Post-millennium visions of the Backstreet Boys
Let's drive down the street of Wild Speculation. A decade or so down the road, the Backstreet Boys could have completely different careers.
By Randy Cordova and Victor Barajas
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 7, 1999
[Please note that this is supposed to be funny. If you don't like what Randy wrote then you can contact him at (602) 444-8096 or at randy.cordova@pni.com]
Sure, the Backstreet Boys are one of the hottest acts on the tour circuit, but what's going to happen in the next decade? We decided to look ahead and ponder what's in store for our favorite boy band.
Oct. 7, 2010 - The latest trend at clubs across the country, '90s nights, has been a nostalgic trip for former members of a group called the Backstreet Boys.
Here is a condensed version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning story from "the Rep," the nation's leader in hard news:
The core of the Backstreet Boys, cousins Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, began singing as youngsters in church choirs. The religious background proved invaluable: When the guys' pop career faltered, Littrell turned to the world of Christian music.
Along with MC Hammer and Glen Campbell, he hosted There are No Has-Beens in Heaven on the Trinity Broadcasting Network for two seasons. He also recorded several compact discs that were "gifts" to people who contributed $5 to the Free Jim Bakker Foundation.
"Singing for the Lord is as good as singing for little girls," Littrell says. "It's still soul music - just another kind of soul!"
He does admit there was some rivalry with Richardson that helped contribute to the breakup of the Boys in 2003. During a performance at the Phoenix Kiwanis Club during the disastrous "Backstreet's Back (Again) Tour," the cousins wound up exchanging punches on stage.
"It's hard working with a member of your own family," Littrell says. "I think there were always problems with Kevin. And once I grew facial hair, it just made things worse."
For a time, it looked as if Kevin would be the most successful solo Boy. But his first video, I'm a Party Guy, was pulled from MTV after the network realized that viewers actually thought they were watching Boy George.
"That was bogus, man," Richardson says. "And I was insulted. I look a lot more like J.C. from 'N Sync than I do that drama queen."
Instead, he turned to the world of infomercials. He appeared on Da '90s Were Da Bomb, which hawked a five-CD set that featured the music of such other forgotten phenoms as Christina Aguilera and B*Witched.
"I don't mind living in the past," says Richardson, who resides in a mansion on Sunset Boulevard with money earned during his glory days. "I'm still big. It's the boy bands that got small. The people are out there, in the dark, waiting for my return."
He says he gets a couple of letters each week, asking when he plans to return to music.
"I'm waiting for the right project," he says. "I won't do anything just for the money. I'd rather stay here and play with my monkey Stan than do something that would harm my reputation."
In the Boys' heyday, A.J. McLean received about as much attention as Jan in The Brady Bunch. But nowadays, after losing 150 pounds on the Oprah kiwi diet, he's living it up on a series of infomercials with Richard Simmons, king of weight fluctuation.
"It's like, I wanted to be somebody," McLean says. "Looking back, I really miss the color-coordinated outfits, but when I couldn't find them in husky sizes it, like, made me so mad."
On VH1's Where Are the Nobodys Now, McLean became teary-eyed when he recalled how Brian used to pick on him.
"Now I know how Michael Jackson used to feel with Jermaine," says McLean, tugging on his hair extensions. "He was so insensitive. Sure, I couldn't really sing and I missed a step or two, but some girls liked me. They really liked me."
On a more tragic note, Nick Carter, who had lost all of his hair after one too many bleach jobs, failed in his attempt to return as host of Dance Fever 2000 after experiencing stage fright.
"I know it happened to other people, like Donny Osmond and Barbra Streisand, but I never thought it could happen to me," says Carter, who received dance lessons from disco dinosaur Deney Terrio. "It's one step forward and two dance steps back - hey, I made a funny!"
Carter continues to deny rumors that the voice tracks on his comeback album, Boys Will Be Toys, are in fact those of Fab, he of the 1980s group Milli Vanilli.
"Sure I lip-sync onstage - I can't do two things at once - but I wouldn't mislead my 30 fans. I have my morals," he says.
Meanwhile, the artist formerly known as Howie Dorough added fuel to his tabloid war with Ricky Martin, berating the Latin star for getting pec implants.
"I'm way past shaking my butt to make a buck," says Dorough, now a washed-up country star known as Buckaroo. "I'm happy with my life as a farmer."
From Backstreet to backwoods. Who woulda thunk it?
Randy Cordova can be reached at (602) 444-8096 or at randy.cordova@pni.com;
Victor Barajas can be reached at (602) 444-4383 or at victor.barajas@pni.com.
A note from BSB 4 EVER!!!: This is supposed to be funny. If you don't feel that way, please don't take it out on me, I didn't write it. I found it quite funny, though I hope this will never happen to them. On part I didn't think was funny was the part about Nick's hair! He does not bleach it!