Video Killed The Radio Star

By:  Lara

 

 

“Great show guys…fabulous…great…you were all incredible…simply amazing!” A record company executive gushed as the guys hoped into the van that would take them back to the hotel.  Brian managed to give him a glare, but the others were way too exhausted. The executive turned around in his seat next to the driver.  “I don’t see how you guys do it…you’re just amazing!”

“Thanks,” Howie finally managed.  Brian continued to glare and the executive finally turned around and was silent.

“Need…bed…” Nick moaned, coughing and blowing his nose.  The flu that had hinted around his head all weekend had finally caught up with him. He still had no clue how he had made it through the show.

“You did great, Frack,” Brian said, carefully patting Nick on the shoulder.

“Yeah…dude…I’m proud of you,” Kevin told him.  Nick smiled, then rested his head back on the seat.

“I’m going to die…I want a black marble tombstone with dolphins on it…” Nick moaned, closing his eyes.

“You’re not gonna die. We’re almost back and then we’ll get you all tucked in and medicated,” AJ said in a soothing tone. He rubbed his hand over his almost-bald head and sweat flew.

“Euw.” Howie wrinkled his nose as he wiped his arm off.  “You’re nasty.”

“You’re adorable,” AJ said with a grin. Howie couldn’t help but smile back.  “And feel special…I don’t share my sweat with just ANYONE.”

“SURE you don’t,” Brian, Kevin, Nick and Howie said as one.  AJ almost looked insulted, then he grinned again. 

“I can be ready in twenty…who’s with me?”

“Not me.”  Nick opened one eye.  “Have a great time.”

“I know not you, Sicko.”  AJ looked at the others.  “B-Rok?”

“Um…”

“You can talk to her tomorrow. You’re coming along,” AJ ordered.  “D?”

“I’m in.”

“Kev?”

“Nah…I think I might have what Nick has…I’m staying in.”

AJ looked at him carefully.  “You getting sick?”

“I dunno.”  Kevin rubbed his temples and tried to look almost ill.  “I just am wiped out.  I’ll go with ya next time.”

“Okay,” AJ said, concerned.  Kevin rarely got sick.

“I’ll be FINE, Aje. I’ll drink a gallon of OJ,” Kevin promised.

The van arrived at the hotel, and Brian and Kevin helped Nick out of the van.  They practically had to drag him to his room.  They deposited him inside and Brian went to get ready while Kevin went to his own room, two doors down from Nick.

 

“You sure you don’t wanna come along, Train?”  AJ yelled through Kevin’s door a half-hour later.  “We’re gonna hit the bar downstairs first.”

“No, thanks,” Kevin called back, toweling his hair dry. He didn’t bother to get dressed; he was heading right for bed.

“Later, dude!”  AJ yelled, and then the hallway was silent.

Kevin sighed as he crawled into bed. He pulled the sheet up to his waist and grabbed the remote.  After turning off the light, he snuggled down against the pillows. Perfect.  All alone. No one except him and the people on the screen.  Kevin smiled delightedly as he flipped the channels in the special tier of stations he had requested. He hadn’t known that this was available, but a special tip to one of the bellboys had gotten him his fantasy:  ten channels of nothing but porn.  Bisexual porn, gay porn, straight porn.  Perfect to rub out his frustrations.

Kevin idly stroked himself as he flipped through the channels.  Yes, he could have just brought back a groupie, but that would have resulted in guilt the next morning when he had to send her on her way and destroy her hopes of a Backstreet boyfriend.  Nope, this was better.  Just Kevin and his hand.

Kevin chuckled as he stopped at a gay channel and watched two men in a sixty-nine position.  This was always funny to him. He couldn’t say it TOTALLY turned him on, but sometimes it was interesting to watch.  He flipped to the directory channel.  “Hmmm…these titles are so lame,” he said out loud. “Let’s pick one…um…Ink Jet…that sounds interesting.”  He flipped the channel again and whatever erection he might have hoped to achieve was lost as his mouth fell open and he stared at the television.  He turned his head this way and that, almost sitting upside down as he stared at the television.  He slowly sat up, his eyes never leaving the screen.  He finally turned off the television and sat in the darkness.  After about ten minutes, he finally regained his brain enough to grab his cellphone and start dialing pager numbers.

 

 

“What is it, Kev?  You okay?” 

“Yeah, Brian, I’m fine. I just need to talk to everyone.”

