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June
2005
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Extra live UK dates added
Source: Backstreet
Team.co.uk
The Backstreet Boys have added an extra show in London and added new
dates in Manchester and Birmingham with tickets going on sale at 9am
Friday June 17th.
Due to the overwhelming public demand, tickets for The Backstreet Boys'
first UK date in over 5 years sold out within an incredible 24 hours.
And, the story has been the same right across Europe with fans literally
queuing around the block to make sure they don't miss out.
The Full UK Dates are below - tickets go on general sale on Friday June
17th @ 9am, but you can visit the online pre-sale right now - just CLICK
HERE.
October
20th: LONDON, Wembley Arena Pavilion, SOLD OUT
21st: LONDON, Wembley Arena Pavilion, ADDED
25th: BIRMINGHAM, NEC, NEW
26th: MANCHESTER, MEN, NEW
From 9am on Friday 17th, tickets are available from the 24-Hour hotline:
0871 230 4422 or online @
www.aeglive.co.uk.
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Backstreet
Boys album poised for chart-topping bow
Source: Reuters/Billboard
By Geoff Mayfield LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - New albums by
Backstreet Boys and Foo Fighters are both on track to start above
250,000 copies, with the former having a genuine shot to debut at No. 1
on The Billboard 200 when sales data are issued Wednesday.
Based on first-day sales Tuesday cited by retail chains, chart pundits
figure Backstreet's "Never Gone" (Jive/Zomba Label Group) could hit
300,000 copies in the week ended June 19.
The group's chances of landing its third No. 1 album depend on how large
a second-week decline Coldplay's chart-topping "X&Y" (Capitol) suffers
from its opening stand of 737,000. Of the last six albums to bow at No.
1 on The Billboard 200, the largest second-week dip was 67% for Nine
Inch Nails' "With Teeth" (Nothing/Interscope), while the smallest was
42% for Rob Thomas' "...Something To Be" (Melisma/Atlantic).
Foo Fighters' "In Your Honor" (Roswell/RCA) should open in the
neighborhood of 260,000-280,000, says a source close to the album. The
band's largest prior week was 121,000 for fourth album "One By One" the
week that it opened at No. 3 in 2002.
Reuters/Billboard
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Backstreet Boys
Re-Enter Pop Landscape
Source: Yahoo! Entertainment
Backstreet Boys Re-Enter Pop Landscape Tue Jun 14, 4:22 PM ET
If nothing else, the Backstreet Boys are realistic. Reunited after four
years, they don't have any illusions that they'll be able to dominate
the pop scene as they did when boy bands ruled the world and they were
the kings.
"We know that we're gonna have to pay our dues again and we know that
we're going to have to start from scratch because everything has
changed," said A.J. McLean, the heavily tattooed, shades-wearing member
of the group. "We're not looking to be the group that we were in '99 and
2000."
Just a few years ago, the Backstreet Boys burst out of Orlando, Fla. to
become a pop phenomenon. Their three albums sold a total of more than 35
million copies and ushered in a new teen music craze, buoyed by their
soulful harmonies, synchronized dance steps, clean-cut good looks and
teen-fanzine charm.
But then, "Behind The Music"-style troubles plagued the quintet McLean's
substance abuse problems led him to rehab, and infighting, management
changes and other problems beset the group. Meanwhile, hip-hop
supplanted teen pop from atop the charts, and boy bands became as uncool
as New Kids on the Block.
So in 2001, the disillusioned fivesome went their separate ways.
"We lost perspective pretty much," said Kevin Richardson, the eldest of
the "boys" at 33. "If we hadn't walked away from the business and each
other, we might have self-destructed because we needed some time away
from each other."
Now, fully recharged, the Backstreet Boys have returned this week to
release "Never Gone," their first full studio album since the 8
million-selling "Black & Blue" in 2000. While they're not expecting an
automatic ride to the top of the charts, they think they still have a
shot at reaching the No. 1 spot with a more adult, edgier sound that
tilts more toward rock than pop.
"We feel as strongly about this record as we did when `Millennium' came
out," Brian Littrell, 30, said of their blockbuster 1999 album that went
on to sell more than 13 million copies.
"We know where we're at, and we know where we fit," said Nick Carter,
the youngest of the group at 25. "And I love the fact that we're
underdogs again."
