When Backstreet Boys Popped (BSB Part 2)

You may think you know the story of the Backstreet Boys, but we’re willing to bet you will learn something new in this mini series in celebration of BSB’s 30th anniversary. In this episode, Mary and Kelsey throw it back to 1996 when the Backstreet Boys were just on the precipice of breaking into the scene, all the way up to 2001 when they popped off and became household names. They’re covering a lot of ground - BSB’s first U.S. album, Backstreet’s Back, the all-out BSB pandaemonium that ensued, the release of MIllennium and equally successful follow up album, Black & Blue, so buckle up! 

Instagram: @whentheypoppedpod
TikTok: @whentheypopped
Email: whentheypoppedy2k@gmail.com
Website: linktree.com/whentheypopped

Transcript

Kelsey:
Hello and welcome to When They Popped, where unless you're new here, you know it is officially Backstreet Boys Month and nothing else matters. How are you doing, Mary?

Mary Gagliardi:
doing well, you know, I've been looking forward to doing this today because I just have so much fun talking about the boys and their story.

Kelsey:
Honestly, I've been watching like every music video on their YouTube channel.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
It's like a

Mary Gagliardi:
yes.

Kelsey:
little worrisome that I've just fallen right back into my

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
super fan ways. But I'm really excited for today. We are going to pick right back up from where we left off in our last episode, in which we laid the foundation of the Backstreet Boys, who they are and how they came together. So in this episode, we're going to focus on and finally hit their big break in the US and started the new millennium out on top. So let's just get right into it because we have literally so much to talk

Mary Gagliardi:
No.

Kelsey:
about. Just at the stage, the year is 1996. The Backstreet Boys have already found fame in Europe and released their first single in the US to a modest at best reception, but we're being kind here.

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
Just to put things into perspective, number one, the Macarena, and the Backstreet Boys had barely

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my God,

Kelsey:
even

Mary Gagliardi:
that's

Kelsey:
charted.

Mary Gagliardi:
like in what world? In what world? I don't

Kelsey:
In our world,

Mary Gagliardi:
know.

Kelsey:
Mary, unfortunately, it's a weird world.

Mary Gagliardi:
Don't, yeah, know that one.

Kelsey:
That's a niche

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
reference.

Mary Gagliardi:
ignore us.

Kelsey:
If you understand that reference, you're in

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
the right place.

Mary Gagliardi:
welcome, you're amongst friends.

Kelsey:
You are amongst friends.

Mary Gagliardi:
Kelsey's right, as she said, they just released, we've got it going on in 95. It only reached, I believe, number 69 in the United States, but crushed it in Europe. Of course, they're ahead of us as per usual, but this is where the mayhem starts to really begin. And in April of 1996, we get Get Down released as a single.

Kelsey:
Baby you're so fine.

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Kelsey:
I want to make you mine. Oh my god. They have like these little accents

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh yeah,

Kelsey:
and that's

Mary Gagliardi:
come on girl and get down. That's my part.

Kelsey:
Spike it up. What is it? Okay, I always thought it was spike it up, poop it.

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh, I don't think it's at Cal's, but maybe. Like

Kelsey:
No,

Mary Gagliardi:
it

Kelsey:
but

Mary Gagliardi:
up.

Kelsey:
when I was five

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah,

Kelsey:
years old.

Mary Gagliardi:
of course, I'd be like, oh, they say poop in their song.

Kelsey:
I'm laughing!

Mary Gagliardi:
So naughty. That's

Kelsey:
Oh my...

Mary Gagliardi:
that's where my head would go. But so that's April 30th. Just a few days later, about a week on May 6, 1996, Backstreet Boys, the album, not the group that just a few days later. 6, 1996, Backstreet Boys. The album was released internationally, but get this, it was not released in the United States or in Canada. It was just in these European countries that had recognized the awesomeness and talent of the boys, and it ended up going three times platinum.

Kelsey:
Eh.

Mary Gagliardi:
And I'm a little salty about this. There are a few pretty iconic songs that were replaced, that were released on, that were on this European release, the lead up to their US album, And that includes, you know, that's the way I like it. I wanna be with you. Boys Will Be Boys, their cover of End of the Road by Boys to Men, a song written by Lou Pearlman

Kelsey:
So good.

Mary Gagliardi:
called Tell Me That I'm Dreaming. You know, especially the first three or four, I really want those on iTunes and Spotify, especially since the boys performed That's the Way I Like It and I wanna be with you on the DNA tour now.