“Look…Kev…I don’t think we’re coming back anytime soon…Bone and Howie have already found new friends.”

Kevin sighed. “Okay…I need you guys in my room by ten tomorrow. Got it?”

“TEN?  Kev, do you realize what time we’ll get in tonight?  There’s no way in…”

“TEN, Brian.  Or else I will kick the three of your asses as one.”

“Whatever. Fine, Kevin,” Brian said with a sigh before hanging up.

Kevin hung up the phone and turned out the light. It was over an hour before he could sleep.

 

At nine-thirty the next morning, he knocked on Nick’s door.  “Nick?  Nicky. It’s Kevin.”

A stuffy red nose poked out of the door.  “Huh?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Worse, if at all possible.  Why are you here?”

“We need to talk.  All of us.  They’ll be in my room in a half hour and I wanted to get you up.”

“What’s up?”

“I’ll tell you in a half hour.”

“God, Kev, I am not in the mood for this James Bond mystery shit.”  Nick sniffed.  “Okay.  Lemme get medicated and I’ll be right there.”

Kevin called room service and ordered a pot of coffee and some pastries.  It arrived in about fifteen minutes, and he was nervously arranging bagels and croissants when someone knocked on the door.  “This better be so damned important,” Nick growled, coming in and collapsing on the sofa.  “Is there any tea?”

Kevin handed him a mug.  “I had them bring it up special for you,” he said graciously.

“Thanks,” Nick said, trying to breathe and coughing instead. “God, tonight’s show is gonna be hell.”

Howie and Brian arrived next. AJ knocked on the door at five after ten.  “Kevin, what the fuck?”  He grumbled, grabbing a bagel and a cup of coffee and flopping onto the floor. “I was SLEEPING.”

“You made this sound like life or death,” Brian said.

“It could be.”  Kevin turned on the TV and popped a tape into the built-in VCR.

“You brought us over here to watch movies?” Howie said in disbelief.

“Not really,” Kevin replied calmly.  This infuriated AJ.

“Kevin, this blows, okay?  Why couldn’t you…” AJ stopped talking as a warning rolled up the screen. “Is this porn?”

“Porn?”  Nick said, sitting up.  He inhaled through his nose, his first real breath of the morning.  “Already I’m feeling better!”

Brian’s mouth fell open as the title “Ink Jet” ran across the screen.  “Kevin, why are we watching porn?”

“I just wanted you to see something. I happened upon this little number last night,” Kevin said, his eyes darting from Brian to Howie to Nick to AJ.

Nick turned his head sideways.  “I didn’t know you could DO that in a dentist’s chair.”

“Nick, it’s not a dentist’s chair. Didn’t you listen to the dialogue at the beginning?” Howie asked in disgust.

“Sorry, Howie, no, I didn’t. I was too busy looking at the big tits on that girl,” Nick snapped.

“She said that she wanted a tattoo and the guy is a tattoo artist, dumbass,” Howie snapped back.

Three mouths fell open as the girl moved and the man’s face was revealed.  Kevin watched in amusement as Brian, Howie and Nick all stared at AJ on the screen, then turned their heads to stare at AJ in the hotel room.

 

 

“Wow…I didn’t know you could do that in a tattoo chair, either!”  AJ said enthusiastically, turning his head this way and that.  Howie and Brian continued to stare, but Nick’s attention kept wandering back to the naked figures on the screen.  “And Ink Jet, isn’t that a creative idea for a title?  You know, ink…tattoos…jet…like cum jets out of your…oh, never mind. Ahem.”  AJ cleared his throat and actually squirmed in his seat.

Kevin reached for the remote. “No, wait!  I wanna see…” Nick began. Kevin glared and he shut up.  Kevin turned off the VCR.

“Ready to explain?”

“What’s to explain? That’s a porn.  The guy looks like me.” AJ put his hands behind his head and looked at Kevin.

“AJ, he doesn’t “look like” you. He WAS you,” Howie said. “You don’t think we know you by now? Know your body?”

“I didn’t need to know his body like THAT,” Brian said. Howie glared at him.

“I meant the tattoos.”

“When?” Kevin asked.

“Why?” Brian asked.

“How?”  Howie asked.

“Was it fun?” Nick asked.  Green, blue and brown eyes sent him daggers.  “Jeez, sorry. I’m nosy.”

“When you guys were at that shindig in England with Elton John,” AJ said in a tiny voice.

“But I thought your grandfather…” Howie began.

“He WAS.  And I was depressed. I had always toyed with the idea of acting.”