And acting like underdogs, the Backstreet Boys have left nothing to
chance in mounting a comeback. Earlier this year, the group tested the
waters for their new material by embarking on a club tour a marked
departure for a group that on their last tour played stadium dates.
They've also visited radio stations to push their new record. So far,
the formula has worked their first single, "Incomplete," reached No. 6
on the Billboard Hot 100, though it has slipped in recent weeks.
"I think it's very smart. They really put their egos aside," disc jockey
Paul "Cubby" Bryant of WHTZ-FM (Z-100) in New York said of the strategy.
"They didn't come in here like `Hey, we're back, we're the Backstreet
Boys.' It might have been tough for them to do that, but I think it was
smart for them to break in small."
"It was just a lot of fun. The energy in the small venues is different
than in an arena or a stadium," said Richardson. "It was like the old
days, when we were just starting out."
That kind of fun had eluded the group in their heyday when a succession
of No. 1 hits and albums made them more of a commodity than a musical
group. They say their handlers at the time put too much focus on trying
to cash in on their immediate success rather than formulating a
long-term career plan. So they churned out albums even when they thought
they needed time off.
At the same time, 'N Sync was overtaking them in the sales, and McLean
was falling deeper and deeper into drugs and alcohol.
"When it's no fun anymore, that's the big thing. I think across the
board, none of us were having fun," Littrell said.
The fun stopped completely when McLean's entry into rehab in 2001 forced
the band to postpone their "Black & Blue" tour. Soon after that, the
band decided it was time to take a longer break to reassess their
future.
"We had been touring for eight years straight, releasing albums,"
recalled Carter. "We were burned out, really burned."
So the Backstreet Boys scattered, and pursued their individual goals for
the first time in years. Carter released a solo album that fared poorly;
Littrell and his wife had a baby; Richardson appeared on Broadway in
"Chicago"; McLean concentrated on his sobriety, while Howie Dorough
focused on producing and writing songs for other acts.
If it wasn't for Oprah Winfrey, the band might not have gotten back
together. But on a show focusing on McLean's battles with substance
abuse, she coaxed the remaining Backstreet Boys to surprise him on air.
After the emotional reunion, the group holed up in a hotel room and
started talking about a comeback.
"There was probably even some doubt among us when we first started
talking about it," said Dorough. "But I think no matter what we did
individually ... we all realized our strength was among the five us
together."
The group spent more than a year recording their latest album, and
reunited with old manager and producer Max Martin, who was responsible
for many of their early hits. The result, they say, is their best album
in years.
"You had that feeling like you walked out the studio like, `This song is
good, and we hadn't had that feeling in a long time," Littrell said.
Far from cocky, the group knows that there is no guarantee of another
blockbuster.
"To be honest, of course, we'd love to have the success that we had
before. Who wouldn't want to have that?" Dorough, 31, said. "But this
time around, we've realized that the music scene has changed. We had to
go into it with an open mind, realizing that it's not going to possibly
be that way.
"If it does come again, God bless it; but if not, we all had to be in a
good place to be able to say that we could continue going forward and
accept the way it is."
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Backstreet Boys to woo fans in the backstreet of CHUM FM
Source: CHUM Radio
LIVE Interview With Roger, Rick & Marilyn Monday, June 20th @ 8:00
a.m.
TORONTO, June 15 /CNW/ - 104.5 CHUM FM welcomes Backstreet Boys for a
live one-hour interview with Roger, Rick & Marilyn on Monday, June 20th
from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Kevin, Howie and Brian will join Roger, Rick
and Marilyn in the backstreet of CHUM FM to talk about their new CD,
Never Gone, before a live audience. To gain entry to this exclusive
event, listeners can come down the morning-of to the lot behind the CHUM
FM building at 1331 Yonge Street. Admittance is on a
first-come-first-serve basis until the lot is full.
Since releasing their first self-titled album in 1997, the Backstreet
Boys have dominated the music charts globally. With over 51 million
albums sold worldwide they are recognized as one of the biggest pop
groups in music history.
After taking time off for personal growth, the multi-platinum group is
at it again. Never Gone, is the band's first album of new material since
2000. The comeback single "Incomplete" is going strong after 11 weeks on
the CHUM FM Top 30, once again proving that the Backstreet Boys are here
to stay.
