| july 13-july 19 2001 |
| A.J. is the
talk of the town Date: July 19, 2001 Backstreet Boys' heart throb A.J. McLean is in rehab for alcohol abuseand depression, and his group has postponed its stateside tour. So what's any good BSB fan to do? Jump online and vent. Pop music's second favorite boy-band is already the focus of dozens of Web sites, and its online message boards are brimming with reactions to BSB's forced downtime. On the band's official site -- www.backstreetboys.com -- a message board dedicated to McLean recently was filled with more than 11,000 posts. Most fans offered their support to the fallen BSB hunk, with such subject headings as "To A.J. With Love," "In Tears," "A.J.'s Gonna Be Fine!," "Canada Is Behind You, A.J." and "Like, I'm Sad." Many teen-poppers have also been sharing stories of, "Where were you when you heard that A.J. was going to rehab?" At the BSB fan site www.backstreet.net, one user identified as "Trish" left the following recollection: "I heard the news on my way home from the doctor's office. ... Last I heard A.J. was over his problems with alcohol. "When I heard the rest of the boys explain the situation in tears (on MTV's 'TRL'), I lost it. I broke down on the phone with my boyfriend, and I couldn't stop crying. "... All I can say is A.J. we're all praying for you." Others have taken a more "tough love" approach, or have even taken McLean's downfall as an opportunity to bash BSB. As "Nsync-4eva" writes on www.backstreetboys.com: "A.J.'s a dumb alcoholic who should be kicked out of the Backstreet Boys and be arrested. He smokes, too! That's a sign of weakness. He's an idiot!" And at a message board on MTV.com, Dina from Las Cruces, N.M. says sarcastically: "I can't believe it! A young famous person with a drinking problem? Get out of here! I don't really see what the big deal is. We all have problems. Get over it, A.J." Despite all his problems, McLean's message board at backstreet-boys.com ranks third in popularity compared to his bandmates. Nick Carter currently leads the pack with more than 62,000 messages on his board, while Kevin Richardson's forum is at the bottom of the heap, with a scant 3,100 posts. --Chris Macias, Bee pop music writer |
| Backstreet
Boys' 'Black & Blue' Tour Retains Kellogg's Pop-Tarts
As Sponsor Date: July 17, 2001 (7/17/01, 1 p.m. ET) -- The presenting sponsor of the Backstreet Boys Black & Blue summer tour, Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, plans to stick by the group, a spokesperson for the Battle Creek, Michigan-based food company assured LAUNCH yesterday (July 16). The company will remain the tour's sponsor through the rescheduling of dates, and through bandmember A.J. McLean's stint in rehab for anxiety, depression, and alcohol abuse. The Kellogg's spokesperson added that the company will also be the sponsor of the Black & Blue tour for the newly rescheduled dates. The Backstreet Boys (news - web sites) intend to return to the road on August 7 in Vancouver, British Columbia, following McLean's completion of a 30-day rehab program. In addition to sponsoring the Black & Blue summer tour, Kellogg's is currently running an in-store promotional poster offer. Fans can receive a free poster featuring McLean and bandmates Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson with the purchase of any three Kellogg's brand products at more than 4,000 participating grocery stores nationwide. Kellogg's Pop-Tarts is also an associate sponsor of the summer tour, TEENick Presents Aaron's Party, featuring Aaron Carter, the A-Teens, and Leslie Carter. -- Jason Gelman, New York |
| BSB say
troubled bandmate 'was becoming a vampire' Date: July 13, 2001 By PAT SEREMET and CARLA
KUCINSKI When four Backstreet Boys went public with the news that bandmate A.J. McLean was entering a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety, they spoke about his "late-night ventures." McLean, 23, played the bad boy in a band with an All-American-boy image. "We would have some dinner and maybe have a few cocktails at dinner," Backstreeter Kevin Richardson said. "It would be late, and after that he would go off on his own. He didn't just want to go back to the room and go to bed. He wanted to continue. He was becoming a vampire." Although there were no reports of McLean exhibiting negative behavior on his recent three-night stay in Hartford, Conn., he certainly did his share of staying out late, usually apart from his Backstreet chums. The band played two nights at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre on June 28 and 29. They arrived June 27 and stayed at The Goodwin Hotel, where general manager Don Dougherty called them "just regular old American kids. " One thing that struck Dougherty as different about McLean from other stars who have stayed there: He spent every night at the Bowl-O-Rama in Newington, Conn., from midnight until as late as 4 a.m. McLean went there with an entourage of about 20 people -- none Backstreet Boys, said Bowl-O-Rama general manager Fred Callahan. McLean signed autographs, rented and turned in his own bowling shoes, ordered in a pizza, ate, drank, and as far as Callahan could tell, behaved himself. On June 27, the night before their concert, McLean went to Carbone's in Hartford, where he and a female friend dined from 9:30 to 11 -- after closing time -- on salad and veal, splitting a bottle of wine, according to bartender and manager Tommy Joe Carbone. And on two nights, he went to the Pig's Eye Pub downtown for "a few drinks and some pool," manager Russ Probulis said. The night life, while not disturbing to patrons or restaurant managers, was