“You couldn’t have done TV?  A movie?”  Brian exclaimed. “NSYNC does TV and movies.”

“Fro-Boy did a Disney TV movie. I am not Disney material.  And the albino did a straight to video bomb. Not my style. I needed to do something I was good at.”

“Fucking…you’re good at fucking so you made a porn.”  Howie put his head in his hands and moaned.

“How did you…I mean…did you just answer an ad or something?” Kevin asked.

“No…I kinda asked around.  You know how seedy parts of Orlando are…I asked around and found a guy and…well…there I am.”

“Please tell me you didn’t use your name,” Brian begged.  AJ looked insulted.

“Of COURSE not.  I made one up.”

Kevin turned the VCR on and rewound.  “You didn’t.”  He stared at AJ.  “Bone James?”

“The producer liked it…said it was original.”

“AJ…there’s no way people won’t know…” Kevin began.

“Kevin, listen to yourself.  That’s AJ.  He’s not easy to hide. They’ll know it’s him LONG before they read the names,” Brian pointed out. He looked at AJ and sighed.  “I can’t believe you did this.  Did this to US.”

“Do you know what this could do to our careers?”  Kevin asked softly.

“Kevin, fuck that shit. I wanted to do something on my own and I did it.  Solo.”

“This isn’t like Johnny No Name, Aje,” Howie said gently.

“I’m not sorry.”

“But you will be.” Kevin was furious.  “Please get out of my room. I need to think about this.”

“Ah yes. Big bad Kevin needs to fix AJ’s mistake. It’s NOT a mistake, Kevin, and I’m sick of you fixing things.  You don’t like Nick’s girlfriend, so you fix his relationship.  You don’t like Howie’s hair, so you make him change it. You can’t change this. I’m not saying I’m gonna do it again, but I’m not saying I’m not.”  AJ stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

 

 

Kevin slapped a big hat on his head and went for a long walk before sound check. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone.

Brian went out to the basketball court behind the hotel and shot baskets for over an hour, then played a pick-up game with some other guests, much to the delight of the fifteen or twenty fans that were clutching the chain link fence and screaming.

Nick stayed in his room and prayed to either breathe or finally die.

Howie refused to leave AJ’s side, knowing he’d probably dash off somewhere and skip sound check.  He knew that AJ would eagerly get into another confrontation with Kevin, so he talked AJ into going out for lunch.  He wanted AJ to know that he was on AJ’s side. He was hurt that AJ hadn’t mentioned the movie to him; he knew AJ wasn’t embarrassed about it.  He and AJ told each other everything. After being the Latino filling in the white boy sandwich that was Nick and Brian (Kevin didn’t count) for so long, they had always been close.

 

They arrived at the venue separately.  Actually, security kinda liked it better that way.  It was easier to keep track of your one guy then work with the other security men to take care of all five.  Brian and Kevin were fooling around on piano and guitar when AJ and Howie arrived.  “Where’s Nick?” Kevin demanded.

“I have no clue. We were out.” AJ went back to the drum set and played around.

“Maybe he fell asleep,” Howie suggested.

“Here I am.”  Nick slowly pulled himself up on stage.  “Aje, off my set.”

“Not your set,” AJ grumbled, but he vacated the seat so Nick could sit down.  Nick let go with a quick solo, then smiled. 

“Much better.”

“You sound like shit,” Kevin remarked.

“Thank you, Kevin,” Nick rasped. “I’m not talking any louder than this. I need to save what I have.”

“This is gonna suck tonight,” Kevin moaned.

“That’s positive thinking for ya, Kev,” AJ said.

“Why don’t you go fuck someone? I’m sure there’s a video camera around here somewhere,” Kevin said snidely.  AJ lunged for Kevin and Howie caught him just in time.

“AJ, don’t. STOP!  If you punch him, we’ll need to explain it,” Howie insisted. “Please…”

“Fucking dickhead,” AJ snapped.

“Are we ready, guys?” One of the crew asked.

“No,” Brian sighed, but they took their places anyway.

 

Kevin couldn’t sleep as their busses rolled onto the next town. That night’s concert had been the worst thing he had ever experienced. He had kept expecting to wake up from the nightmare, but it was real.  Everyone was off, their choreography wasn’t tight, and Nick barely had a voice.  Thankfully the next show wasn’t for another two days.  The fans hadn’t noticed, at least it hadn’t seemed that way.

