Kevin: sugar plums and a set of drums
Kevin Richardson can't in a million years picture what Christmas would be like without exchanging gifts with his loved ones. Ever since Kentucky born-babe was old enough to tear the paper off of his presents, he has associated the holiday season with spending time with his loving family, eating lots of yummy foods and, you got it, collecting heaps of gifts. "Christmas just makes me feel like a kid again," the 27-year-old smiles. "I remember this drum set that I got when I was little. I remember I was like, 'Oh! Wow!' I was so excited. Then, when I was really, really little, like 4 years old, I got a tractor that you could ride on and pedal. That was great!"
Hearing Kevin gush with not-to-be-contained excitement practically the second Christmas was mentioned during his latest BOP one-on-one, it's easy to see just how special the holiday season, not to mention gift-giving, was and still is in the Richardson househol.d "It just brings back so many good memories," the green-eyed guy continues. "Everybody being together...the presents. I'd come home from school looking orward to getting out for Christmas break and seeing my grandparents and my cousin [and now groupmate] Brian. It's just as soon as Thanksgiving is over, everything is building up to Christmas, for me."
Brian: family cheer and football gear
For Brian Littrell, spending time with cousin Kev and the rest of his family all the while enjoying his new gifts is the image he continues to hold onto whenever he thinks of Christmas, too. "We'd always go to my grandfather's for Christmas Eve," the 23-year-old singer shares. "We'd come back home late at night and we'd fall asleep... and then Santa would come while we were asleep, of course. Santa would pop in and eat the cookies and drink the milk." Really? "No, I'm just playing," he laughs.
"But I do remember getting a Philadelphia Eagles football helmet and jersey and pads," Brian continues when asked to think of his favorite gift. "I got the whole getup. We still have a photo in the family photo album of my brother [Harold] and I because he got the St. Louis Cardinals. We played football forever in those outfits." How cute would it be to see a baby B-Rok outfitted in all his green football gear?
Howie: Santa tears and starting a career
When it came to the holidays for a pint-sized Howie Dorough, gift-giving also played a very instrumental part in whether or not his yuletides were memorable. "Me being the baby [of the family], I was kind of a little bit spoiled," Howie, the youngest of five, blushes with a tinge of embarrassment. "I never made a list or anything. Pretty much my parents provided me with everything I needed. I wasn't the type of kid who needed all these extra things to be happy. But I think I was really upset when I found out that Santa Claus wasn't really Santa Claus [because] it was one less person I got gifts from!"
Although the Santa Claus bombshell left 7-year-old Howie rather distraught, he admits that his parents, Hoke and Paula, certainly made up for any disappointed feelings - especially when they bought me his very own karaoke machine! "I was like 12 or 14 years old," the now 25-year-old sweetie recalls. "It really started me off with singing."
So to thank his p's for helping launch him into what has become an incredibly successful career in the music industry, Howie has taken on the reciprocal role as he now showers his loved ones with presents. "I finally got a chance to give a little bit more than usual," he says of a recent Christmas. "I gave my parents a central heating unit in the house, and all my borthers and sisters, I gave them $150 each to spend for whatever they want, whether it was bills or they just want to go out." Perhaps Santa Claus really does exist!
A.J.: seeing snow and ready to go
Weel, for A.J. McLean, Santa Claus' non-existence as never an issue that sent him over the edge. Believe it or not, it was the idea that people actually had white Christmases year after year that got this Southern songster in a tizzy.
You see, coming from toasty-warm West Palm Beach, Florida, A.J.'s first encounter with snow on Christmas never happened until he was out and about doing the touring thang with the rest of his music-making buds. "I used to go to the beach on Christmas," exclaims A.J., who celebrates b-day No. 21 on January 9.
The beach is not exactly a snowman-making climate, so when A.J. finally had the change to fully experience Christmas abroad in all it's freezing-cold glory a couple years ago, he was totally out of his element. "At first, A.J. was really freaked out, but he was looking forward to seeing snow," Kevin reveals. "But he didn't like it. He wanted to get back to the warm weather [of Florida]." Apparently, Christmastime is all about the sunshien for this Backstreet sweetheart.
Nick: the sibs, the p's and what's under the tree
Coming from the warm sunny stretches of Tampa, Florida, blue-eyed cutie-pie Nick Crter can't admit to spending too many white Christmases with his family, either. But he can and does confess that Christmas is about sharing time with the family...and you guessed it, unwrapping all those gifts under the Christmas tree! "The best gift I ever got for Christmas was a go-cart," the almost 19-year-old says (his b-day is January 28). "It was when I was 11."
It's taken about seven years, but since then, Nick has been able to show his family just how uch that go-cart really meant to him - by buying them all a house to live in! It just goes to show you that when the Backstreet Boys say Christmas is all about family, they mean it!
- BOP
February 1999