Here's the section for those of you that like articles n interviews about our fine dudes! My stash of them were strating to get cluttered and I didn't know where to put them so here's this page! I hope you enjoy!
BSB Popular among Stars
Source: Seventeen Magazine
According to Seventeen magazine, there are plenty of celebrities taking in BSB concerts this year. Some of the stars that turned out to tune in were:
Ben Savage, Steven Tylor of Aerosmith,
Joe Perry, Aerosmith's lead guitar player,Sinbad, Rod Stewart, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Jenna Elfman, Parker Posey, Gene Simmons,
Janet Jackson,Kobe Bryant, Paul Stanley.
Backstreet Girlfriends Get Movie, Record Deals
Source: Fox News (Fox 411)
By Roger Friedman
Oh, the agony of being a teen pop idol.
Brian Littrell, of the Backstreet Boys, could not even list his girlfriend, Leighanne Wallace, in his thank-yous on the group's new album,
Millenium, because there was fear of a backlash against her.
Littrell, who also had open heart surgery last year, instead makes oblique
reference to Leighanne at the end of his notes: "I love you baby and all
your family too, also as well." Not exactly "Oh Yoko" or "Layla," but it's
something.
Leighanne told me by phone from her Orlando, Florida, home Thursday: "At
first we were afraid to 'come out' because we thought the girls would be
mad. But they've really come around. I actually have girl fans now. I have
700 e-mails to answer."
One BSB fan even created a web site for Leighanne.
"She wasn't even a fan of the Boys," says the late '90s version of Linda
McCartney.
Leighanne says she pals around with one other BSB girlfriend, Mandy
Willaford, the steady of Nick Carter.
Eighteen-year-old Mandy, who records under the name Mandy Moore and has
her own web site which includes a frequently updated journal, has just
signed a record contract with RCA, the label that distributes Jive, for
whom the Boys themselves record.
Do the other Boys have girlfriends? "It depends on what day it is," laughs
Leighanne.
"When they choose to admit it. Sometimes AJ does, sometimes he doesn't. We
have to be careful."
When I tell her about the Beatles and their travails with girlfriends and
wives long ago, she tells me: "I never liked the Beatles. Neither does
Brian."
Leighanne, however, is not sitting around answering BSB fan mail. Come
November, she's going to be filming her first movie, an independent
feature called Olive Juice, which will shoot for six weeks in Orlando.
It's being put together by a pair of thirtysomething brothers, Nick and
Alex Karvounis. The Karvounsises, who hail from Baltimore but live in Las
Vegas, say they went to film school at NYU. When that was over they
migrated to Orlando where they developed a juggling act called Doubble
Troubble. (The marketing scheme of two b's is coincidental to the
Backstreet Boys' twin b's.) Most of their appearances were on cruise
ships.
Alex Karvounis says that when the casting call went out for Olive Juice,
neither of them knew who Leighanne was and had never heard of the
Backstreet Boys.
"The lead character falls in love with a dog," he reports. "So when
Leighanne came in with her dog to the audition, we could see she was
comfortable with pets. Also, she has a quality like Julia Roberts. Her
eyes light up."
Leighanne's credits, according to the Internet Movie Database, include a
couple of BSB videos, a couple of minor appearances in forgettable movies,
and a print ad for Muscle magazine. She turned 30 in July.
"I've never really starred in a movie before," she admits, but she's
looking forward to her big break. She will accompany Brian to the MTV
Music Awards in New York on September 9th.
The Karvounis brothers, meantime, are currently negotiating with the Boys'
music publisher so they can include one of Brian's personally penned tunes
in the film.
"It may be too expensive," says Alex. "It may not be feasible."
The song, called "The Perfect Fan," is included on Millenium. Brian wrote
it about his mom.
"In the movie, my character's mom dies, so it's perfect," says Leighanne.
One song they are definitely including is called "How Do You Like Me So
Far?" It's performed by actor Joe Pesci, who last year released his first
album of vocal treats.
For more on Olive Juice, you can check out the web site. That's right:
even though no movie has been made, there is an extensive web site where
fans (of a film that doesn't yet exist) can e-mail the "stars" and the
crew and buy souvenirs such as coffee mugs and T-shirts. The shirts have already sold out in most designs.
King For The Day (TOTP August 1999)
Those Backstreet Boys may be rulers of the pop world but how would AJ
manage if he was King of a country? Read on to find out...
What would you have for your national anthem?
I'd have "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate. I just like that song, it'd be cool for my Kingdom. The could play it at fancy state occasions.
Who would you banish to the dark and dingy dungeons?