He stared out the window and brooded.  He couldn’t believe AJ had jeopardized them this way.  He had taken their careers and dangled them over a cliff, just so he could fulfill some perverted fantasy.  Kevin frowned and reached for his small duffel bag.  He dug through it and frowned again. He wanted to burn the damn thing…but it wasn’t there.  It was gone.  He scowled and finally went back to his bunk. He’d confront AJ in the morning.

 

“Dammit, Nick, I think I caught your plague,” Howie said, sneezing as they went into the hotel.

“I don’t have the plague.  Just a hellish cold.”  Nick smiled in sympathy. “Sorry.”

“Not forgiven.”  Howie sneezed again. “I’m going to bed.”

“Later, D,” Brian said as Howie practically ran for the elevator once they got their room keys.  He turned to the others.  “You guys wanna order room service in my room?”

“No thanks,” AJ said, staring at his shoes.

“I think I’m gonna rest some more,” Nick said.

“Kev?”

“Yeah…but first I wanna ask AJ something.”  The four of them stepped into the elevator before their bodyguards could follow.  The doors closed.  “Why did you go through my things?”

“Huh?”  AJ looked sincerely shocked.

“You went through my bag and took something. All you had to do is ask…I’m surprised you don’t have your own copy.”

“Oops…five. That’s me. Later.”  Nick slipped out of the elevator and hurried down the hall. He didn’t want to hear the fight.

“Kevin, what on God’s green earth are you talking about?” AJ slowly took off his sunglasses.

“The video.  YOUR video.  It was in my bag and now it’s not.”

“You think…” AJ chuckled.  “Kevin…you’re right. I DO have my own copy…but even so, I wouldn’t go through your shit. Why did you keep it?  Wanna get pointers from a pro?”

This time it was Brian who stepped between them, keeping his cousin from hitting AJ. “Kevin, back off. AJ, shut up, please.”

“Kevin, I swear on all I hold dear that I did NOT go through your shit, and I did NOT take it, okay?”

“Then where is it?”

 

Two days later Kevin found the lost video back in his duffel.  He seriously considered having it dusted for fingerprints, then decided against it.  He hated people going through his things.

Two days later AJ and Kevin were still barely talking. The animosity was apparent during the shows and management was getting pissed.  AJ was angry with Kevin for trying to run his life.  Kevin was angry with AJ for going through his things.

Two days later Howie was sick with a horrible cold.  He cursed Nick with every curse he could think of.

Two days later Nick was much better and back to his goofy self.

Two days later Brian was praying for the tour to be over.

 

“Okay.  Enough of this shit.”  Brian took AJ by the ear and dragged him across the stage.

“OW!  Rok…let me the fuck alone!  OW!  You damn pixie, let me go!”  AJ whimpered as Brian led him to the drum set where Nick was jamming.

“Sit here and do NOT move, understand me?” Brian growled. AJ whimpered again and nodded.  “HOWIE!”  Brian bellowed into his microphone.  Howie looked up from where he had been trying to nap.  “Get up here!”

Brian went to the side of the stage where Kevin was tinkling at the piano.  “What do you want?” Kevin asked without looking up.

“For you to grow up. Come over here, please.” Brian glared at Kevin until Kevin finally stood.  They joined the others at the drums.  “Nick…quiet down a second.”  Nick stopped playing.  “Okay…we’re gonna talk about this and we’re gonna talk about it now. I’m sick and tired of reading reviews about how much our shows are sucking lately.”  The four men stared at Brian. It was rare he took such a leadership role. “AJ, did you steal the tape out of Kevin’s bag?”

“No. But I know who did.”

“Care to tell us?”

“No.  But I’ll fix the problem.”

“Okay. Kevin, is that good enough for you?”

“I guess it will have to be.”

“Are you ever gonna get along with AJ?”

“Probably…but I don’t like that he jeopardized our careers by being so selfish.”

AJ glared at Kevin. “I’d say that statement was pretty selfish on its own.”

Brian looked from one to the other.  “Aje, Kevin is right.  You have every right to have your own life, but this was something that affected us all.”

“Rok…”

“And Kevin, AJ was right, too.  You feel this need to control us all and make us do whatever is best for the group without realizing that we need our own lives as well.”  Brian ran a hand through his short hair.  “I think that after this tour we need to call it quits.”

Nick’s mouth fell open. “WHAT?”

“I’m sick of this. I’m tired and I’m sick of it. I have a wife now…and I want to start a family.”

