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larger than life 
Girlfriend Magazine (Australia) November 2000

Amid engagements, accolades and solo ventures, the Backstreet Boys are back - well, let's face it, did they ever leave? - with a hotly anticipated new album.

Just when you thought life couldn't get any better for those five droolsome babes that make up the Backstreet Boys, they're about to pump up the volume with a fresh single from their soon-to-be-released, destined-to-be-massive new cd.

Do these boys every stop? To say that they had a successful last year would be a major understatement. Their album Millennium not only outsold all competitors in 1999 but also became the first recent teen-pop album to be acclaimed by critics and the grown-up crowd as well as their core of younger followers.

Backstreet Boys also have been well received by fans for their physical attributes. Kevin Richardson, 28, was declared the "Sexiest Pop Star" by People magazine - to the great amusement of his mates. "They call me Mr Sexy", he says, rolling his eyes. One European magazine gave the others even more ammunition by dubbing Kevin "Mr Body Beautiful". "We still bust his chops about it," says 27-year-old Howie Dorough.

But, of course, golden-boy Nick Carter, 20 still comes first with the fans. "All I can say is, it's very flattering," he says, appearing uncomfortable. "I try to look as normal as possible because I like people to relate to me." But he is no slave to fans' expectations: "If I feel like cutting my hair, I'll do it," he says, running a hand through his new short 'do. At the Billboard Music Awards in December '99, he gelled his hair straight up, an idea he had in the limo en route to the ceremony. (For long-locked Howie, hair-raising experiences can be traced back to high school: I let my mum relax my hair in my junior year, and at school everyone thought I had a toupee on my head," he remembers.)

Now that more eyes than ever are focused on the Boys one might expect their image to become even more important to them, but 22-year-old AJ McLean insists the opposite is true. "You get up at 7am, get on the bus and there are fans outside. You just don't care what you look like. But," he emphasises, "you must brush your teeth. That's a must."

When recalling his own pre-fame years, AJ says, "I was a geek. Every day I would go to school with a different style. One day I'd wear something really ghetto fabulous, and one day I would get all prepped out." Today, he says, "tons of kids come to me and say, 'I like your style because you're different.'" (His tattoo tally is now up to eight.)

But enough about their looks. Compliments from fans are fine, but, says Howie, "We really wan them to respect out music first."

Not to worry. Simply being cute don't get you six Grammy nods (for the 1999 and 2000 ceremonies combined) - and some wonder whether it was the band's 'youth appeal' that prevented them from taking home a trophy from the February awards. Nick says that weren't bothered by the shut-out. "Just to perform at the Grammys and be nominated against people like Santana - it's an honour," he says. "I would have liked to take an award home, but everyone gets their time to shine. Maybe ours will be in 30 years, like Santana."

tragedy amid triumph
The Grammys favour serious artists, and Millennium certainly had its share of serious singles. The video for "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" couldn't be more so. "We wanted to make it really deep," says Howie, explaining that the song was the last they'd recorded with one of their producers, Denniz Pop, who died of stomach cancer in 1998. They aimed to show that life as a member of one of the world's biggest pop bands is "not all glamour", says Brian, whose May 1998 heart surgery is dramatised in the clip.

For his part, Howie drew on the experience of losing his 37-year-old sister, Caroline, to lupus in 1998. (He's established a foundation in her name, the Caroline Dorough-Cochran Lupus Memorial Foundation.) "To me, the video was a tribute," he says. "She's making me by the strong person in my family, the one that goes out there and makes a difference."

Kevin drew upon emotions from a tragedy of his own for his scenes - he lost his father, Jerald, to cancer in 1991. "I was angry because he was 49 year olds and such a good, generous man and a good friend," he says. "The only thing that helped me get through that was the fact that in the hospital, there were, like, five- and six-year-olds dying. I was like, 'At least my dad got 49 years.'"

For their new album, the boys made an effort to be more involved in the songwriting and producing; AJ says that a double cd is even a possibility. To inspire them, the Boys left their loved ones behind and took a rip to the Bahamas, even managing time for the odd scuba dive between writing. AJ says: "we're trying to go a little more edgy, but that doesn't mean we're going to totally change our style."

Brian - who co-wrote Millennium's "Larger Than Life" and "The Perfect Fan" - nods in agreement. "The chemistry and feel of the previous album is the same, just a little older. And production-wise, we've created a natural, raw feel, where everything isn't perfect."

Earlier this year also saw the beginning of the Boys' first ventures into individual projects. AJ was the first to break away, launching a mini solo tour in March as alter ego Johnny No Name to benefit the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, to help restore music programs in public schools. "The kids were really proud that one of us did something on our own," says AJ, who performed material by the likes of Prodigy and Stone Temple Pilots. "I guess the fans were waiting to see which one was going to be the first. As always, the first one to do something off the wall was me." He also joined Howie in writing and producing songs for pop trio EYC. On his own, Howie co-wrote the song "I Like It" for Mandy Moore's debut, So Real. Meanwhile, Nick is moonlighting as a writer for a still-unnamed rock band made up of friends.

love and marriage
Kevin and Brian had pretty major side projects of their own to attend to: marriages. Last November, Kevin grabbed a quite moment with the father of his girlfriend, Kristin Willits, at a BSB concert and asked him for her hand in marriage. Kristin, 29, a dancer, was on the road with Cher in Europe at the time. "We've been going off and on for eight years," says Kevin. The two met while working at Walt Disney World. "I was a tour guide, a Ninja Turtle, Aladdin, all that," he says. "It was the first time I went up to a total stranger and asked her out." The pair dated for six months before she left to work on a cruise ship. Since then, it's been long-distance love. "We ended up breaking up for a little while," he says. "It's been hard."

The break-up made the proposal even more unexpected. "We were going from Kentucky to Kansas for Christmas with her family," says Kevin. "I was like, 'We've gotta go to Orlando' - I have a house there - 'I've got some presents there.' So we went, and we went to a place on the beach where I first told her I loved her. She freaked out. She thought I got the ring out of a gumball machine.

Then a few days later, on Christmas night, Brian proposed to Leighanne Wallace, 30, in Marietta, Georgia, presenting her with a canary-yellow engagement ring. They met three years ago when Leighanne, an actress, was an extra in the video for "As Long As You Love Me". "She was there in the beginning, when things were just beginning to take off," Brian says. "She was the second face I saw when I woke up from heart surgery. I saw my grandmother's first, then Leighanne's."

It was important to both boys that their weddings were private affairs, perhaps due to the many fans who posted "How could you do this to me" messages on the Backstreet Boys' internet site. That's why we barely heard a peep when Kevin tied the knot in June and Brian followed suit in September.

With Backstreet's busy schedule, married life isn't going to be easy, but both guys are feeling optimistic. "Our wives know we got here through hard work and perseverance," says Brian, "and they're behind us all the way."

But don't be too disappointed girls, all hope is not lost, as Howie will be the first to tell you. "I'm single," he says, "and always looking'."