Kelsey:
So Mary, tell me if I'm making this up, but I feel like I remember Lance talking about this song, Tell Me I'm Dreaming, in his podcast saying that, you know, Lou wrote this song, but it ended up just being like a copy paste of another popular song.

Mary Gagliardi:
I don't remember that, you're probably right, because I know you just recently rewatched that. Or

Kelsey:
Maybe

Mary Gagliardi:
was it

Kelsey:
I'm making this

Mary Gagliardi:
the... I don't know,

Kelsey:
up.

Mary Gagliardi:
maybe it's not.

Kelsey:
I'm.

Mary Gagliardi:
Maybe it is. But I mean, regardless, I just, I'm sick of listening to those songs like illegally on YouTube or trying to download them and would really appreciate if we finally got the European songs. You know, it's been 30 years, guys. So leading up to and after this release, the boys went on their first, you know, official tour there, We Want to Be With You Tour. This was December 23rd, 1995 through August 11th, 1996. And again, this unfortunately was an exclusive European tour, 41 shows. We missed out, but I get it. They were targeting the audience where they were having their most success. So flash forward to May of 1997, year later, Quit Playing Games with My Heart was released in the United States as a single. They finally made the way over to America and oh baby, it peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually earning them a platinum award for selling over one million copies. And I feel like this was the music that changed our lives forever. The shirtless rain shots in the music video. I thought it was funny. for it in the Show Them What You're Made Of documentary. I don't know if you remember that, Kels, but Quit Playing Games was their song that broke them into the US. And on that note, speaking of some of their music videos, and on that note, speaking of notable BSB music videos, it's worth noting that on June 15th, 1997, playing games debuted in the United States. The As Long As You Love Me music video was shot, and chair dance forever by the way, and it is also notoriously where Brian met his future wife Leanne. Kelce, was this a devastating blow for the Brian girls?

Kelsey:
I was like too young to read magazines

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
at this point. Like, how old are you when you learn? I think I was like still sounding out words. So I was blissfully unaware that my husband was already betrothed to somebody

Mary Gagliardi:
Okay, good.

Kelsey:
else.

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm glad it wasn't a devastating blow, but just

Kelsey:
We'll get there when they got

Mary Gagliardi:
yes.

Kelsey:
married. We'll get there.

Mary Gagliardi:
But just 15 days after that, June 30th, 1997, Amir, everybody, so just 15 days after that on June 30th, 1997, Everybody, parentheses, back streets back parentheses, was officially released as a single. And I think again, while Quit Playing Games was the first single from is really what did it for them in the United States.

Kelsey:
Oh yeah, so now it's getting good. They're giving us bop after bop. Their household names in Europe, but here in America, we're really only hearing about them for the first time. So with everybody, a lot of people were just like scratching their heads because they were like, oh my God, we're back again.

Mary Gagliardi:
Like what?

Kelsey:
Insinuates that they're returning from something or somewhere, so people were like, back from what? Like back from Europe, you idiots,

Mary Gagliardi:
Right...

Kelsey:
because we weren't ready.

Mary Gagliardi:
Nope.

Kelsey:
August 12th, 1997, their album finally drops in the US. Backstreet's Back is released in the US finally.

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
The album sold over 14 million copies and was certified 14 times platinum. So, fun fact, apparently the album that we got in the US was not the same album that Europe got. Our Backstreet's Back album was sort of like a compilation of the prior releases and focused on just the best of the best to bring BSB to this American audience in a big, huge, successful way. It's confusing, but basically they were sick of America not giving them their flowers, but their plan worked and they were finally getting the recognition they deserved. So here are some super impressive stats from this album that changed their trajectory as a group forever. So originally, the US release contained 11 songs and it didn't even include everybody. because it was confusing

Mary Gagliardi:
Wow.

Kelsey:
of like, why are they that? The boys were nominated for best new artist at the Grammys, at the Billboard Music Awards. They won group album of the year. And in 1998, they won best group video at the MTV Music Awards for everybody. They also performed at the VMAs. It's on YouTube. You need to watch it. The choreography is so incredible. It's giving thriller. They're all on point. AJ has blue

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my

Kelsey:
hair.

Mary Gagliardi:
god.

