The Backstreet Boys–that late ’90s phenomenal boy band that sold more than 35 million albums and had 12 top 40 hits–are back.
But back playing to whom? When last we saw Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson, they were playing to sold-out stadiums of swooning, screaming teenyboppers who, oh these years later, now are young women.
But the Boys–men, really, at ages 25 to 33, some married and fathers–are still their darlings.
The boys having been touring since late July in support of their latest album, “Never Gone.” The tour brings them to Chicago this weekend.
“When we were recording the disc, our record company was not sure really who our fan base was,” Richardson said by phone. “We didn’t make it for any particular demographic.”
But when the group did a “comeback” club tour early this year, “it kind of revealed our fan base, and we did see a lot of the familiar faces that we recognized from the past,” Richardson said.
“So we feel like we’ve hung on to a lot of our fans, but at the same time, we noticed that there were some young kids out there that when we took our break could’ve only been about 8 years old. So we feel like we’re gaining some new fans.”
The “break” that Richardson spoke of was the group’s time apart after breaking sales records starting in 1997 with two albums–“Backsteet Boys” and “Millennium”–that sold 13 million copies each with the hits “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart),” “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” “Shape of My Heart,” “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” and “I Want It That Way.”
“Black and Blue” in 2000 sold 8 million copies, but the boy-band fad was fading, and a greatest hits album in 2001 just went platinum.
“I believe we thought, you know, we just really wanted to–we needed to–take some time to ourselves on the break,” Carter said. “I mean, we’d been on eight years of touring non-stop over in Europe and all around the world, four albums and, you know, it was just time to take a break.”
Littrell recorded a Christian album, married and became a father, while Richardson did “Chicago” on Broadway. But McLean, who had struggled with substance abuse and even delayed the group’s “Black and Blue” tour by checking into rehab, relapsed and again spent in-patient time.
Carter, who used the time to release a solo record and tour, also has substance trouble: A March drunken-driving arrest got him sentenced in June to a three-month alcohol treatment program that he will start after the tour.
Members said they expect to “always give each other the room to do individual things” but expect to work together again after this tour, Richardson said.
“As far as how long Backstreet will be together, I mean, we’re going to take it day by day, album by album,” he said. “And who knows? We may be like the Eagles or the Beach Boys or the Rolling Stones and the Temptations–still doing shows somewhere in our 50s.”
Backstreet Boys
When: Friday
Where: Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island, 1300 S. Linn White Drive.
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Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
