backstreet boys millennium singles collection

We saw AJ as the tattooed bad boy who humped the floor in concert Nick as the adorably handsome baby of the group who misused words in interviews Brian as the jokester with a jaw sharper than AJ’s spiked hair Kevin as the sullen big brother and oldest member and Howie as the wide-eyed earnest one, who delivered lines such as “My name is Howie D. The two of us had met at a birthday party and bonded over our enthusiasm for the Backstreet Boys. One of my friends, Julianna, felt similarly. I felt as though I had discovered a secret, which in turn gave me the confidence to start engaging with the ideas and messages that the group presented. This recognition-that as a young fan, I was meant to merely be a cog in their celebrity machine-was surprisingly empowering. The choreographed routines, precise harmonies, pelvic thrusts, and posed photos (why so much squatting?) were all designed in service of this message. Some fans created more serious websites that featured reviews and analyses of songs, videos, and concert set lists, as well as news about the boys and everyone in their orbit.īoth on- and offline, I paid so much attention to the Backstreet Boys that I picked up on the key concepts that were being sold to me: Nick, Howie, Kevin, AJ, and Brian were dreamy, they were heartthrobs, and they would never break my heart. Many of the same press images were copied and pasted over declarations of love, punctuated with rows of exclamation points. If memory serves, there was a lot of Comic Sans font on backgrounds of bright pink, neon green, and electric blue. Using our dial-up connection, I scoured the internet for pixelated photo collections compiled and posted by fellow fans on unsophisticated websites. I played their music on repeat, I screamed at their concerts, and I had torn-out magazine photos taped to my bedroom wall.Īfter my homework was done, I’d spend hours in a spare bedroom of my family’s home in Tacoma, Washington, consuming as much Backstreet Boys–related content as possible. I was, in every sense of the word, a committed fan. These accolades merely confirmed what I already knew on a visceral, spiritual, and hormonal level: that the Backstreet Boys were the greatest boy band ever (again, I was 15). release, Millennium, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, set a number of records, including becoming the best-selling album of 1999.

At the time, the group-made up of AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and Nick Carter-was everywhere. In the spring of 1999, I was in the exact target demographic for the Backstreet Boys: 15 years old, female, and very susceptible to intense celebrity crushes.

Backstreet boys millennium singles collection