Roger, Rick & Marilyn is heard weekdays from 5:30am - 9:00am on 104.5
CHUM FM.
With over a million weekly listeners, CHUM FM (www.chumfm.com) is
Canada's most listened to radio station, reaching a target audience of
adults 25-54, with a narrow target audience of females 25-44. The radio
station plays a contemporary blend of today's best music from artists as
diverse as Madonna, Coldplay, U2, and Janet Jackson. CHUM FM delivers a
very unique music format for hip urban adults in 45-minute commercial
free sweeps every hour of the workday. CHUM FM is a division of CHUM
Limited.
-
Backstreet Boys Explain Their Motivations To Club Full Of Ladies
Source: mtv.com
NEW YORK — Say what you will about the Backstreet Boys, but one thing is
undeniable — they know how to work a room full of shrieking girls better
than anyone in the business, a talent they tapped into on Tuesday night
at the Canal Room.
On the day its first album in five years, Never Gone, hit stores, the
group was feted by Teen People magazine at the downtown club, where the
guys posed for photos with fans, signed autographs, belted out a few
impromptu notes and shared the stories behind some of their favorite
tracks on the new LP.
Seated side by side on the stage, the Backstreet Boys, looking very un-BSB
in stylistically divergent outfits — Kevin Richardson wore a Beatles
Revolver tee and Brian Littrell sported a suit jacket — listened and
sang along to their favorite cuts off the new album, like "Just Want You
to Know," which Nick Carter explained was the last track they recorded
for Never Gone.
The room, full of fans who might have needed parental accompaniment to
some of BSB's earlier concerts, already knew every word to each track on
the album, and screamed along. Though they were slightly older than the
prepubescent swarms the group catered to in its heyday, the crowd was
feeling the new sound, even if the girls didn't know the artists who
helped Backstreet achieve it.
"We recorded this song with the drummer from Prince's New Power
Generation," said Kevin of the track "Crawling Back to You," a fact that
was initially greeted with confused silence.
"It's a classic 'I screwed up and I want you back' song," Richardson
said of the track, as Littrell found the microphone sitting idle in his
hand irresistible, and began singing along with the music. Taking that
as his cue, AJ McLean hopped off his stool and took a few flying leaps
across the stage.
While they only briefly addressed the issues behind their five-year
absence, they broached the topic subtly, such as when they discussed
"Weird World," written by Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik.
"The song is saying, 'Don't let all this negativity wear you down,' "
Richardson said.
"That's why we're back — to try to bring back a positive vibe," Carter
added.
"We were taking ourselves for granted, taking our fans for granted,"
McLean chimed in. "It just wasn't fun anymore."
The Boys showed a more whimsical side on the slightly up-tempo "Poster
Girl," and catered to fans during "Climbing the Walls," a track
originally intended for the "Spider-Man 2" soundtrack, by signing
autographs for the duration of that song, as well as the current single,
"Incomplete."
While the event itself was short, McLean promised the crowd that the
group was serious about its return to music and its fans, and that he
has no plans to return to his old habits that kept him off the
Backstreet Boys' last tour and contributed to the group's separation.
"It's because of you we're doing this again," he said. "So we're going
to keep doing this. And I promise to see you all out on tour."
— Alyssa Rashbaum
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Backstreet Boys - Then Man
Band
Source: mtv.com
Backstreet's back all right, but what does it mean? A lot of people must
have thought the group — and perhaps the whole boy-band era it
represented — was gone for good. But return the Boys have, a little
older, a little more pop-rock in their sound, five years after the
release of their last record. MTV News' John Norris finds out where the
Boys have been, what they've been up to and what they have to say about
Paris Hilton, Tommy Lee, AJ's relapse and Oprah Winfrey. John Norris:
Did you guys have your doubts about whether this reunion was actually
going to happen one day? Or were you always pretty sure of it?
Kevin Richardson: We were sick of looking at each other, sick of hearing
each other. I mean, we were just going nonstop there for about eight
years. We were burned out.
Norris: So what changed that?
