From left, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, and AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys. Photo / AP
From left, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, and AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys. Photo / AP
The live return of the Backstreet Boys comes with a movie opening act. Leena Tailor reports.
As most of One Direction celebrate their 22nd birthdays, five other male pop vocalists are marking a different 22 years - as part of the biggest-selling boy band in history.
In those two decades, the Backstreet Boys have conquered addictions, deaths, departures, lawsuits, heart conditions and their latest setback - one of their lead singers battling vocal tension dysphonia, a condition affecting the vocal cords.
"When you're trying to make a record and you can't sing it sucks, because that's your job. Four months ago, I couldn't speak," Brian Littrell tells TimeOut.
"It was the lowest time in my life and I thought about signing off. But I can't. I'm a fighter ... a competitor ... I like to win."
It's the same drive which has carried the seven-time Grammy-nominated group through hurdles that would have broken most bands, and now, 16 years after Millennium and its global anthem I Want It That Way topped the NZ charts, the popstars will play here for the first time with all five members.
Bringing their 20th anniversary In A World Like This tour to Auckland in May, the vocal powerhouse will take fans on a nostalgic, almost two-hour journey from their late-90s reign - including Everybody (Backstreet's Back) and Larger Than Life - to their 2013 independent release In A World Like This.
With all their hits, a stripped-down acoustic set and unique arena set-up with fan pits in the stage, the quintet also revive the slick choreography which had teen hearts fluttering into the millennium - and yes, that includes the hat dance.
To prepare fans for the 90s reminiscent rendezvous comes documentary Show 'Em What You're Made Of, out on March 28 and charting the band's hard-fought rise to the top after being selected from auditions by now-imprisoned pop impresario Lou Pearlman, who was fascinated by New Kids on the Block and wanted to create his own boy band gold mine.
Despite his betrayals - like illegally naming himself a sixth band member to pocket more money, and using their earnings to help create rivals *NSYNC - the singers credit Pearlman for their early success.
Initially exploding in Europe before catapulting to international stardom, their 1999 album Millennium sparked fan pandemonium, four Grammy nods and helped bolster the 130-million-plus records they've sold to date, but by 2000's Black & Blue, fame was taking its toll.
Youngest members Nick Carter and AJ McLean battled drugs and alcohol, while Kevin Richardson walked out following 2005's Never Gone - returning for IAWLT.
"I wasn't inspired anymore," he says. "I was just going through the motions and it wasn't fair to me, fans or the guys. I wanted that passion back. During those years I missed the interaction and energy between us and fans, but I wanted to miss it. That's why I left."
"It was great to have Kevin back," adds Carter. "I'm proud of what we did with four of us - two albums and a tour with the New Kids. We held the legacy together and kept the Backstreet Boys' name going, but we always felt incomplete.
"When he came back it felt like we were home again."
Now all married, and with Carter and McLean having turned their lives around, the group has cut ties with record labels and made IAWLT on their own terms.
"To still keep doing this knowing we don't have much support from radio, marketing, or a label - and can still sell out a tour and do great sales - is a huge testament to our fans," says McLean.
Though his only advice to One Direction is "stay in that direction ... and get a good lawyer," the group pride themselves in what sets them apart from their younger counterparts - penning their songs, playing instruments live and "still dancing".
On film, their story differs to the concert-heavy tales of One Direction and Katy Perry.
"It's different to other artists' documentaries, which focus on the live show," says director Stephen Kijak, who was behind Rolling Stones doco Stones in Exile.
"We have actual story to tell. You're telling a 20-year career as opposed to other bands who are barely 20 themselves.
"And whether you lived through the 90s with them or not, it's an interesting study of the effects of fame. These guys came from such different family backgrounds and having gone through what they've been through, it's intriguing to see how they interact - more so in this day of instant fame.
"To wind back and see the work they put in to get to where they are today is really fascinating. So you don't have to be a fan to enjoy the movie. It's a great human story - there's a lot to learn from them."
Who: The Backstreet Boys, veteran boy band Where and when: Playing Vector Arena May 12 Also: Comeback documentary Show 'Em What You're Made Of screening at cinemas from March 28