Well... any of my ex-girlfriends, they'd have to be banished. And any friends from high school who treated me like crap, they could go too; I hold grudges.
((Note from me: I bet those people who treated AJ like crap before wish they didn't!!))
Oh dear. Anyone famous?
Ah sure - like the obvious people who are responsible for what's happened in Kosovo. I'd kick that homeboy Milosevic and banish him for life.
What would you go to war over?
Polyester pants. Nobody should be allowed to wear polyester, ever. One of our security guards, Tom, wears a whole mess of polyester and it's - uh! - not nice. If you're seen wearing it we'll take it as an act of aggression and we'll go to war... (Thinks.) But I might let Tom off cos he's biggerthan me and has friends in the military.
Who would be your court jester?
Brian. He's chilled out a bit recently bit he still has crazy moments on stage. We've been getting a lot of blow-up aliens thrown on stage and he'll dance with 'em or hit me and Nick on the head with 'em to the beat of the music. He likes to kiss 'em too.
Describe your Kingdom's flag...
My flag would have Cartman from "South Park" on it. And there would be a speech bubble coming from Cartman's mouth saying, 'Respect my country's authority, dude!'.
Would you like to host the Olympics?
Nah, but we'd have Mowing The Lawn championships. If someone dies it better than their next-door neighbour then they win. It's kinda like the World's Strongest Man championship, only it'll make the country neater at the same time. Plus we'd have the cricket World Cup, cos I think it's the most ridiculous, difficult-to-understand sport in the world. (Pause.) You'll have to teach me, it looks like fun.
What would you put on your stamps?
A picture of my Mum in profile, just like the Queen. It would be a good way to show her I love her and she also gets to travel on every letter which goes across the world.
Would you want to outlaw any kind of music?
I wouldn't change it. You need different sorts for different moods. Maybe thrash metal could go though. I can't imagine the mood I'd need to be in for that! I can't get harder than Marilyn Manson. Megadeth is out. Sacrificing goats on stage is not my style.
What probing questions will your customs officers ask foreign visitors?
'Do you like McDonald's?'. 'Do you promise to go to the gym during your stay?' and 'Are you up for clubbing in the evenings?' Those are the kind of people we want in my country.
And how would you spend your royal afternoons?
Playing golf. We played when we were in the UK at a place called Woburn Abbey. Our tour manager Skip is the best golfer out of us all and after skip it's Brian, then me, then Kevin. Kevin's the worst cos he gets so easily frustrated. If I was the King they'd have to let me win, heh heh!
You get to have a state-owned TV station! What shows would be on?
It would have "Jerry Springer" on twenty-four seven. With a little bit of "South Park" and a little bit of "Seinfeld". "Top Of The Pops" and a bit if MTV with a smidgen of VH1. But mostly "Jerry Springer". He's the man. I've seen every single episode. I've got tickets to go to one of his shows on his US tour and I can't wait to see the girls on stage fighting and screaming and pulling each other's hair! ((Note from me again: YOU GUYS!! Maybe if we watch Jerry Springer you might catch AJ in the audience! Better yet, why don't we just get tickets and go! Only prob is we don't know which show!))
Which sport would you be world champion at?
Singing. We could be champions at that. (Erm, singing isn't really a sport though, is it?) Well now. Didn't we just say I was in charge? Hush up now -or you're in the dungeon!
I sure wouldn't mind if AJ was in charge of the country :o) I'd LOVE to live in his lil' country! Sounds like fun!
Ajs Personal Interview [Source: Entertainment Teen]
AJ, you've often talked to us about your childhood and teen years. Now that you're practically 22, when you look back, was it lonely being an only child, growing up in a single-parent family?
"I wouldn't say it was lonely, but it was different. A lot of my friends all the way through high school had two and three siblings. I didn't have other kids to play with as a kid, and because my parents were seperated, I didn't have that father-son interaction and time. So I was never into sports."
How old were you when they seperated?
"I was about four years old, and I didn't see my father again until I was about 12."
You probably don't remember all that much before you were four...
"I really don't remember anything before I was four, so it's always been my mom and me as far as I'm concerned. I have a big black spot in my brain up until about six years old, when I got into the industry because those are the things I want to remember."
Were your parents divorced or just seperated at that time?
"I believe they were divorced by the time I was four and I had no contact whatsoever. I saw my father one time when I was 12. Actually, my girlfriend I was with before Amanda [AJ's current steady] was with me one day about two years ago when I was handed an envelope by my grandfather to give to my mother... I looked at it and it was about my mother's child support... it had a return address on it. My girlfriend suggested we go there to see [my father], because he lived ten minutes away (I couldn't believe that!), so we did and there he was. He's been trying to get back into my life since then and it just doesn't work that way. You can't stay away from your son for 15 years and then just try to have a relationship again..."