Richardson: Having time to reflect on everything that had happened to us
since 1995. Some time to focus on ourselves, spend time with our
families, some time for AJ [McLean] to work on his recovery, some time
for Nick [Carter] to work on a little solo project. Brian [Littrell's] a
father now. Just time to appreciate everything we went through and
reflect, and get grounded again and recharge our batteries.
AJ McLean: When we finished the Black & Blue tour, there was a dark
cloud over the whole tour. There was a lot of negative energy, not just
coming from my situation. There was 9/11. A couple of us had lost
members of our families. There was just a whole lot of bad juju going
on. We had originally said, "We'll take a year off and then we'll get
back in the studio." Then it became two years, then three. But the whole
catalyst for this was when I went on "Oprah." Little did I know all four
of them were going to show up. We all lost it, and that was the moment
we all decided, "Let's go do this again."
Norris: A lot of people were surprised to hear a power ballad as the
lead single from Never Gone. Howie Dorough: We had wanted to get back
with [songwriter/producer] Max Martin, but there was a backlash of that
Swedish, synth Euro sound, that came from us, 'NSYNC [and] Britney, so
we felt we had to get away from that. Max didn't know how to work with
us directly to change our sound, evolve it into something better, and he
stumbled upon it with this song intended for the "Spider-Man 2"
soundtrack, "Climbing the Walls." Once we put our voices on it, the
album started growing into something more organic, more stripped-down,
less harmonies, more instrumentation. The last song we recorded was
"Incomplete." It leaked, and we said, "This is a good thing, let's go
with it."
McLean: It shows growth, it shows maturity. It's still us. It's not too
over the top. It's not over your head. It's not too complex. It's just
us growing up. We can go onstage and not worry about all the added BS
that comes with all this stuff. And this is my first time being on tour
with the guys sober. When I got out of rehab, I was newly sober, I
wasn't going to meetings then. Sure enough, a year later, I relapsed. I
didn't get married. Everything in my life fell apart ... again.
Norris: How bad was it?
McLean: It was bad enough. I dove into a bunch of pills, smoked weed. I
told my sponsor, "I smoked weed last night, but I didn't inhale." But as
my fiancee at the time said, "But he was on so many pills, he doesn't
remember." You can't BS a BS-er. None of these guys believed a word I
said. And now I've got their respect and their trust; our relationship
is better than before I started drinking and doing drugs. My life is the
best it's ever been, and it's only going to get better.
Norris: You guys are no strangers, some of you more than others, to the
tabloid world ... Nick Carter: I'll tell you what, I've had a lot of
scrutiny. [Everyone laughs.] Don't believe everything you hear, number
one. Number two, if we let things like that get underneath our skin, we
would not be able to do our job properly. I learned the hard way. I
guess I've come from a family that's had some success, so you could look
at it like, "It's good they're still talking." At the same time, talk
about something that's more positive. Not everybody's perfect.
Richardson: When all the stuff hit the fan with one of his exes, I was
like, "Take the high road. Don't fall into the trap."
Carter: Obviously, you could fight back with fire, but I learn from
them, they're my bigger brothers, even as much as I was distraught and a
little bitter from everything that had happened because I was so in love
with [Paris Hilton]. I was trying to be the best I could for her, and in
some ways it wasn't good enough. When I look back at it, I'm happy where
I am now. I can focus more, and I can contribute more than I ever did to
this group. I used to be so wrapped up in relationships and girls and
didn't really give 100 percent to music. Don't get me wrong, I still
like women very much. I just pick and choose a lot better.
Norris: Now these are party credentials: Tommy Lee, who wrote songs with
you that'll appear on his next album, told one of our writers that Nick
Carter is one of the biggest party guys he knows.
Carter: I'll tell you, me and Tommy have had some fun together. He's a
really cool guy. He takes care of his family, he's very responsible,
he's someone to look up to. He parties hard ...
Brian Littrell: Not as hard as you!
Carter: I've partied hard a little bit. I'm toning it down for a while
now, just because, you know, whatever. I played Tommy all the music
we've done, he said, "Yo dude, that's great, man." You can't look at it
like it's hard rock. It's more like U2 or like Journey — big vocals, big
harmonies. I'm really, really happy with the direction. Are they going
to call us "men bands" now?
Richardson: The word "boy band" used to offend me. Now I don't care, I'm
over it. Call us a boy band. Call us ... just call us!
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