growing toxic to McLean, who also was troubled, bandmates said, by the recent death of his grandmother. "A.J. wasn't fulfilling his duties as a band member," Backstreeter Brian Littrell said. "He can't travel and be unhealthy." The other four Backstreet Boys, saying they realized their importance as role models, took the unusual approach of going public with the news, starting Monday by announcing news of McLean's 30-day treatment program on MTV's Total Request Live. Tuesday morning they appeared on NBC's Today show to talk about it with host Matt Lauer. The band had performed at Rockefeller Plaza just one week before for the Today show's Summer Concert Series. And although band members told Lauer that attorneys had counseled them not to be so open with the public, they decided this approach was the way to go. "It's important for us to be honest about it and not push it under the rug," Backstreeter Kevin Richardson said. "We have a lot of young fans, and it's important to be a good role model." Gene Sheehan, who heads Sullivan & LeShane public relations in Hartford, said lawyers and public-relations people frequently differ in their advice when there's bad news. "Lawyers try to limit your exposure. They don't want you to say a lot," Sheehan said. "Public-relations people try to get the bad exposure behind you, take the bad hit and move on." He thought the band's approach was especially healthy given their appeal to young teens. "It's the best chance of them keeping their image," Sheehan said. The news hit McLean's young female fans hard in Boston, where the band was scheduled to perform Monday in the middle of a sold-out, five-night stand. Many arrived at the FleetCenter to learn only then of the cancellation. (The group plans to resume the tour Aug. 7 in Vancouver, British Columbia.) And news was sinking in Tuesday as distraught girls quickly set up cyber-support groups in chat rooms across the Internet to share their thoughts, prayers and poems. Nora Porcelli, 14, of Simsbury, Conn., spent Tuesday visiting different message boards, not posting messages. She was more interested in reading what other people were writing. "A lot of them were saying how they cried all day yesterday," she said. Kim Hillman, 14, of Enfield, Conn., who had seen the June 28 Backstreet Boys concert in Hartford, said she cried when she heard the news. It was "just a little bit of crying," she said, "not hysterical crying." Hillman hopped online, to MTV's message board, to read fellow fans' reactions and express her own. "I wrote in things," she said: "`I'll be praying for A.J.' 'I'll always be a fan.'" |
Backstreet fans are not that innocent By
Joan Anderman Globe
Staff CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK As distraught as young fans were at the news that a month of Backstreet Boys concerts were postponed while member A.J. McLean entered rehab, parents had worries of their own. For moms and dads who've thrilled to (or at least sighed with relief at) the wholesome strains of ''As Long As You Love Me'' and ''The Shape of My Heart,'' the bubble has burst. How exactly does one explain to a preteen that her beloved musical icons won't be performing next week because A.J.'s been hitting the bottle? How do you justify a role model's self-destructive excesses to a generation of kids weaned on D.A.R.E. and, well, the Backstreet Boys? The answer is you don't, because the kids get it. They've never held their pop idols to the same standard of wholesomeness that their parents do - and goodness knows they don't aspire to it themselves. Despite the fact that they're happy to be spoon-fed corporate-conceived and factory-assembled songs, today's millennial tweens are a savvy, sophisticated bunch. They're intimately familiar with the turmoil of modern life and well-versed in the language of recovery. Internet chat rooms and message boards are overflowing with declarations of support for McLean, who is undergoing a 30-day treatment for clinical depression and alcohol abuse. As of Wednesday, the Official A.J. Support Group Web site was up and running. Many young people are sharing their own experiences with depression; others are talking about living through a parent's struggles with alcoholism and helping friends who have been through rehab. ''As a 14-year-old, I've seen many cases of depression and alcoholism because both diseases run in my family,'' wrote Erika Travers on a www.b ackstreetboys .com message board this week. ''My dad's father was an alcoholic ... and on my mother's side her father, too, was alcoholic. If he had gotten help he probably wouldn't have killed himself. My sister Jennine, 16, also fell into a deep depression just this past year. It was hard to understand what happened to Jennine and to cope with the pain she was feeling. But after getting help she recovered, and so will you. Thank you so much for your music, your inspiration, and just being you.'' McLean's recent troubles can hardly be viewed as a loss of innocence because there wasn't any to lose. In fact, there's precious little to be lost on either side of the velvet rope. That's not to suggest that this is a generation of sexually-promiscuous, drug-addled kids. They are, rather, the children and grandchildren of such a generation. Raised in a culture of angst and exposed to a mind-boggling array of information and images via the Internet, the media, and entertainment outlets, the Backstreet Boys' fans are - ironically - as worldly as the music is naive. If anything, it would seem that McLean's troubles have humanized him. He was the most ''human'' of the group's members to begin with, never pretending