AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and Nick Carter all had a love for the entertainment business. Back in 1991, AJ and Howie kept running into each other at auditions for new tv shows as well as at singing contests in the Orlando, Florida area. AJ had studied dance—everything from jazz to ballet—and was also a puppeteer who had worked on a cable tv series. Howie had appeared in movies such as Parenthood and Cop and A Half. These two met each other through a vocal coach. “Me and AJ met up with each other in Orlando through a talent competition,” says Howie. “We had a vocal coach that I used to work with who was, at that time, his vocal coach. He introduced the two of us.” They were both frequent auditioners for Nickelodeon. “We were always at auditions for a new Nickelodeon shows,” says Howie. Howie and AJ became friends and would even sing a cappella to pass the time while waiting for the appointments. Then one day, they met Nick. He was auditioning for one of the same projects as the other two. Nick had sang at the halftime show for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1991 and 1992 seasons and had even won the 1992 New Original Amateur Hour for his singing. Nick heard Howie and AJ harmonizing and joined in. They discovered their common love for music and would harmonize to old Temptations songs while waiting for their call time. Inspired by Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd, they decided to form a group. A little while later, the trio wanted to pursue a career in music. They heard about a man named Louis Pearlman who was holding auditions for new music talent. They auditioned for him, and Pearlman suggested they add a couple of members to make their harmonies richer. “He was looking for talent so we went in and auditioned for him,” says Howie. “He suggested we extend the group to 5 members.” Pearlman and the trio then heard about Kevin through a mutual friend. Kevin Richardson moved to Orlando from Lexington, Kentucky, in hopes of making his dreams come true. He wanted to become a singer and a songwriter. He worked for Disney MGM Studios as Aladdin and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. However, at night, he could be found in the hottest music spots. He heard about a trio that wanted more members and decided to audition for it. “There were two other members who didn’t work out and I replaced one of them,” Kevin says. “Then we needed another member.” After unsuccessfully auditioning other potential members, Kevin remembered his cousin back in Lexington. “I called him up and he came down to Florida and auditioned,” Kevin says. Brian Littrell was in his last period U.S. History class when he received the call. He didn’t get calls at school so this was a shock to him, and he worried that something was wrong. He was surprised to hear Kevin’s voice at the other end. Kevin filled Brian in on the group, and not to long after, Brian was on a plane to Orlando. He went in to audition for them, and they knew they had found their last member. Brian then moved to Orlando. The group took their name from a popular flea market that was a local teen hangout called The Backstreet Market. They dropped Market and added Boys and their name. Pearlman then introduced them to managers Johnny and Donna Wright who got the Backstreet Boys out on the road almost immediately. They travelled around and sang anywhere they could. They even sang in the lobbies of record labels and at junior high schools and high schools. “We’d sing anywhere, for anyone,” says Howie. After a couple of record deals fell through, Donna called Jeff Fenster, a record executive for Jive Records, on her cell phone let him hear the commotion the boys were causing as they sang. “We got signed after that,” Brian says. They soon signed with Jive. “We were in the group and then we got management. Then management got us some shows and then shows got us some recognition, and we were able to get in to see some record labels,” explains Kevin. They sang at Grad Night at Sea World and were even able to open for Brandy. In 1994, they went into the recording studio and recorded their first album. In early 1995, they released their first single “We’ve Got It Goin’ On” which was successful in Europe but not in America. They then concentrated on winning Europe. In April of 1996, they released their first album which became a multi-platinum hit. They then went on a sold-out 57-date tour that summer. They then invaded Canada and ended the year with a sold-out 32-date tour. In 1997, the Backstreet Boys wanted to bring it home. They released “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)” which topped the charts. In September, they released their first U.S. album which became very successful and is still in the charts today. They have had several hit songs since then. In May 1999, they released their sophomore album Millennium which set new records. The Backstreet Boys continue to have hit songs and set new, amazing records. The Backstreet Boys are truly in an ocean of their own.
