Boys want to seen as men, not just boys

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Feb 26, 2000 Source: teenhollywood.com Submitted By: Joanna Feb 25/00 6:43a Never let it be said that the Backstreet Boys don't have a sense of humor about themselves. At September's MTV Music Video Awards, after enduring the comedic slings and arrows of host Chris Rock, they were confronted backstage by a certain infamous correspondent for Howard Stern's radio program. ''All of a sudden this guy starts blurting out these vulgar questions,'' recalls baby Boy Nick Carter, 19. ''What was that guy's name?'' ''Stuttering John,'' says bandmate Howie Dorough, 26. ''He was asking pretty provocative questions, about our sexual tendencies and stuff.'' ''I was like, what is this?'' Carter says, laughing. ''Then security pulled him out. It was funny, though.'' ''Yeah, it was funny,'' Dorough agrees. ''Howard Stern loves us, I think. He keeps his show runnin' with all the stuff he says about us.'' Indeed, over the past couple of years, the Backstreet Boys have taken their lumps from countless pop-culture satirists, professional and amateur. And yet the members of this Orlando-based pop group -- also including Kevin Richardson, 28; Brian Littrell, 25; and A.J. McLean, 22 -- are still standing and still smiling. And why not? The Boys' mix of youthful good looks, shimmering harmonies and hook-ridden pop singles has clearly inspired more adoration than mockery. Their most recent album, 1999's Millennium, has sold 11 million copies domestically and more than 30 million worldwide. This February afternoon, as the Boys prepare for the fourth date on the second American leg of their Millennium tour, some of their admirers have gathered in the lobby of their hotel, cameras and autograph pads at the ready. Never mind that the group isn't registered here under its name. ''When you become -- I don't want to say obsessed, but determined enough -- you can find these things out,'' says Tanisha Dunn, 19, who has traveled from Los Angeles to see tonight's show. Safely ensconced in a conference room on the hotel's second floor, the singers weigh the pluses and minuses of life as teen idols. ''You learn to live with it,'' McLean says stoically. ''Myself and my girlfriend deal with it. You find yourself strategically changing your lifestyle a little. Like, Brian and Kevin and me go out and play golf every so often, because we know you're not going to find a bunch of 13-year-olds running around a golf course.'' ''You just have to plan ahead,'' says Littrell, who recently became engaged to actress Leighanne Wallace, his girlfriend of 2 1/2 years. (Richardson, Littrell's cousin, proposed to his longtime flame, dancer Kristin Willits, on Valentine's Day. ''They love us for who we are,'' Littrell says of the Backstreet brides-to-be.) ''If you go the movies, you go to a matinee, when the kids are in school. If you go to the grocery, you go at 10 o'clock on a weekday.'' ''But I mean, really -- what guy wouldn't want a bunch of screaming young women after him?'' reasons Dorough, who is single at the moment. ''I cannot wait to go to my 10-year high school reunion,'' McLean says, ''because I was looked on as the biggest geek.'' Whatever their desires or frustrations, the Boys' most fervent wish at this point is to be viewed as men -- that is, as mature artists capable of handling both their creative and business affairs. ''I feel like people look at us like we're children,'' Richardson says. We've been together for seven years, workin' hard. They think we're five pretty boys who just popped up out of nowhere. I think we've gained a little more respect since our last album, though -- through our performances, and through just bein' ourselves, bein' real.'' One example of this progress came last month, when the Boys' work on Millennium -- which has been embraced by fans of adult Top 40 and adult-contemporary radio as well as teeny-boppers -- garnered five Grammy nominations. At tonight's ceremony, the young artists will compete in four major categories: album of the year and best pop album, for Millennium; and record of the year and best pop performance by a duo or group, for last year's smash single I Want It That Way (songwriter Max Martin is nominated for song of the year). The Boys' performance at the Grammys will include an a cappella segment, designed to showcase their vocal skills. ''We want people to look at us like they would look at Boyz II Men or The Temptations or the Oak Ridge Boys or the Statler Brothers or the Beach Boys,'' Richardson says. ''We have vocal talent. I think you can feel something in our voices. I think our record sales and the reaction we get from our fans are results of that.'' But the Boys acknowledge that earning respect from the media and the music industry has to some extent been an uphill battle. ''There have been groups that have come before us that have left a bad taste in people's mouths,'' Littrell says. ''When we came out, it was kind of like 'Oh, they're doin' the same thing those other guys did five or 10 years ago, and look what they amounted to.' '' ''Their success is undeniable, and I think their talent is undeniable,'' says Anthony DeCurtis, executive editor of CDNow. ''But I'm not sure people are ready to give them a bunch of Grammy Awards. Once you've been perceived as a teen idol, it becomes hard to sustain a career." "We've seen countless examples of that,'' Noted producer Phil Ramone, who has worked with career hitmakers such as Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel, is more optimistic. ''Pop artists get blasted quickly,'' he says. ''But I think (the Backstreet Boys) are proving that they're musicians and that they can sing. And everything I've read about them indicates that they're dedicated. They've had some personal things go awry, and it hasn't interrupted their performing life.'' The Boys' most public struggles have been with their label, Jive Records, and their former manager, Louis J. Pearlman, who oversaw the group's formation and early progress. According to McLean, the estrangement from Pearlman, which occurred about two years ago, was so painful that the group waited more than eight months before signing new management. ''We were without guidance for all that time,'' he says. ''We five had to make all the decisions.'' The dispute with Jive was apparently less traumatic, even though lawyers representing the group reportedly filed a breach-of contract suit against the record company in October before renegotiating their deal with Jive in November. ''You never sign the greatest record deal when you're starting out,'' Dorough says. ''Artists pay their dues -- everybody from Elvis Presley to TLC has. Fortunately, everybody came to the table and made it more of a fair deal.'' The group's new contract is reported to be a multialbum deal worth $60 million, but the terms of the agreement prohibit the disclosure of specifics. ''Now I actually think the record company looks at us as five grown men -- five grown businessmen,'' Littrell says. Regarding rumors that the tension with Jive was inspired by the label's decision to sign rival boy band 'N Sync in September, Dorough says: '' 'N Sync had been signed to Jive without our knowledge, and there was a bit of awkwardness about it. But we got everything smoothed out. It's a friendly competition. We see them at awards shows, and we're cool with each other. They do their thing, and we do our own thing.'' The Backstreet Boys' plans for the future include doing their own thing as individuals. ''We have a lot of opportunities -- writing, producing, directing,'' Richardson says. Dorough, a former actor, may pursue film offers. ''We never want to forget where we came from,'' Dorough says. ''But we don't want our music to be just for a certain age range, or just for girls. We want it to be for everybody. Our audience is not just teenagers -- it's mothers and daughters, boyfriends and girlfriends, people my age and older than me. When I walk through a mall now, guys actually come up and say, 'Yo, man, I really like your album. I play it to my girl, and it helps me express my feelings to her.' Things like that make me realize that maybe we can surpass expectations of us just being a flash in the pan. Little by little, I think, we're makin' it over that bridge.'' Comment on this item. Next Item: Magazine Celebrates the Group's Path to Stardom Prev Item: Worship the Backstreet Boys?