Kelsey:
Brian is wearing like a vest. It looks like he's at a wedding and he took off his like blazer for some reason. It's just, it's so good. You have to

Mary Gagliardi:
See,

Kelsey:
watch

Mary Gagliardi:
you've been

Kelsey:
it.

Mary Gagliardi:
watching old music videos. I've been watching some of these old performances and I could not agree more. It's just like nostalgia in a bottle for me and I love it. Some more fun facts and true when they popped fashion. Get this in. For quit playing games with my heart at the time that they recorded it. Initially, Nick was just Nick was just 15 at the time that they went in to record. Quit playing games with my heart.

Kelsey:
crazy.

Mary Gagliardi:
I know, first of all, that's insane. But he was unable to sing on the track of the song because they determined it just didn't sound right because he was like right in the midst of puberty, I guess. So,

Kelsey:
And also like

Mary Gagliardi:
yes,

Kelsey:
a child.

Mary Gagliardi:
also probably

Kelsey:
Like.

Mary Gagliardi:
sounded like a little baby. And so Brian has recorded both of the verses in the song. It's now, you know, Nick and Brian, but originally it was Brian on both verses. And so a year and a half after it was recorded, our, the hero of our podcast was flown to, met up with Nick to re-record the second verse and it was added to the later editions of the 1996 international album and the 1998 re-release of the US debut album. So and that was ultimately the version that was released as a single. So that's why we hear Nick on the song, but for a while it wasn't going to be Nick, but I'm glad that they went back and added him because his verse on that is so iconic. I live my life. You know what I'm talking about? Yes, but so also in interesting, fun facts of the era, because of these amazing, hot music videos, like mania inspiring the music videos out, it became so popular on TRL that it was because of the Backstreet Boys that TRL created their quote unquote retirement plan for songs that were requested too many times to give other performers airtime. And also the Everybody music video, one that we all know and love, was directed by Joseph Kahn, who we've mentioned him before as well. He went on to work with the greats, you know, Brittany Taylor, you name it, he had his hands on it. And he told about it and he was not aware of who the Backstreet Boys were when he was asked to work on that music video and but someone gave him a paper with the girl with the group's sales numbers and the stats and he listened to them on a cassette tape and what a publicity release about them and he couldn't believe like the numbers they were pulling and the their record sales and he was initially a grunge and hip-hop director and you know And so he decided to give it a try with the Backstreet Boys, which is so interesting because now we know him as working with all these pop greats.

Kelsey:
Right.

Mary Gagliardi:
And obviously the Everybody music video, I think everybody has probably seen it at this point and it had a haunted house aesthetic and it was inspired unsurprisingly by Michael Jackson's thriller and the shoot lasted for 36 hours. his infamous mummy costume that was filmed last. Jive did not like the concept of the video, and they did not think that MTV would respect the video. Jive was totally against it. So get this, the boys actually had to put up their own money to shoot this music video and fight with the label afterwards to get reimbursed once it became such a massive success. Kelsey,

Kelsey:
Wow,

Mary Gagliardi:
yeah,

Kelsey:
I didn't know that.

Mary Gagliardi:
did you? Okay, Because Kelsey, do you or do you not know the dance to this video? Because I know everyone in my household does, and I would consider that a success. The boys were right on the money.

Kelsey:
Yeah, like is the Pope

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm

Kelsey:
a

Mary Gagliardi:
sorry.

Kelsey:
Catholic?

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm sorry.

Kelsey:
Like this song in itself is so iconic that like the dance goes right along with it. Like here's a little

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm

Kelsey:
story.

Mary Gagliardi:
sorry. I'm

Kelsey:
Last

Mary Gagliardi:
sorry.

Kelsey:
summer I was in Barcelona at a music festival and the sun was literally rising. It was like one of those like all night concerts.

Mary Gagliardi:
Wow.

Kelsey:
And I started a group sing along of everybody. And this is like an international, multi-nationality, multi-language group of people. Like I was one of the few Americans there. the words to this song and they started doing the little arm

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
motions, like the little thriller inspired, like every single person knew it.

Mary Gagliardi:
It's truly unifying all everybody loves everybody and knows this music video. And so I could love that story. You are a uniter, Kels. Another fun fact about this.

Kelsey:
They were like, who is this girl?

Mary Gagliardi:
Like, all right, let's dance with there. We know this song. I love it.

Kelsey:
Literally.

Mary Gagliardi:
I wish your husband had recorded it, but.

