My school had a talent show... This girl and I got up there and sang a spiritual song in front of the school-I mean the whole school was there. It was a song called, 'Another Time, Another Place.' She comes on and sings her first line and then I come into the song; I get like two or three words out of my mouth, and right then is when all the girls in the audience, started to scream! I mean, I was all decked out in a suit and tie, and there were spotlights, so I couldn't even see the audience, because the lights were so bright. I heard the first three words I sang and then I couldn't even hear myself. It just blew me away. I was like, 'Oh my Goodness!'
I had just gotten out of my chorus earlier in the day and I was a nobody. But yet, when I stepped up on-stage and got behind those lights it was totally different. I was just an instant star. I think that was the point in my life when I knew that if I could pull something off like that with my peers, then there definitely had to be people out in the world who would like it as well. And from then on, it was such a rush!
That's where Long John Silver's came in, it's a fast food chain. I worked there for about a year and a half. I was saving money, showing some responsibility, working, keeping up with my school work and church, trying to manage all of my time; trying to venture off into adulthood. I proved to my mom that I was reliable and that she could trust me. I believe you have to work hard...
My brother sings also, but he doesn't really sing pop, R & B style we have; he likes heavy metal, rock 'n roll. They would get together and sing and pretend they were rock stars and my brother would beat on the drums. My brother never took it seriously like I didn't really take it seriously - until I was just thrown into it.
Everyone knows about the day Kevin called me form Orlando for BackStreet Boys. I was sitting in my U.S. History class, it was the last class of the day, 6th hour, and it was April, 1993...So I get home and right when I walk in the door I'm like, 'Mom, I gotta tell ya, I gotta tell ya!' and she was like, 'Yeah, Kevin called about the group and told me all about it!' and I was like, 'What?!' He had called both my parents, given them the low down and I was the last one to hear about it. I was just in disbelief! I was like, there's no way! This can't be happening! My mom's main concern was my education...
So she got on the phone and talked to Denise, A.J.'s mom, and Denise told her about the tutor, home schooling, how they go about their days getting their studies done. And if everything worked out, then I would just fall right in with A.J. and Nick and be tutored together with them. That was her main concern, and it was all worked out. To make a long story short, we talked to management that night and they said, 'You gotta get down here and audition. We've heard a lot of great things about and you gotta give it a shot!' I was on a plane at 6 am the very next day!
I flew down to Orlando by myself. Kevin and a limo were there to pick me up at the airport. My jaw was hitting the floor. I was scared half to death. Here I was and hours before I was talking to him on the phone! Now I'm down in Orlando, I'm in a limo... I was like, 'Wooahh, what have I gotten myself into? Here I am, from Lexington, a middle class guy who is growing up and worked hard and pow, overnight my life has been changed.' Right when I met management I was like, 'This is for me, I can fit into this, I love this.' It was nothing like I had expected. I excepted it to be all formal, 'cause I had never auditioned for anything. I didn't know what it was going to be like.