Are you angry with him?
"No, I think I was too young at the time to have a reason to be angry with him. Had I been older and witnessed for myself what had been going on between my mom and dad, it may have screwed me up as a kid. Or if it had cut into my time and they tried to play me against each other, picking favorites, etc., I could see that I'd be annoyed. I am disappointed though. He's known where I've been all of this time and ever since the Backstreet Boys started in 1993, he's been following it. He has everything, like the ultimate fan - the magazines, the records, etc. So it's like, dad if you've been following me all of this time, why didn't you try to contact me? I asked him too... and his excuse was, I thought your mom and grandparents put ideas in your head to make you hate me. And that is why you've made no effort to see me? I said, no, we never even talked about you. As far as I knew, you two divorced when I was really young and you were gone. That's it. Now wham... he's back again trying to be in my life."
Which grandfather were you referring to, AJ? Your mom's or your dad's?
"My mother's father, my grandpappy, is who I was talking about. I don't know anyone on [my dad's] side of the family. But now it's the typical situation - now that I'm someone recognizable, everyone is coming out of the woodwork. I'm like, who are you?"
Did you feel protective of your mother?
"I wouldn't say protective, but it was more or less like she was my best friend instead of my mother. She hung out with me like one of my regular friends. She was like 10 years younger than her actual age. She basically let me grow up and do my own thing, while she was monitoring."
Is she outgoing too, or did you get any of this from your dad?
"I got everything from my mom except for one thing that I got from my dad. I've had to learn to get over this because I got it as a young childhood thing.. his temper.. Everything else was from my mom and my grandparents. I was raised kind of biased towards women because I was raised in a house with my mom and my grandmother. My grandfather and my uncles were my father figures, but they weren't athletic either, so I was looked at as [a little funny] because I didn't play sports, etc. They're into movies and singing and dancing. I got made fun of and stuff, but I have to say... I generally don't like to boast and brag, but I can't wait to go back to my high school reunion."
Why's that?
"When they bring the kids up on stage who were most likely to succeed and they're pumping gas.. we'll see. I guarantee, when they're calling people up on stage, it won't be my name they call, 'cause they looked at me as a joke. Yeah, right. Backstreet Boys isn't going to amount to anything... and now look. I want to go back and say, 'I made something of myself. You didn't have the passionand the heart for it, nor the family that supported you to pursue your dreams." I appreciate that about my family, for pushing me and not letting me give up. I can't count how many auditions I went on and I only got two. It's like, I busted my butt for 18 years in this business and I've finally gotten my break and I'll do it until something makes me stop. I even said to my mom that I am not going to walk in there with a diamond cross or an expensive suit. And I'm not going to drive up in a Mercedes Benz. I'm going to walk in with some jeans and a t-shirt on, with my baseball cap and show them all that I'm just as normal as I was."
Is the uncle you were speaking of, your mother's brother?
"Yes. My grandfather used to take me out to play golf when I was younger and my uncle used to take me fishing and on boats... I look up to them because they were there if I had any guy questions, like about girls or bullies at school."
Were you able to talk to your mom about guy stuff too?
"Yes, I was about to say that. She was what I'd call a 'mod,' because she was a mom and a dad. She had answers for me from a guy's perspectiv and a girl's, so I always had the best of both worlds. I understood if a girl had a problem, I could take her feelings into consideration and find a happy balance. That made things work out well. I grew up to respect women more and I have so many friends that are women. A lot of people would accuse me of knowing the right things to say as a pick-up line. Fact is, I was raised by two women and I learned to get along with women better, and I can relate to them. Women have struggled in so many ways to hold their own and to be respected and I did the same thing to be respected by other guys. They saw me as being different, because I was either by myself or with girls. So I was in a class of my own in high school."
Did you miss having siblings during all of this?
"Yes and no. I would have had twin sisters, but they died at birth. I can't remember whether they were before or after me. I often think to myself, what would it have been like to have had two sisters? What would they have become and how would that have effected the attention I got from my mom? I wonder, how does Nick's mom juggle five children? Her youngest is in the business and her oldest son is a Backstreet Boy, and then the others want to follow in their footsteps. I'm really glad my mom doesn't have that pressure. I think I liked growing up on my own, because I think I grew up faster. No one slowed me down and I matured quickly. There was no one wanting to keep me kid-like. I was always around adults and mostly women. I had a unique childhood, but I wouldn't go back and change anything."