Kelsey:
He was too busy doing it. He was doing

Mary Gagliardi:
Fair

Kelsey:
the dance.

Mary Gagliardi:
enough,

Kelsey:
Ha ha

Mary Gagliardi:
fair

Kelsey:
ha.

Mary Gagliardi:
enough. Another fun fact that I need to add in about this album. And again, this might not, not everybody might know this song, but can we please discuss if you want it to get, but can we please discuss if you want it to be good girl, get yourself a bad boy and the boys disdain for it. First of all, this song was written by Mutt Lang. Has anybody watched the Shania Twain documentary? It's her former husband. very acclaimed rock writer and producer and it's just not a low quality song and It's not and I will die on

Kelsey:
Thanks for watching!

Mary Gagliardi:
this hill I will and most people in the fandom itself if you don't know this song go listen to it most people in the fandom love this song but and To that point did you know that this song was supposed to be the group's first single instead of quit playing games with my heart but the boys and jive reluctantly went along and was like okay but like my god all of us love this song and the boys hate it it's like a unicorn we'll get a snippet of a performance of it at an after party or a cruise or something I will defend this song till I die and it remains one of my favorites forever

Kelsey:
I agree. It's one of my top favorite songs in

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
general, like

Mary Gagliardi:
go

Kelsey:
ever.

Mary Gagliardi:
listen to it.

Kelsey:
When they're like, there's a thang

Mary Gagliardi:
Your mama

Kelsey:
and

Mary Gagliardi:
should

Kelsey:
then the

Mary Gagliardi:
know.

Kelsey:
shit in the, oh my. I had no idea what the F they were singing

Mary Gagliardi:
Wow.

Kelsey:
about when I was seven years old, like dancing around my bedroom, like

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh,

Kelsey:
singing

Mary Gagliardi:
I wanted

Kelsey:
this on the

Mary Gagliardi:
a

Kelsey:
top

Mary Gagliardi:
bad

Kelsey:
of my

Mary Gagliardi:
boy.

Kelsey:
lung.

Mary Gagliardi:
I wanted a bad boy after this song, so.

Kelsey:
Honestly, like bad boys kind of like intimidated me because I was like a little girl, but like,

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my god.

Kelsey:
there's a thing. I would just go around singing the, there's a thing.

Mary Gagliardi:
Nick Carter's voice is pristine on this. It's like peak Nick Carter. I would just highly explore it if you have not heard it. But okay, let me get off my podium. So where are we? Oh my goodness. So let's go to November 1st, 1996. That is when the Backstreet Boys were on their second tour, the Backstreet's Back Live and Concert Tour. It went from November 1st, 1996 to September 30th, European leg of a tour and they ended up mixing in about 10 US states. You know they started slowly making their way over to us. Notable openers included LFO and Aaron Carter, no surprise there. It was a whopping 119 shows. During this tour I thought I had just rewatched it recently in preparation for you guys and the guys, the boys did some solo songs mixed in as well and I know if you know this one, Kels, this is where we got Kevin Richardson's Nobody But You. I love that song. It's just Kevin all by himself. It's just like a bop I needed on a streaming platform. His voice sounds so good. This was also the tour where I don't know if any of you guys remember when they did that like pony dance. They did play Genuine's Pony and they did this like sexy humping type dance on the stage. I just was losing my mind watching it. Thank God I didn't see that when I was a kid

Kelsey:
Yeah, so I watched it when you sent me the

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
link and this footage was new to me. And like, how crazy must it have been to them? I just kept coming back to this idea that they had thousands and thousands of fans probably at this performance, a huge

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
crowd. And then they come home to America where it's like crickets and nobody knows them.

Mary Gagliardi:
I know.

Kelsey:
Like, it's so crazy. And in that performance, they also, it's on YouTube,

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
Google it. They do their cover of End

Mary Gagliardi:
Ah!

Kelsey:
of the Road voice to man. Brian sounds so good it actually makes me want to cry because I kind of

Mary Gagliardi:
I

Kelsey:
miss

Mary Gagliardi:
know,

Kelsey:
his old voice.

Mary Gagliardi:
I know. And I love watching his old covers because especially that song Brian really does so sound so good, especially when they cover Boys to Men. It's like perfect for him. It's

Kelsey:
amazing.

Mary Gagliardi:
a great tour. And so, you know, it's a pretty busy nonstop time for them. As soon as the tour wrapped, you know, October 21st, 1997, As Long As You Love Me was released as a single. They were performing that year on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. They

Kelsey:
Iconic.

