Entertainment Weekly - February 24 - March 3, 2017

(Axel Boer) #1
62 EW.COM FEBRUARY 24/MARCH 3, 2017

to do more. I was 19 years old. I just wanted
to go back home and play basketball
with my friends. So Brian and I formed
an alliance.
KEVIN We’d say, “Guys, we have this
amazing opportunity to perform with
Aretha Franklin!” And they’d be like, “Nah,
we’re not doing it.”
NICK Maybe that was the rebellious teen-
age side of me, but at the same time, we
were tired.
BRIAN The managers would say, “If you
don’t say yes to this, I’m going to get
*NSYNC to do it.”

KEVINWe touredMillennium for a little bit,
not as much as we could; then we went right
back and did another album [2000’sBlack &
Blue]. Emotionally and spiritually we weren’t
into it, which led to AJ going to rehab.
AJ At 22, I fell in love with Jack Daniel’s. One
day, we were in Boston and were supposed
to throw the pitch out at a baseball game. I
was like, “I’m not going to do it.” Kevin
started blowing up my phone. The hotel-
room door was bolted with a little chain,
and he burst right through that. We sat in
Kevin’s room with our management and
decided to cancel the tour. They sent me off
to rehab, and the next day these guys went
toTRL and made the announcement. To
this day, I still can’t watch that video. I’m sure
my daughter at some point will Google it.

The group’s next album, 2005’sNever Gone,
introduced a mature rock-inspired sound.
Yet the band struggled to adapt to a dramati-
cally changed music industry.
AJThe album didn’t come out until 2005,
and that’s what started the “Oh, you guys are
back together?” They thought we broke up!
The first half of that [period] was legitimate
time off. Then Nick does his solo thing.

*NSYNC song you wish you
had recorded:
AJ“(God Must Have Spent)
A Little More Time on You.” That
song’s dope.
NICK“Tearin’ Up My Heart.” We
actually turned it down because we
didn’t have time to record it or
something. We should have taken it.

Last thing you fought about:
[The guys simultaneously burst
into laughter.]
KEVIN Just trying to get steps
together for choreography.
AJWe always go to Google. “Wait,
I’m going to prove it, it’s on You-
Tube! It was right foot first!”

Girl group you’d most like to
join forces with:
IN UNISON The Spice Girls.
NICK We keep telling the girls we
want to tour with them.

What you miss most about
the ’90s:
HOWIE There was no paparazzi.
NICK Not having a cell phone.

Member whose kids are most
likely to follow in their footsteps:
AJBrian’s kid just did Broadway.
BRIANHe’s at an audition right now!

Nonmusical hobby you
all share:
BRIANKevin and I like construction.
KEVIN We love to bond over
design and HGTV.

Weirdest hotel alias:
NICK I was Max E. Pad.
HOWIE On our last tour I ran out
of time to pick names, so our
tour manager picked out Billie
Jean King for me.

Most memorable fan interaction:
NICK Our website was hacked
when we arrived in Chile. They put
the Chilean flag on it and it said,
“Welcome to Chile, Backstreet
Boys!” I don’t know how they did it.

Who takes the longest to get ready?
AJKevin.
HOWIE He always takes a shower.
KEVIN I’ve got to steam out before
every show!

Something that happened in
Vegas that won’t stay in Vegas:
AJI was once mistaken for a
featherweight Mexican boxer at
a blackjack table. The guy was
like, “I saw your fight last night,
you did a great job!” I was like,
“Uh, thanks!”

NICKAt that point we had enough power.
We had the meeting with [Jive president]
Barry Weiss. We were like, “We want to go
back to the original.”
KEVIN WhenMillennium took off, we
went from being recognized occasionally
to not being able to go anywhere.
AJ I’ll never forget the day that it came out.
We didTRL and shut down Times Square.
KEVIN At the same time, some of us
started to retreat inward. We didn’t spend
as much time together.
NICK There was a lot of friction inside
the group. The guys would always want

From their weirdest hotel aliases to their most memorable fan encounters,
the Boys answer EW’s burning questions

WITH THE BACKSTREET BOYS


QU I CK AND


D I RTY


MCLEAN: JEFFREY MAYER/WIREIMAGE; CARTER, RICHARDSON: MICHAEL TRAN/WIREIMAGE; HOWIE D; JEFF

SCHEAR/GETTY IMAGES; LITTRELL: TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES
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