When you were really young, did you wonder what it would have been like to have sisters?
"I did, and my mom and I sat down and talked about it right before the group got going, but she didn't talk about it much before then. I didn't know how to take it - should I be confused, happy, upset? - so I let it go. But I'm her pride and joy and she's mine! So I have to say that was just God's way."
When you were younger, did you ever feel there was added pressure on you to do well, because of your mom's loss?
"No, I wasn't a bad kid, so I didn't feel like I had to make her proud. She just was proud of the natural incentive I had. She just didn't understand where all of this energy was coming from: "He's putting on shows in the house, and singing and writing poetry in the bathroom!" I was just always a creative kid. I think she sat back and was in shock and was entertained by the whole thing. I think she was shocked that I didn't slip into the wrong crowd or get on drugs and all of that. Probably because I never really went to high school because I was tutored, so I wasn't faced with the peer pressure that most face in high school. I really liked that my tutor wasn't too far from my age and we'd sit in the apartment complex everyday and we'd burn through the books because she was a kick-butt teacher. And I finally finished about two months early, but I flew back to walk with my class. Of course, no one knew who I was 'cause I was only there for part of my freshman year. So there was silence when it was time to c all my name to get my diploma, because they were all like, where did this kid come from?"
So when was most of the teasing, in Junior High school?
"It was probably at its worst in the 7th grade, because we had just moved to Orlando for my pilot at Nickelodeon. It was a [parochial] school, so they were very restrictive with everything. Haircuts had to be above the shoulder, etc. I had to have a mohawk for that part in the show, so it wasn't the easiest thing to deal with going to school dressed in a tie and shirt, sporting a Mohawk. I got teased and I ended up not even continuing with the series. Eighth grade was when BSB was starting. In my freshman year we still had time [to go to school] in the beginning before the recording got hot and heavy, and then that's when I got taken out of high school. I wasn't picked on to the point that I got in fights, and I wasn't called names, but I was just looked at as a weirdo. I am a weirdo, I'm not normal and I don't want to be, because it's boring. It doesn't add any excitement to life."
Did your mother set an example for you as far as being yourself?
"I didn't really model myself to be like her, but I definately looked up to her. But even at 12, I made my own decisions. If there was an audition I didn't want to go to, I wouldn't go, and before I ever got onto a stage, I made sure I was 150% ready to blow people away and always come out on top. I'm not in competition with the rest of the guys. I'm only 1/5 of the Backstreet Boys, but I give more than I probably should because it makes me feel good and it makes me come off as a star. I've always dreamed of being a superstar (superstar by day and normal Joe at night). I love when people meet us outside of work, and they are like, "Wow, you are really normal!"
Did you do more chores around the house having been an only child of a single parent?
"No, I raked and mowed the lawn. I cleaned the pool and walked the dog. I would try to be out playing, so I didn't have very many chores. I did have friends in the neighborhood that I rode bikes and skateboards with, etc., but as I got older and started going to auditions and stuff, they noticed that I wasn't around. They didn't understand what I did, so they distanced themselves from me because they figured I wouldn't be around."
When you were home alone, how did you entertain yourself?
"I would play Nintendo, draw or write poetry. I'd grab a hairbrush and sing. I was also a big eater and I loved McDonald's. I used to ask my grandmother to take me there all of the time."
Did you watch TV?
"I was a big Days of Our Lives fan, Heckle and Jeckle, lots of cartoons."
If you had school events that were for fathers and sons, did your uncle or grandfather go with you?
"I never really had those kind of functions, because I didn't play sports, etc., but for plays and dance recitals my family would always be there."
Can you give some practical tips to only children and children of divorced parents?
"To any only child or child from a single parent home, don't look at it in any derogatory way. If you are an only child, look at it as an advantageous opportunity to become more independent; you can really focus on yourself... In a singly parent home, try to help the parent, so they don't put so much pressure on themselves to be both parents. You don't have to make it easier on them, but don't make it harder either. If they can't answer every question, don't get mad or frustrated with them and say, Well, if dad were here, etc. It's very difficult for a single parent to have the ability and the patience to be a single parent. They may snap at you because of their stress, but you have to realize that it might not be your fault. Just be more supportive and you will get that back... I know some kick-butt single parents... No competition and no posed threat! If I can do it, anyone can do it. Don't just say things to be heard. Don't talk a lot, do a lot. That's one area that I have a lot of room for improvement. I'm a big talker and if I could back up hal of what I say... Once I get those things going, and learn from my mistakes I can keep going. But I know that I can go back to my mom with any question, regardless of my age, because we have a good relationship."