Mary Gagliardi:
I rewatched that, you know, just like in their sweaters and their puffy coats. There's like kids.

Kelsey:
Who doesn't love a backstreet boy in

Mary Gagliardi:
I

Kelsey:
a sweater

Mary Gagliardi:
know

Kelsey:
on a float?

Mary Gagliardi:
there's just kids like dancing around them on the bottom of the float. Very nostalgic winter vibes.

Kelsey:
It looks like an old, it kind of gives like old Navy commercial

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh yes,

Kelsey:
in a good way.

Mary Gagliardi:
yes. And then in that same year they got a we got another um and that same year we got a performance at the MTV Awards as a and that same year we got a performance at the MTV Music Video Awards of As Long As You Love Me and Everybody and I again re-watched this for research purposes and was so impressed. I know this is this is how I spend my days and um I was just very impressed by to today, you know, we just saw them last summer and you know, they're still singing live, their vocals are still extremely crisp like they were back when they were young, and they still have kept the same choreo. Like, for example, for as long as you love me, as a fandom, we don't want them to ever change the dance. We don't, we want the chair dance forever. I don't want this, I'm like, new, we don't want anything new. We want the nostalgia and I just, it just impressed me with how they've continued to pull it off It was impressive.

Kelsey:
I second that, chair dance forever. It's like Britney's stronger video with the

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh

Kelsey:
chair

Mary Gagliardi:
yeah.

Kelsey:
dance. Like there was something about chair dances back then and they have like the hats now. It's just, it's too good. We

Mary Gagliardi:
Don't

Kelsey:
never

Mary Gagliardi:
change.

Kelsey:
want them to change it. So, okay, here we are in our timeline. It's 1998 now. And we can say with all

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks

Kelsey:
confidence

Mary Gagliardi:
for watching!

Kelsey:
that Backstreet Boys have officially popped. So much so that October 7th was declared Backstreet Boys Day in their native Orlando, Florida. It also learned from the book Backstreet Boys 38th Anniversary Celebration, which is authored by Carolee Hancock and Amelia

Mary Gagliardi:
it's filigama, filigama, yeah, filigama.

Kelsey:
Filogamo. On New Year's Eve in 1998, the boys performed to a sold out crowd in Orlando. It was filmed and televised on pay-per-view.

Mary Gagliardi:
ooo

Kelsey:
It aired on February 6th of 1999. This was their first US concert to ever be broadcasted. It was, which may not seem that impressive right now, but this was the first pay-per-view event to reach 100,000 viewers.

Mary Gagliardi:
Wow.

Kelsey:
So they just like totally smashed through that record with 160,000 and then the VHS was certified triple platinum. Like they are multi-platform

Mary Gagliardi:
I didn't

Kelsey:
kings.

Mary Gagliardi:
know VHS could go platinum. That is iconic. But

Kelsey:
Thanks for watching!

Mary Gagliardi:
everybody, this is available on Prime for rental if you really want a taste of nostalgia. I have recently watched it and it's a very good show. Obvi.

Kelsey:
It's so just to help explain just how huge Backstreet Boys was when they popped. I want to touch on a 1999 Rolling Stone article that's titled The Backstreet Boys Year in Hell. That really gets into how their lives changed in 1998 to 1999 leading up to the release of Millennium. How successful this year was but also how hard it was. So while they're seeing this overnight. So as Rolling Stone aptly puts it, there is fame and there is teen idol

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
fame. The Backstreet Boys are well-equated with the latter, which transcends autograph-seeking and enters a surreal realm where girls will offer up their own internal organs on the black market for, say, one of Kevin's used Kleenex.

Mary Gagliardi:
Correct.

Kelsey:
I think I would. No, I'm just kidding. I'd at least give an organ to have been the writer called Cheesy Celebrity Profiles. They're like, Kevin puts moss in his

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
morning seaweed. The light trickles in. Like they go to Nick's new house at the time. He's just 19

Mary Gagliardi:
God.

Kelsey:
years old. And oh my, you'll love this, Mary. They said, end quote, four pugs have the run of the place. Cheerfully peeing on the rug.

Mary Gagliardi:
Don't get me started how Nick Carter is my inspiration for being a pug mom to my pug son, Otis.

