(Tiger Beat, November 1999)
The new millennium may not be arriving for another two months, but the Millennium you've really been loking forward to is already here! After bringing their ultra-hot Millennium concert tour to Europe, Backstreet Boys Nick, Brian, Howie, Kevin, and A.J. are back in the States! This two-hour show features elaborate sets, awesome lighting and pyrotechnics, cool costumes, and nearly 20 BSB songs you know and love! But before you get ready to rock your body, better catch up on the latest BSB news! From A.J.'s recent break-up to Nick's encounters with the supernatural (just in time for Halloween!), the guys have got plenty on their minds these days. Tiger Beat was lucky eough to snag some time with the Boys to get all the juicy details!
Tiger Beat: Is it true that A.J. has a girlfriend?
A.J.: Actually, as you ask, I did have a girlfriend! No longer! Amanda [Latona, formerly of the Orlando group Innosense] and I are still good friends. She is actually starting her own career and I have been very, very busy. We tried to work things out, but our schedules kind of didn't really fit each other.
Howie, are you thinking about a special girl when you sing "Spanish Eyes" live on stage?
Kevin: He's thinking of his dear old mom!
Howie: Thanks Kevin. No, there's no special girl.
Getting involved romantically with new people must be hard for you guys. Is it hard to know who you can really trust?
A.J.: Speaking from experience, yeah, trust is very difficult. But that's the way it is. Sometimes you get disappointed and other times you end up very happy! I had a good relationship but work got in the way, not trust.
Actually, Bryan Adams met his girlfriend at a concert and she was a fan. Do you think that any of you could fall for a fan?
Howie: Oh, Bryan Adams. I didn't know that. But hey--anything is possible! Love is not something that you're looking for in any particular place. It's one of those things that just comes along and hits you. It's a matter of timing also. I think that you have to be in the right mood and to be willing to give your love to somebody. Sometimes it feels really hard to find the right timing and the right person. It's about being at the right place long enough to really actually meet somebody that you might find interesting enough to spend some good times with. The person doesn't have to be in a certain profession or country. It doesn't have to be an American. It can be anybody from anywhere around the world. I guess that we're available to anybody out there!
Have you ever experienced a fan taking advantage of you?
Howie: Yeah, there was this one time. It was a girl from...No, I'm not going to say what country she's from. But she was hanging around with us and stuff. And she got some pictures with us and some of her friends. We were in Italy and she showed up. And we found out that she had sold all the pictures to all the fans out there. That really kind of hurt me, cause I thought that pictures were just for private use. Lots of people ask for pictures every single day. And sometimes I wonder why. We often just look the same. And when I found out that she had sold them, that really disappointed me.
Nick: Well, situations like this happen. There is really nothing you can do about it. You have to be aware of things like this all the time.
Nick, where are you living these days?
Nick: My parents have just moved to L.A., but I wasn't ready to do that yet. So I live in a house by myself at the moment.
You mentioned fans taking pictures of you. Looking at your pictures, you guys try and look cool and do a good smile, but can you do different poses?
All: Ha ha ha!
Kevin: So. Have we thought about getting a new smile? Is that what you're saying?
Nick: Well, it's kind of hard--we look like this!
Kevin: I'm working on one right now! I often stand in front of the mirror and try to get myself a new smile! [laughs] But I'm not comfortable with the smile that I have been working on. [more laughing] I have been working on it for a month or so.
A.J., why do you always wear sunglasses? Is it for disguise?
A.J.: Ever since we shot our very first video I've worn sunglasses. Our old management thought that it would be a great trademark for me. But it sometimes happens that I get caught without sunglasses. Plus, I don't like my eyes that much. I'm always trying to hide them the best I can!
Do you every miss your old life, before you were famous?
Kevin: That's a very interesting question. I think when I was younger, I used to dream about being famous. I used to. When I was little I used to sing to the trees and stuff and pretend that they were my audience. I don't think I ever expected it to be like this. I think there's a lot of incredible blessings and gifts that come along with being famous. It is a gift I think, that we've been given, and it is just up to us and how we use it, for the good and for the bad. I think also there are times when we do miss the privacy of nobody knowing and nobody caring about who we are. You know, being able to just walk outside.
Withought being mobbed.
Kevin: Yeah. These days, there is very rarely a time when the five of us are just alone by ourselves. Even when we go out shopping or away from each other we always have a security person with us. Unless we sneak out by ourselves, which we sometimes do! But very rarely we are alone by ourselves. Only when we are in our hotel rooms do we get prviacy, but still it isn't your home and you can't really be by yourself. Somtimes you just want to be alone somewhere else other than in the hotel room. There are good things and there are bad things.
Do you still get butterflies in your stomach before each show?
Kevin: I think it's probably more of an exciting moment than being scared and nervous.
Brian: Yeah! Sometimes you worry. In the beginning you worry about being accepted by your fans and the whole music industry. It's kind of hard being accepted nowadays--having success. I mean, there are so many groups out there. But I think we still have butterflies in our stomachs. We know that the level at now when the fans come to our show, we're really the big headline act so we know that they have really come to see us. It's a weird feeling to know that you're going to be accepted when you go on stage. I am always nervous and excited about it. A lot of things run through your mind just before going on stage. You want to hit all the right notes. You hope!
You have all been writing songs. Why is it that only Kevin and Brian got their songs on the new album? Is it a family thing?
Nick: No, it's because our songs weren't good enough!
Kevin: We all wrote songs and we sat down and listened to them and talked to our record company. We all decided as a group which songs were going to be on the album. So that's how it works.
Nick: There is always another album for my songs and songs by A.J. and Howie.
It was very timely calling that album Millennium.
A.J.: We actually had a lot of ideas for names. But we totally agreed about that title because the millennium will be a great new year for us. We've gone through a lot of changes the last year--some good, some bad. And we've been through a lot. We have a lot of new people working with us now and we have so much more control over our own lives. So the millennium will be a grand new beginning for the five of us and all the people now with us.
Where will you celebrate New Year's Eve 2000?
Nick: I think that I'm going to be spending it at home.
All: Yeah, at home!
Brian: In our basements, partying!
Kevin: We're going to be locked up in a basement!
A lot of people are worried about the end of the millennium. What would you do if it really were the last day of your life because a comet was going to hit earth?
Brian: I would run and run and run.
Kevin: There are these two movies--Armageddon and Deep Impact--and I guess I'd do the same as the people in those movies. You just have to get with the people that you love and just spend all your time with them before you burn!
Since it's Halloween time, I was wondering if you guys believe in the supernatural and things likes ghosts? Your video for "Everybody" certainly was creepy!
Nick: I do! I believe in the supernatural stuff! We were doing a photo session in L.A. and we went to a big old house. We've got some weird tails to tell about this weird house. I went around and was taking pictures.
Kevin: Yeah, he was playing the ghostbuster!
Nick: I thought I saw something on the pictures, but I am not sure.
Brian: I have nightmares about the teeth I was wearing in the video "Everybody." I sometimes wake up and think that I actually have those teeth!
Kevin: We've had some really interesting experiences in our hotel rooms. Me and Howie were sharing a room at one time and we had a little visitor--we think! I think there are definitely thinggs out there that we don't really know about!
Howie: Yeah, it's out there waiting to get us. Like some of the fans!
Thanks guys! Have a great tour.
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