“If you can talk her into it,” Nick mumbled, and Brian gave him a dirty look.

“But Brian…how…we…” Howie rasped.

“My heart’s not in this anymore.  I bet AJ’s isn’t, either. He deserves to do whatever we want…and I have a feeling that whatever he wants isn’t gonna do us any good.”  Brian looked at Kevin.  “When we first started out, you were the dad.  You were the dad to us all and I loved you for it. But you’ve never been able to let that go.”

“Are you happy now?”  Kevin turned on AJ. “You’ve just shot down the Backstreet Boys with one stupid fuck.”

“It was a very good fuck, thank you very much,” AJ snapped back.  “Brian’s right. My heart isn’t in this anymore.  I’ll always love you guys, but this isn’t right for me now.”

“So can we have a good time for the rest of the tour? Please?”  Brian begged. “Let’s go out with a bang.  While we’re on top.”

“Sounds good,” Howie whispered. Nick nodded. 

“I agree,” AJ added.

Kevin stood still for a long moment.  “Fine. But this conversation goes NOWHERE until after the tour. Don’t tell wives, don’t tell girls, don’t tell family.  We do a press conference two days after the tour ends. Deal?”

“Deal,” AJ said.  He held out his hand. “I’m sorry, Kevin.”

“Me too.” Kevin took AJ’s hand and pulled him into a hug.

 

The van ride back to the hotel after the show was a loud one. Everyone was more relaxed, more at ease with one another.  Things were back to normal.  Kevin and AJ praised each other loudly, and even Brian had to grin at the way they were joking around. Only Howie seemed down. He had given his solos away that night, choosing to save his voice rather then make an ass out of himself.  Nick was cheerful, cracking jokes and picking on Kevin repeatedly.

When they reached the hotel, Howie dragged himself out of the van and practically crawled to the elevators, cursing Nick constantly.  “We going out?” Kevin asked AJ.

“Definitely. Give me twenty, okay?”  Kevin nodded.

“Brian?”

“Nah…gotta call Leigh.”

“She can wait,” Kevin protested. “C’mon. Please?”

“Okay,” Brian said with a sigh.

“Nicky?”

“Um…no.  I’m still not one hundred percent. I’m gonna skip this one. Next time, though.”

“Okay,” Kevin said.  “Meet you down here in twenty?” He asked AJ, who nodded.  The guys went to their rooms.

 

“Yo, Junior. It’s Aje. Lemme in.”  AJ banged on Nick’s door.  Nick opened it, clad in only sweatpants. 

“I thought you were leaving.”

“I am. Can I come in?”

“Sure.”  Nick moved aside and let AJ into his messy hotel room.

“You live like a pig,” AJ said in disgust.

“I learned from the best,” Nick said, smiling sweetly at AJ.  “What’s up?”

“I thought you might want to borrow this.”  AJ handed Nick an unlabeled videotape.

“What’s this?”

“The other movie I made. It isn’t in circulation yet…still getting fine-tuned. I thought you might want to watch it while you stayed in tonight.”  AJ grinned.  “This one’s kinda raunchy though…it’s a bisexual video.  Just fair warning for you.”

Nick’s mouth opened, then closed.  He cleared his throat.  “What makes you think I wanna see it?”

“Cuz I know you took the first one out of Kevin’s bag.”

“ME?”

“Yeah.  You. I saw how interested you were…and I know you didn’t have the balls to ask Kevin to loan it to you, since you knew how pissed he was.”  AJ shrugged.  “You coulda asked…I’d have gotten you your own copy.”

Nick decided to just be honest.  “Yeah…I took it. I’m sorry he went off on you.” AJ shrugged again.  “What was it like?  I mean…doing that in front of all those people. I get nervous in front of one damn girl.”

AJ laughed.  “You tune it all out.  It’s really hot, actually, knowing what you’re doing and that it’s kinda forbidden. Plus I kept thinking about how ballistic Kevin would get, and I kinda got off on that, too.”

Nick grinned.  “I can imagine.”

“Anyway…keep this one as long as you like…any questions…you ask, okay?”

Nick laughed.  “Yes, Bone James.”

AJ rolled his eyes.  “I gotta go.  Kevin is waiting.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks, Aje.”  Nick closed the door behind his friend.