Kelsey:
I know, I grew up with pugs, not knowing that Nick Carter also had pugs, but when I found that out, I was like,

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my

Kelsey:
oh my

Mary Gagliardi:
God.

Kelsey:
god. So at this point, the article goes on to share how at pretty much every Backstreet Boy has to change their address. Kevin is like very upset about it

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
because he put a lot of work into his home in Orlando, but the fans find where they

Mary Gagliardi:
My

Kelsey:
live

Mary Gagliardi:
god.

Kelsey:
and they're crazy. Kevin was even saying how like people go on vacation just to see his

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my

Kelsey:
house.

Mary Gagliardi:
god.

Kelsey:
Like that's bananas. which the article very responsibly reminds us is a

Mary Gagliardi:
Go!

Kelsey:
federal offense, so don't do that. Apparently fans are going to Howie's parents' house and his parents will invite the fans in and take

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh

Kelsey:
pictures

Mary Gagliardi:
my god.

Kelsey:
with them. Like, what's going crazy? So that's kind of the funny part of it, but it's not all fun and games. Kevin is quoted in this article and sort of hearkens back to the title of this article that 1998 was their most successful year, but it was also the hardest year his life. And I think the same could probably be said for Brian and even Howie too. So remember, Brian has these health issues we discussed in our last episode. He has these significant

Mary Gagliardi:
Yn ystod y cyfle, mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
heart issues. Well,

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
back in November

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
of 1997, doctors discovered that

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
a congenital hole in Brian's heart

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
had enlarged to dangerous proportions.

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
The quote that I kept seeing that his

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
heart was big enough for like a 300 pound linebacker.

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
So this little man's walking around with this huge

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
heart, but so he needs an open heart surgery, but he keeps putting off the surgery

Mary Gagliardi:
Yn ystod y cyfle, mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
and even reschedules it twice to keep up with touring commitments.

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
And at this time, Brian was dating his now wife,

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
Leanne, who honestly, she's the hero of this

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
story because six months after putting off

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
this surgery, she threatened to leave Brian for postponing

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
his open heart surgery. to the interviews,

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
she gave Brian an ultimatum. And she was literally like,

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
you have to have the surgery or lose me and probably also your

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
life, you dumb idiot. I made up the dumb idiot part, but I can only imagine that she did say that

Mary Gagliardi:
Yn ystod y cyfle, mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
to him in private. Brian, for his part, admits that it was really foolish and that it was Leanne's decision

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
to pick up and leave him if he didn't do this, that made him finally

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
get the surgery. So it's May, 1998.

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
He was just like 22, 23 years old, of

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
all of these tour performances, they had to cancel like a Disney televised concert

Mary Gagliardi:
Mae'r cyfle wedi'i ddod yn ystod y cyfle.

Kelsey:
for this. And Brian has said that, you know, the saddest thing is that he scheduled his open heart surgery around his work schedule. And he said he felt like nobody cared or felt it necessary because his career was moving on. And that's friggin' sad. But thankfully, he got the surgery. The group postponed their Backstreet's Back Tour until July 1998 to give Brian time to recover. So once again, is in May. They're back on tour in July. For all of you other ladies and STEM out there, that is a whopping eight weeks to recover from open heart surgery. I'm not a doctor! That doesn't seem like a

Mary Gagliardi:
No!

Kelsey:
lot! And the crew kept oxygen tanks in the wings of the stage and Brian basically relied on them for the first two weeks on tour and he was only able to perform at like 65% and emotionally just had a going right back on the horse,

Mary Gagliardi:
Wow,

Kelsey:
as they say.

Mary Gagliardi:
that speaks a lot to him. And again, it's very sad because this was such a, we'll get into it, a stressful, nonstop time of their career. And I just would never have known because Brian Littreau's 65% is everybody else's 100.

Kelsey:
so well put.

Mary Gagliardi:
Thank you.

