BACKSTREET BOYS' Fame Flashbacks - BB Feb 00
The Orlando, Florida five recall their first brushes with fame
The Backstreet Boys--A.J. McLean, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson--are truly "Larger Than Life" right now, with chart-topping albums like their 1999 release, Millennium, and concerts that rock fans 'round the globe. The road to world-wide recognition wasn't an easy one, though--in fact, it was a seven-year, uphill climb for these five talented fellas. But through countless performances and recording sessions, each of the Boys enjoyed an experience when told him that the hard work had paid off. So BB asked the Backstreet Boys to take a trip in the Way-Back Machine and remember the first time they knew fame was smiling upon them!
Twenty-two-year-old A.J. could honestly say "We Got It Goin' On" when a fan first asked him for an autograph at a 1995 benefit show in Portland, Oregon. "This girl walked up to me and I figured she was going to ask 'Where's After 7?' [a group that the Boys performed with], but instead she said, 'Can I have your autograph?' I was shocked. I didn't know how to sign it!" admits the adorable A.J., who quickly adds, "I've had a lot of practice since!"
Kentucky native Brian, 24, also knew fame had flown into his life the first time he signed an autograph--but his experience was a more personal one. "After I flew down to Florida in 1993 to meet the guys, I came back to school to say goodbye. And I walked into my chorus class and some of my friends said, 'Let me get your autograph before you leave.' I was like, 'Whoa, this is strange!'" B-Rok's high school buds knew even then that he was destined for stardom, and wanted to get a little memento of the time he'd spent with them. And big-hearted Brian repaid their support by enlisting them to sing on "The Perfect Fan," his moving tribute to the group's moms, on the Millennium CD.
Bri's cousin Kevin admits he's an old hand at the autogragh game. "I was signing autographs long before I joined the group--just not as myself!" laughs the 28-year-old singer. You see, Kev performed as a number of characters at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. "I signed thousands of autographs as Aladdin," he notes. So for Kevin, every time he steps out before an adoring audience, he is reminded that the Backstreet Boys have come a long way. "When we're out on stage, we're like, 'Whoa!' --especially when we're doing a ballad and the lights are down low and the lighters come up. That's an incredible feeling."
Having thousands of fans screaming your name is a great way to tell that you've made your mark in music! Just ask 26-year-old Howie about that time in Germany just before the 1996 release of their European debut album. "We were driving to this radio station and there were all these police and teenagers outside and it looked like a club to me, so I was like, 'Let's check that out when we get done,'" grins delectable Howie D. "The next thing you know, the car stops right there and the kids start swarming the car and I was like, 'Oh, no! Is this the radio station we're going to?' When we were done we had to make a run for it and they were literally pulling me back! I was grabbing for anything to hold onto my clothes."
Nick, who turns 20 on January 28, also remembers how fans' devotion told him that the Boys had hit the big time. "We walk into our dressing rooms and these two girls were in there. I looked at one of them and her pants were all ripped, and I thought it was her style, but the other girl's pants were ripped too," the sexy 6-footer smiles as he recounts the story to BB. "And we're like, 'How did you get in here?' And they said, 'Well, we climbed over the barbed-wire fence and climbed through your window--which was, like, three stories high--and now we're here.'" Kinda like fame, itself--it has some funny, sweet and crazy ways to announce, "I'm here!"