He brushed his teeth and flopped onto the bed, but not until he put the tape in the VCR.  Nick thought for a moment before pushing play.  The other tape was amateur, but AJ had seemed totally at home in front of the camera.  Unlike Kevin, Nick was intrigued by the fact that their good friend was having sex with total strangers in front of a movie camera.  At first it had slightly bothered him that he was getting turned on by AJ, of all people, but he had quickly gotten over that and eventually had one of the best orgasms of his life. 

Nick’s eyes widened as the first scene appeared on the screen. AJ was kissing another guy. Hmm.  Interesting.  He had always had his suspicions about AJ and his sexual tendencies, but Nick didn’t really care one way or another. Whatever floated AJ’s boat.  And by looking at AJ’s rockhard Bone, it was obvious that guys floated it just as easily as girls.  Nick sighed jealously.  He wished he could do something like this…something totally shocking and crazy. But it wasn’t him.  It was AJ, though…and AJ was good at it…damn good.

 

The day before the last concert of the tour, the guys had a meeting. Things had to be discussed about the press conference.  It was finally decided that Brian would do most of the talking, but the speech would be written by the five Backstreet Boys, NOT someone from management.  Jive Records and The Firm were NOT happy, to say the least, but they knew that the group was going out while on top, and it was really all they could ask for. 

“Hey…Kevin…can I talk to you for a second?” Nick said to Kevin after Brian, AJ, and Howie had already left their little meeting.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I…well…” Nick fidgeted, biting at a fingernail. “I just wanted to come clean about something.  I was the one who took the videotape out of your bag. It was wrong, and I shouldn’t have done it and I’m sorry.”

“YOU?  Why?”

“I wanted to see it and I knew you’d bitch and I shouldn’t have let AJ take the rap for it and I’m sorry, okay?”  Nick said quickly.  Kevin sighed, started to say something, then changed his mind.

“Yeah…it’s okay.” Kevin put his arm around Nick’s shoulders as they left the room, wondering what in the world had happened to the guys he had practically raised.  AJ was making porn, and Nick was stealing it.  “Let’s go grab the guys and get some lunch.”

 

 

“Remember the Backstreet Boys, the pop boy band who charted such hits as “I’ll Never Break Your Heart,” “Quit Playing Games,” “All I Have to Give,” “Larger Than Life,” and “I Want it That Way”?  Well, it’s five years ago today that the adorable Fab Five broke up, and we’ve done research on where they’ve ended up.  “Where Are They Now?” finds the Backstreet Boys…after this.”

 

“Blond Baby Backstreet Boy Nick Carter was only thirteen years old when the group came together.  Now twenty-six, he is still single and back in the studio.  After going to college, of all things, and getting his degree in marine biology, this teen heartthrob decided he missed his first calling, and has returned to recording, making a solo album that will be out in the spring. 

“Backstreet Boy next door Brian Littrell married the woman of his dreams…and he says now that those dreams have all come true.  Wife Leighanne Wallace attempted an acting career, but unfortunately it seemed she was more well-known for her famous husband than for any acting talent.  Two years ago she relinquished any attempts at furthering her career, and instead has furthered the Littrell clan…giving birth to Angelica last year.  Brian still writes and produces on the side, but he tells us his favorite job is being a husband and father.  His last work was on a gospel album recorded by a friend from his childhood.

“Oldest Boy Kevin Richardson has never left show business, though he has moved from one side of the microphone to the other.  Since starting his own record company, Jerald R Enterprises, he has been the driving force behind some of today’s best R & B and pop acts.  He produces and writes, and has even directed a few videos for his stars.  Kevin has been the most silent as to why the band suddenly broke up after their 2001 tour, but he is quick to add that it was a group decision, and that it was not caused by any animosity between members.

“The lives of the final two members have remained intertwined, and this relationship is the biggest shock.  Howie Dorough, the Latin hottie who had shown interest in real estate as well as running his own nightclub, has turned agent.  Agent for his buddy Alexander “AJ” McLean…in the world of adult video.  Apparently AJ made a few amateur movies before the Backstreet Boys disbanded, but not one of the five will admit that this is the reason for their breakup.  AJ recorded a well-received solo album, and before recording his second album he went back into a different kind of studio to resume his “acting” career.  Surprisingly enough, the albums have been wildly popular, and the movies haven’t hurt his recording career…and vice versa.  Howie guards his friend’s career very carefully, and all choices are carefully made.

“These five men became famous at a time when the music industry was just dripping with boy bands and pop groups…yet they have each made their name individually in a way that…frankly…America will never forget.”

 

The End

Please tell Lara what you thought of this story!