Nick Carter and AJ McLean were drinking excessively and did drugs. The band members started to break free of the mold. Constant availability to fans and the press, pressure to play the roles assigned to them and to break the hearts of female teenagers as well-behaved white heterosexual men - that didn't work out for long. Success took its toll on the young musicians. Multiple platinum in 1997 Image: Ursula Düren/dpa/picture-alliance In the US, too, their music hit top chart positions. The second album, 'Backstreet's Back' (1997), boasted astronomical sales figures. The band was showered with music awards, and again went on sold-out tours through Europe. The debut album, 'Backstreet Boys' (1996), went platinum several times over, followed by sold-out concerts. What caused The Beatles to stop performing in public 30 years before simply motivated the Backstreet Boys. The Backstreet Boys become superstars overnight, teenagers screamed themselves hoarse and fainted wherever they showed up. They were awarded their first golden record in Germany, and after that, nothing was the same. In October 1995, they released their first single, 'We've Got It Going On.' The Backstreet Boys were successful in the US, and made a big impact in Europe, too. The band was designed as a group of white middle-class boys singing Black music like soul, R'n'B and hip hop - all tailored to the US market. Music manager Lou Pearlman's new line-up included different roles, aiming to appeal to girls' different tastes - the 'nice boy next door,' the 'rebel,' the 'dreamy type,' the 'more mature boy' or the 'cute youngster.' Lou Pearlman was the man behind many successful boy bands Image: YouTube/courtesy Everett Collection/picture alliance / Everett Collectionįor two years, the boys practiced hard, with singing, dancing and choreography lessons. Two years of bootcampĮarlier that year, Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson were chosen in a mega boy band audition - 500 young men showed up - in Orlando, Florida. Producers quickly realized that the market for boy bands was huge: East 17, Caught In The Act, *NSYNC followed, along with the Backstreet Boys, founded on April 20, 1993. The voices of the five boy band members including Robbie Williams came together beautifully, and they were great dancers. Their albums sold like hot cakes their fan base was huge, young and female. The British band Take That filled that void, and they were enormously successful. By the 90s, competition came from techno music, dramatic grunge rock with its doomsday mood - but young female music fans in particular still wanted feel-good tunes.

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