Kelsey:
So Brian has his open heart surgery in the middle of performing, like just busy, crazy schedule. And then just weeks later, oh my God, Howie learns that his sister Caroline was in the hospital due to complications from lupus, which is an autoimmune disease, and she passes away just days later. And only hours after her funeral, Howie's back on a plane to go perform in South America. So they're just going through all these personal tribulations Off, another important person to everyone in the group, Dennis Pop, who we've talked about many times on this podcast. He was their frequent producer and songwriter who literally helped them create their sound with Max Martin passed away. So these boys are going through their own moments of sadness and all the while, Brian files a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman, who's the group's manager. He is the one who brought them together in the first place, probably the man who formulated NSYNC behind Backstreet Boys. Back, you wanna talk about Backstreet's back, behind their back is Lou Pearlman making NSYNC happen. And so Brian files this lawsuit against Lou and his record company Transcontinental, claiming that Lou has not been truthful about the earnings made by the group. Like there's a lot going on here. So if you want more details, you need to listen to our Lou Pearlman episode, but to give you the Cliff Notes version, just to refresh your memories, from 1983 to 1997, Lou and his company took about $10 million in revenue, while the Backstreet Boys only got $300,000 total for all across all of them. That's not

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh

Kelsey:
each.

Mary Gagliardi:
my god.

Kelsey:
After five years of touring and all this crazy success. So if you do the math like us,

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
cuz we're smart, that's just $12,000 a year. And in Kevin's words, Lou was just quote unquote screwing them blind. And according to Rolling Stone, lawyers as well as judges in three different states. So it's a big story. Definitely listen to our episode on it. But it was really interesting that Nick never joined the lawsuit that Brian started, but all of the other guys did. Details of the settlement were never disclosed, but the boys left Lou and his record company in the dust and cut ties with his management. So they're ending the year 1998 at the peak of their careers with a ton of momentum, a lot of personal tragedy

Mary Gagliardi:
Mm-hmm.

Kelsey:
behind them, but also new management. to start over, to start this new year on the best possible foot.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah, and let's start 1999 as officially Backstreet Boys' mania year. Maybe when they popped, maybe the next year, we can debate. But in January of 1999, they were nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best New Artist. And that's a big deal and kind of a sore spot, at least for me, because they haven't won a Grammy. And I believe personally that they have been snubbed by the Academy inappropriately and for too long. are deserving of Grammys too, okay? And that same month they performed at the AMAs, they did a nice little medley of All I Have to Give and everybody, a girl, a fan rushed the stage and had to be carried off, that is me in my mind.

Kelsey:
Ha ha ha ha!

Mary Gagliardi:
And they had this like cool cut scene between the songs and it like cut to a prerecorded video of the boys being chased around by screaming girls and fans like backstage, outside, like running like maniacs. I think I've seen it maybe as a commercial or something. I don't know if you remember that. And then they cut to everybody from that and they performed live, but I thought that was interesting. So as you all know, we're getting close to the release of their big, big album, Millennium. And here's a little jive, a Zamba synergy for you. Every version of Britney Spears debut album, Baby One More Time, that came out prior to Millennium. of three songs as hidden tracks placed at the end of the album of new of the new Backstreet Boys songs that were going to come out on Millennium. And apparently, I get why they do it. They like the record label wanted to do that, you know, synergy, there's a similar demographic that are listening to this music. But apparently, Brittany was not happy about that and did not want these new Backstreet Boys singles on her on her Baby One More Time album, which I completely also understand.

Kelsey:
Oh my god, drama.

Mary Gagliardi:
behind the scenes everybody.

Kelsey:
Is that why she dated Justin Timberlake

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh yes,

Kelsey:
as revenge?

Mary Gagliardi:
a spite, no of course, but so but again if you watch 30 Rock, synergy people we got to promote, cross promote our different brands and I get by the label wanted it and it was all leading up to this May 18th 1999 when Millennium was released by Jive, maybe one of my favorite albums of iconic appearance and performance. The fans were camping out for weeks. AJ had his leopard cowboy hat on. It was just a deranged

Kelsey:
Ugh.

Mary Gagliardi:
time.

Kelsey:
That's how I think of them in

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
my head. That cowboy hat with AJ's

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
goatee.

Mary Gagliardi:
that's like peak for me, for us. And of course, because it's a piece of gold, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number one and sold 1.1 million copies in its first week of release. I think most of our listeners are our age, so they understand, but compared to streaming, streaming is nothing compared to selling a hard copy album. That is such a big deal to do to accomplish that. let's take a beat to discuss Millennium. Again, let's

Kelsey:
Let's.

Mary Gagliardi:
take an hour to discuss Millennium quickly. Very quickly, for

Kelsey:
That's

Mary Gagliardi:
an hour.

Kelsey:
more appropriate.

Mary Gagliardi:
This album, I think you could argue, has no skips. Everything is pop perfection, aka Max Martin perfection. Just a reminder and a little teaser from our Max Martin episode. He had his hands on, I want it that way, larger than life, It's gotta be you. Don't want you back. Don't want to lose you now. And they'll won. And honestly,

Kelsey:
Huh.

