Ask the Backstreet Boys to describe a typical day in their lives and you will be shocked that they have not collapsed from total exhaustion. Ever since they rocketed to music superstardom with their 1997 self-titled debut album featuring "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" and "As Long As You Love Me," Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson have crammed a hectic schedule of rehearsals, press conferences, photo sessions, personal appearances and concerts into nearly every day, not to mention the hundreds of hours the BSB guys spend traveling on buses and planes to their numerous concert destinations.
Just reading their jam-packed schedule is enough to make you tired! So you'd probably be totally understanding if the Backstreet Boys said that when they have free time, all they want to do is crash in their beds and catch up on some much need R&R. However, that's not what the Backstreet Boys do when they get a break in their schedules. Instead of curling up with their pillows, these good-hearted guys put their own needs aside and spend time doing good deeds.
At most of the cities they've visited on their concert tours, for example, 24-year-old Howie says, "We always go to nursing centers and children's hospitals and we sing and visit and try to bring a little happiness into their lives. We've been to hospitals and nursing homes all over the United States."
Howie and his bandmates also dedicate a lot of time to planning and participating in charity functions. "We're always doing stuff with cancer, AIDS, terminally ill kids and stuff like that," Nick, 18, shares with BOP. For instance, while the guys were in Europe on their recent concert tour, they all got together in their free hours and organized a charity basketball game with European musicians. "It raised a lot of money, and all the proceeds went to children with cancer or terminal diseases," Howie says.
That basketball game was only one of the countless charity events that the Backstreet Boys have taken part in throughout their careers. For the past two years, they've also given their free time to Hand in Hand for Children, a charity foundation that produces a CD filled with songs from music stars every year." All the artists who are on the CD come together and put a benefit concert," Kevin, 26, explains to BOP. "All the proceeds go to cancer research and children with terminal diseases, stuff like that."
The Backstreet Boys are more than willing to sacrifice a few hours of free time here and there to work with charitable causes like this. That's because Nick, Howie, Brian, A.J., and Kevin believe that it's totally important and deeply meaningful to help others. "We've always believed that if you give of yourself, you're going to get it back," Kevin says. "What goes around, comes around." In other words, if they lend helping hands to someone in need today, hopefully someone will return the favor if the Backstreet Boys ever need help in the future!
The Backstreet Boys definitely keep a positive and upbeat attitude toward their charity work, but that doesn't mean it's always fun for them. They admit that sometimes its not easy. They have a really tough time when they visit children's hospitals or when they invite sick kids backstage at their concerts. "We've met children who have cancer, and it just makes you wonder, 'Why?'" sighs Nick. "It's the saddest thing." Twenty-year-old A.J. agrees: "Sometimes, it gets kind of emotional, especially when we see kids with terminal diseases and kids who are dying. Stuff like that brings tears to your eyes."
Seeing children who have terminal illnesses is especially hard for Kevin, who lost his father, Jerald, to cancer in 1992 (oops. they made a boo-boo! Its 1991!). "Sometimes backstage during one of our meet-and-greets, there will be a child who is terminally ill and it really breaks my heart, you know?" he tells BOP. "It's sad that anyone has to die from cancer, but a little kid who doesn't even get a chance to live a life--man, I just can't take that. I usually end up crying."
In spite of all these tears, Kevin and his bandmates say that spending time with kids suffering from serious illnesses is ultimiately one of the most worthwhile things they do in their lives. "At first when you do things like that it's tough because it makes you very sad," Brian explains. "But at the same time, it's very rewarding because you're doing something very nice and fulfilling a wish for somebody."
One of the most rewarding moments for the Backstreet Boys came recently, when they invited a Canadian girl recovering from cancer to come backstage and visit them while they were on tour. "She was really sick," recalls Kevin. "But her mom told us that the girl bought our CD and it helped her a lot. She played it while she was doing her physical therapy excerises, which were really tough. The lyrics or the rhythm, I guess, really inspired her to keep trying. It meant so much to her to meet us." As you can imagine, Kevin and his bandmates were deeply moved when they heard this girl's story.
The Backstreet Boys say that it is times like these that make all the hours they dedicate to charitable causes worthwhile. Why should these generous guys want to waste their precious, few free hours sleeping when they could be lifting people's spirits and raising money to research and cure serious illnesses? "Charity work is always the best," declares A.J. Adds Howie, "We just try to bring a little happiness into people's lives. To know that you made them happy and that you brought something special into their lives, that makes you feel so good."