to embody the squeaky-clean image they and their ilk cultivate. McLean's dark glasses and tattooed biceps, his sexual boasts, and his candor about his quick temper and violent impulses were in plain view for anyone inclined to look past the shiny surface of the songs - and that would be the fans, not the chaperones. ''I know how you feel. I also got sad stories,'' began one message posted on www.backstreetboys .com by DJ Kryptonite. ''I was dating a guy, 13, and he got killed by a gang member for wearing blue. I went through hell. I lost a lot of myself. But I had to come to realize I had a problem ... I'm doing much better now. You're going to be fine. Everything takes time.'' McLean's problems may not jibe with the popular image of the Backstreet Boys or their sunny music. Neither does the bumpy road many of the group's fans walk match our vision of childhood. Young fans haven't lost a role model. On the contrary, they're forging a deeper bond with a star whose troubles bring him that much closer by mirroring their own. Will McLean's revelations inspire fans to start drinking heavily to cope with their problems? It's doubtful. More likely his revelation will give troubled kids permission to seek help. |
| Together Forever Date: July 13, 2001 In the second part of our exclusive BSB interview, we allow the guys to get all misty-eyed as they look back over their eight - yup, count 'em - eight years together. Q When you guys look back, is there anything you regret? AJ: Yes! Hahaha! Some of my old haircuts were really tragic! Kevin: I regret some of our old pictures and looks, but then again it's a learning process, and boy did we learn a lot! Brian: We've also made some bad business decisions in the past. Being able to change them would be perfect. Howie: You've got to live and learn! Q Set something straight for us. L&K heard you guys were planning a duet with top weirdo Michael Jackson? Howie: We were going to.... Kevin: We were working on it. The song was called Not For Me which is on our album. Because of all the politics it didn't happen. Q How do you feel you're different to all the other boybands our there? AJ: I think over the years, we've evolved our own identity. We're just ourselves and don't try to be something we're not. We don't dress up to look like dolls for one thing! We've all become strong individuals as well as becoming a strong unit, and I think that makes us different from other groups too. Q L&K has got to ask this - how the jiggins did you convince Howie to be a girl in the vid from The Call? Nick: He volunteered! He was desperate to do it! Haha! no, I'm just kidding! Howie: I had to do it for the team. Nick: He has got the long hair thang goin on tho'! Haha! Q Nick, do you ever get bothered when people comment on yur weight? Nick: Well, I did have a little problem with my weight and a lot of people did pick on me for it. I remember logging on to the internet once and there were people talking abut how fat I was. It hurt a lot but I got through it. Q On a lighter note, how's yer little bro Aaron's music career going? Nick: I just saw him two days ago at a aconcert, he's good. it's cool that he'd getting a bit older now, 'cause we can hang out more. It was kinda hard when he was eight or nine! Brian: I saw Aaron the other day and it was like deja vu, 'cause he's 13 or 14 now, and that's how old Nick was when I first me him! Anyway, Aaron's actually a hardcore rapper now! Q If you could change one thing in the world, what would you choose? Nick: I know that it's not really safe to say this around these guys, but I think gas is a big problem. (others all laugh) Nick:No, not like that! I just mean pollution! I'm gonna shut up now! AJ: I would change people's attitude towards each other and help them to realise that we are all equal. Brian: I would build more homeless shelters, 'cause everybody deserves a chance Howie: I would want to find a cure to all the diseases out there. Kevin: It starts with the planet. We're abusing the earth and now we're paying for it. Q On this tip, you guys do a lot of charty work don't you? AJ: I just started a brand new charity for the Diabetes Association, but we all try and get involved. nic has got involved with the ocean, and Kevin has a charity that he did on behalf of his father to try to help this whole planet, to clean it up, make our water cleaner an dmake this world a better place. Q Who are your influences? Howie: My sister - she gave me confidence. I started in the business with her when we were six. AJ: My mom actually influenced me 'cause she listened to loads of different kinds of music. Nick: My dad used to DJ at this little club so I grew up listening to all these old, old records. And I'm also influenced a lot by these guys. Brian: I used to come home from school and I'd hear my folks practising their church songs, so gospel was a big influence for me. Kevin: Like Brian said, church music. My mom used to sing solos in church all the time and on the way to church the whole family would be singing. And we would always be listening to the radio. Q Finally, what keeps you guys going? Howie: Our fans. We've had a lot of ups and downs in our eight years as a group, and to see people supporting us and coming to our concerts sitll really inspires us. The fans do a lot for us. AJ: They are so important, and to be up on stage and see all of those faces cry, smile, sing - I wouldn't change that for the world. Nick: Since we have been together for so long we've been able to see the same faces grow with us. Seeing all those people sticking around makes us want to stay here even longer - like forever! |