998, in the middle of a tour?

Doctors had found that a congenital hole in his heart had enlarged dangerously.

Roughly how much did the band earn in 1993-97 while Pearlman's company took about $10 million?

Brian Littrell sued Pearlman and Trans Continental in 1998.

Lou Pearlman was later convicted of running what?

It left more than $300 million in debts; he got 25 years and died in federal custody in 2016.

Which famous singer was Lou Pearlman's cousin?

Garfunkel's success helped inspire Pearlman's interest in music; he later built NSYNC too.

Millennium was released on which date in 1999?

The group marked the day with a heavily publicised appearance on MTV's Total Request Live.

How many copies did Millennium sell in its first week in the US, then a record?

It beat Garth Brooks's Double Live; NSYNC then beat it in 2000.

How many Grammy nominations did Millennium receive?

It has sold about 24 million copies worldwide.

How many weeks did Millennium remain on the Billboard chart?

It shipped a record 11 million copies in the US in 1999 alone and is certified 13 times platinum.

Who co-wrote 'I Want It That Way' with Max Martin?

Martin and Lundin produced it; the song was nominated for three Grammys.

What was 'I Want It That Way's peak position on the US Billboard Hot 100?

It hit number one in more than 25 other countries and topped the Eurochart for seven weeks.

Which of these was NOT one of the four singles from Millennium?

That one came from Black & Blue a year later.

The Into the Millennium Tour featured how many sold-out shows in 84 cities?

Extra dates were added because of demand.

Black & Blue made the group the first act since whom to post back-to-back million-plus opening weeks?

The album was recorded in Stockholm in the summer of 2000.

Which was the first single from Black & Blue?

The Call and More than That followed.

In which year did the Backstreet Boys sing the US national anthem at the Super Bowl in Tampa?

The Tampa game came a week into the Black & Blue Tour.

Which member entered rehab in 2001, pausing the Black & Blue Tour?

Kevin Richardson had staged an intervention at a Boston hotel.

What was the group's 2005 comeback album called?

Its lead single, 'Incomplete', reached number 13 in the US.

Which member left the group in 2006 and returned in 2012?

The group made Unbreakable and This Is Us as a quartet in between.

Before the band, the eldest member worked at Walt Disney World playing which character among others?

He also played Prince Eric, Tigger and a Ninja Turtle.

With which other boy band did the Backstreet Boys tour as NKOTBSB in 2011?

The joint tour grossed over $40 million from 51 shows.

The Backstreet Boys received their Hollywood Walk of Fame star two days after which anniversary?

22 April 2013 was declared Backstreet Boys Day in Hollywood.

In a World Like This, released in 2013, was notable as the group's first what?

They had left Jive Records in 2011 after a long relationship.

What was the title of the group's 2015 documentary film?

It shared its name with a single from the previous album.

What was the name of the group's first Las Vegas residency, which began in March 2017?

It ran for two years; the Vegas mayor declared a tenth Backstreet Boys Day during it.

The 2019 album DNA debuted at number one, how many years after the group last topped the US chart?

Black & Blue had been the last, in 2000.

Which single led off the DNA campaign in May 2018?

'Chances' and 'No Place' followed before the January 2019 release.

Which pop star was among the songwriters on DNA?

Lauv, Andy Grammer and Ryan Tedder also contributed.

In which year did the group release its first Christmas album?

It was titled A Very Backstreet Christmas.

Roughly how many records have the Backstreet Boys sold worldwide?

That makes them the best-selling boy band of all time.

How many of the group's albums are certified diamond by the RIAA?

The self-titled US debut and Millennium; few groups have more than one.

Where did the group launch its second Las Vegas residency in July 2025?

It was named Into the Millennium, and a Millennium 2.0 reissue arrived the same month.

Who is the youngest Backstreet Boy?

Born in January 1980, he was discovered through auditions after Howie and AJ met via a vocal coach.

The youngest member was born in which state?

His parents ran a bar called the Yankee Rebel in Westfield; his siblings included the late Aaron Carter.

What was the youngest member's first solo album, released in 2002?

He has also made a collaboration album with New Kid Jordan Knight.

AJ's rock alter ego is called what?

He has performed as the character in rock and metal clubs in New York.

Howie and AJ first met through what?

They met at a Latin carnival in Orlando in 1989.

Brian's 2006 solo album Welcome Home was in which genre?

His son Baylee Littrell is a country singer.

Which record label signed the group to its first deal in February 1994 after a high-school show in Cleveland?

The relationship soured years later when the band sued Jive's parent Zomba for $75-100 million over breach of contract.

Which two albums did the group release as a quartet after Kevin Richardson left?

Unbreakable came out in October 2007 and This Is Us in October 2009, the latter yielding 'Straight Through My Heart' and 'Bigger'.

How many bonus tracks were added to the remastered Millennium 2.0 reissue released in July 2025?

They included B-sides, live recordings, demos and an alternate version of 'I Want It That Way'; the reissue charted in six countries.