The BACKSTREET BOYS' Sentimental Side - BOP Nov 99
The "I Want It That Way" songsters reveal how they keep a close hold on their precious BSB memories
After six completely rockin' years together, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean, Nick Carter and Howie Dorough have collected a mountain of memories, from their 1993 start in Orlando, Florida to their stop atop the charts today. And as they continue to dazzle fans with get-up-and-groove tunes from their 1999 CD Millennium, the Backstreet Boys gather even more supa-dupa times to remember. Luckily, each of these fine five has found ways to keep track of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. With the help of pictures, videos and scrapbooks, the Backstreet Boys try not to miss a thing.
Dashing Kevin, who turned 28 on October 3, is totally psyched about his own personal collection of memories. "I have like three bags filled with pictures that I have to put in a scrapbook one day," the green-eyed guy grins. "Like a grocery bag full of things and pictures from when we very, very, very first started--like our very first trip to Europe, and I was in front of Big Ben and the London Bridge." But this Kentucky-born country boy can't do it alone. Kevin is happy to have a little help from--whom else? "My mom is collecting data from the papers," Kev tells BOP, "and she has a friend who gets on the Internet and sends stuff to her." And what about Mrs. Richardson's own keepsakes? "My mom is keeping a scrapbook, definitely," Kevin professes with pride.
At the other end of the spectrum, the youngest of the BSB bunch, 19-year-old Nick, has a totally different way to remember his special stuff. "I document everything in my head," announces the adventurous, blue-eyed babe. And although he's not big on writing things down, Nick says, "I do have pictures." But is this 6-foot-tall talent any better at preserving pics than he is at keeping a journal? You bet, Nick tells us. "My parents and I have a scrapbook."
worth a thousand words
Heart-and-soul Howie, 26, loves collecting the gazillion or so pics that have been taken of the Backstreet Boys over the years. But this brown-eyed-fella is his own worst critic when taking a stroll down memory lane. The 5-foot-6-inch singer explains, "There are some shots of each of us, and I look back and I say, 'That is such a good shot,' and then sometimes there are shots where I'm like, 'Wow! I need a makeover on that one or something. Air brush the whole picture!" As if!
Kevin's Kentucky-born cousin, Brian, is also into the "picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words' thing, which is why he loves saving their snaps. Of all the pictures that this blue-eyed singer has kept from the fab, fun things he and his BSB buds have done, one in particular remains his absolute fave. "It's a picture of me playing basketball with Stewart Scott--he's an ESPN analyst--and Magic [Johnson] is right there," enthuses the 24-year-old charmer. "It has everybody that I like, so I've framed it and put it in my bedroom so I can look at it every day. It's cool! It shows that we're real people and we get a chance to do that."
lights, camera, action
When secret softie A.J., 21, wants to capture a memorable moment, he busts out his video camera. "We have a lot of things on video--a lot of things that hopefully someday never actually air on TV and some things that can be aired on TV," laughs the wild, brown-eyed guy. Howie chimes in, "I always have my video camera also, and it is called the D-cam--the Howie D-cam." This family-friendly fella doesn't want his parents to miss out on anything, so here is what the man with the D-cam does: "I videotape everything while I am out there sightseeing, and the shows and everything, so that way, they can feel close to what we are doing."
Kevin, too, loves to capture the moment on his video cam. "When I took my video camera to the American Music Awards, I had it out in the audience with me and I filmed my mom in the audience and stuff," he happily recalls, adding that on this very special video, he also "introduced my mom to Whitney Houston." Now that's making a memory!
the good old days
Whenever A.J. has some downtime (which isn't soon likely with BSB's U.S. tour underway), he loves to dig into his stash of mementos and relive the group's rollercoaster ride to stardom. "I have a whole bunch of cutouts from three or four years ago. I have all the demos that we've done back in the day and stuff, where Nick sounded like--well, he's 12," A.J. laughs good-naturedly," but he sounds like a little mouse!"
However, the one special thing that means the most to A.J. actually belongs to his mom, Denise, who's often been BSB's "road mom." "She's kept a journal of everything at least since '93," he gushes. "It's her eyes seeing everything that we've been through. All the good points, the bad points, fights, arguments--everything." So does Denise share her personal entries with only her son? Nope. "She won't let me read it," A.J. reveals. "If I read it, I'll cry and she'll cry." Awww. It's the little things that mean the most.