Backstreet-mania swept the whole world last year. Now it's back again - and stronger than ever.

When the Backstreet Boys first started singing together in 1993, music fans in America yawned - or didn't notice at all. It was hard to pay attention to anything in those dark times. Grunge was still pushing down on teens' brains like a caffeine headache, and if that weren't enough, they were also feeling numb from the robotic squawks of that so-called dance sound known as electronica. Feeling out of place in this environment, the Boys took their upbeat, R&B-inspired tunes and cut out for the more pop-friendly confines of continental Europe.

Three years later, America was ready for the Backstreet Boys, and the guys were ready to come home. By this time, the Orlando-based singers were huge international stars. The group borke through first in Germany and the U.K., where audiences immediately loved their happy, booty-shaking music. Of course, the kind of soulful ballads and get-up-and-move dance tunes that defined the Boys were already hot in Europe - and the Boys faced plenty of competition from Europe's home-grown bands. So why did BSB end up on top? One word: talken.

Kevin has said it was the Boys' ability to harmonize together a capella that really made audiences stand back and take notice. Not only could these guys dance like all the other groups, they could also really sing - which was more unusual. Critical acclaim soon followed. England gave the Boys her seal of approval as early as 1995, when newspaper and magazine critics for behind the group during a BSB tour of the island nation. The following year, the Boys earned a gold record in Germany and won "the Battle of the Boy Bands" on VIVA, a major music television station in the European country. Clearly, the Backstreet Boys were on their way to the top.

Back in those days, the guys were able to meet fans in their hotel lobbies after shows and hand out with them at coffee houses. The Boys even went on a few dates with fans. The guys still love to get to know their fans, but it's much harder to do now. The last time they tried to linger in their hotel lobby, a riot ensued. The fan frenzy has gotten so extreme that some hotels don't want to house the Boys because they know a mob of ardent fans will gather outside the hotel and disturb other guests. Still, the Boys meet fans whenever they can. They've even been knwon to call fans after a concert just to talk about the night - so it might just pay to toss your phone number on stage! Still, it can be frustration for the guys. They know they can only be friends with the girls they meet at their concerts because their busy touring schedule makes it impossible to be anything more. Still, one can never have too many friends, right?

Everbody loves BSB

It was about two years ago that things started getting out of hand. Whoops and applause after every song began to become substained screams that lasted entire concerts! Some newspapers and magazines even sought to find an explanation for it.

"It's the throwing off of their childhood," one psyshologist was quoted as saying about the fans' reaction to the Backstreet Boys. "Going to a concert is their sexual awakening."

You can say that again. Seeing Nick up-close and personal would be enough to get a rock excited!

"They're just so hot," says Chloe, a 16-year-old English fan. "And their songs talk about love like your boyfriend can't. You can tell they mean what they say."

Not surprisingly, fans want to talk to they Boys about their music and what it means to them. And as it became more difficult for the guys to chat one-on-one, their fans became more and more determined to do so. Two girls in Germany once tore their clothes climbing over a barbed wire fence to get to the guys! Then, even with shredded halters, they snuck into the Boys' hotel, found out what rooms they were in, and made it up to the room. Howie and Kevin were quite surprised to find these new friends knocking on their door!

Similarly, when BSB visited the VIVA studio in Germany, fans climbed over parked cars and metal gates to get closer to the Boys. Unfortunately, the girls damaged some car roofs in their haste, and the VIVA honchos decided they couldn't have the Boys back to the studios again! (The group's popularity soon changed IVA's mind, however, and the Boys returned to do an "Unplugged" special last year.

But hotels and TV studios aren't the only places fans head in search of their favorite Backstreet Boy - the homes of each of the guys have been subject to surprise visits from girls from all over the world. Nick even had to step away from Christmas dinner once to greet fans on his front lawn! The Carter family finally had to put a fence around their house after an inconsiderate local man not only sold maps to their home, but also took a busload of fans right to their front door! With the first visit from the bus tour, all of Nick's mom's flowers were torn out of her garden as fans grabbed them as mementos!

Sometimes, even flowers aren't enough. Fans have managed to slip into the Boys' empty hotel tooms and grab garments - usually dirty underwear and socks! Though it's happened numerous times, AJ never fails to be surprised when a girl at one of their meet-and-greet sessions before concerts hands him a pair of his own boxers to sign! "I'm always, like, 'How did you get these?'" he says. His befuddlement is understandable. Imagine if the first time you met a guy, he handed you yourunderwear - how totally weird would that be?

Another close encounter with fans left AJ more than beffudled; it left him unjured! In Canada, while trying to escape a pack of screaming girls, he got his foot caught under the wheel of a van. AJ blamed himself for being a klutz, and the poor fella had to spend a few weeks in a cast, which really cut down on his dance moves!

After minor traumas like these, the Boys have learned to be careful - they even take stock of their wardrobes before going out in public. AJ jas jad earrings ripped out of his lobes (ouch!), and Brian has had numerous hats pulled off of his head, never to be seen again. Howie had a scary experience once in Europs as a pack of fans approached when he, Brian and Nick were returning to their hotel after a day of sightseeing. Reaching they safety of the guarded lobby, Nick and Brian looked back and their eyes pooped out as they saw a fan latch onto Howie's back and pull him down. On his back, Howie was as helpless as a capsized beetle! As he struggled to right himself, the buttons were torn right off his short (along with a few chest hairs!) before security guards arrived and helped him to his feet.

This can get rather trying for the Boys, but they're good - natured about it because they love their fans. They say when it's one or two fans, they have a great time. It's when it's hundreds of fans that things get, er, hairy.

BSB stuff

So what's a fan who can't get his hands on the Boys in the flesh to do? Snatch up anything else she can find related to the hottest band in the world. From Japan to Texas, millions of rooms are covered in Backstreet Boys posters, millions of girls are wearing BSB t-shirts and halters and plastering their notebooks with BSB stickers. Then there are the videos of concerts and other appearances, as well as books and magazines. Sometimes it seems there's no end to the coo stuff you can collect - there's even a BSB board game in the works!

Another way to be part of the Backstreet mania is to log on to the internet. There are Backstreet Boys websites in several languages - after all, the photos transcend the written work, don't they? There are few better ways to bring cheer to a BSB fan's day then an e-mail postcard with Boys' beautiful mugs, and these are available on most sites. Fans collect interviews, share concert memories and connect with each other via chat rooms. You can find the guys' tour schedule, puchase concert tickets and discuss tips on how to search out their hotel room with fans who have successfully located the guys before. If your parents or your friends from school don't understand your BSB addiction, it's guaranteed that thousands out there on the Internet do! Fans trade stories, and so a love for the Boys has brought people together from places as different as Maine and Singapore in their quest for BSB knowledge.