Mary Gagliardi:
I know, I know. And honestly, in most of the songs you can hear that Swedish influence, those heavy pop beats, distinctive intros, etc. And of course, one of the many gifts Millennium gave us, I Want It That Way, was released as a single on April 12, 1999, one of the greatest pop songs of all time. Some fun facts, the intro guitar and soft vocals were inspired by Metallica and their song Nothing Else Matters. I'll do a little clip comparison. We also talked about this in our Max Martin episode. There were alternative lyrics at one point to I Want It That Way, and Jive wanted to utilize the more Americanized and, let's be honest, instead of Oh. I don't know what I was trying to say there. Here's what Jive wanted to release for As I Want It That Way. And I gotta be honest, I like that version too. Do you like the American?

Kelsey:
No more lies,

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes, yes.

Kelsey:
no goodbyes. It was stuck in my head for a very

Mary Gagliardi:
I still

Kelsey:
long

Mary Gagliardi:
think

Kelsey:
time.

Mary Gagliardi:
it would have done well either way, but the song was obviously nominated for multiple Grammys Again, they were snubbed.

Kelsey:
I read in Kara's book again that it went number one in more than 16 countries. So it doesn't even matter that the lyrics make

Mary Gagliardi:
Nope.

Kelsey:
zero sense because we were moving and grooving,

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah,

Kelsey:
baby.

Mary Gagliardi:
and it stood the test of time, that's for sure. And let's also talk about Larger Than Life, another single that came out on September 7th, 1999. The album was actually supposed to be called Larger Than Life, as Howie described it, it was supposed to be like a thank you song for all they've done. The album was initially supposed to be titled Larger Than Life instead of Millennium. And Howie described Larger Than Life as like a thank you song the fans because we were always okay I don't even know what I'm gonna say.

Kelsey:
Well, that is kind of interesting because aren't usually albums the name of a song from the album itself?

Mary Gagliardi:
That's a really good point, and there is no millennium on millennium.

Kelsey:
I literally just

Mary Gagliardi:
Usually

Kelsey:
noticed

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm

Kelsey:
that.

Mary Gagliardi:
like thinking of that like quite often at least. Yes

Kelsey:
I guess black and blue.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah

Kelsey:
There's no black

Mary Gagliardi:
but

Kelsey:
and blue. Maybe it's just like a Backstreet Boys

Mary Gagliardi:
That's a

Kelsey:
thing.

Mary Gagliardi:
good point. That's a very good point We also got show me the meaning of being lonely as a single in December on December

Kelsey:
Oh.

Mary Gagliardi:
14th, 1990 song but We also got show me the meaning of being lonely as a single on December 14th, 1999 This is a very sad sad song sad music video It honors the people that Kelsey kind of mentioned earlier, that the boys had lost, you know, Kevin's dad, Howie's sister, A.J.'s friend who had passed, Dennis Pop. I think their vocals in this song are so beautiful. And so did other people, because this one was also nominated for a Grammy and also snubbed. And finally, we got the one as a single on May 16th, 2000, which I believe, would describe as truly a love letter to the fans. And there was that whole side drama where actually Don't Want You Back was supposed to be the single instead of the one, but Nick TRL was doing a vote on which one should be the single and Nick voted against it and his fans went with him. And Nick voted against Don't Want You Back and the fans went with him. So TRL and its impact and also I'm happy with the one.

Kelsey:
How funny, like, how would an artist do that today? Like an Instagram

Mary Gagliardi:
Like, yeah,

Kelsey:
stories

Mary Gagliardi:
like a poll,

Kelsey:
poll?

Mary Gagliardi:
like vote in my poll for my next single. Like that's, that's probably what it would, the equivalent would be. You're right.

Kelsey:
This one you had to pick up the phone, dial a phone

Mary Gagliardi:
Like

Kelsey:
number.

Mary Gagliardi:
call a long distance number or like, you know, text in on your Nokia brick phone, something like,

Kelsey:
It took effort!

Mary Gagliardi:
absolutely. So, Un Millennium, it was the bestselling album of 1999 in the United States. It sold 9.4 million copies, went 12 times platinum, sold 500 copies in the United States on the first day alone. Like, okay.

Kelsey:
500,000

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh, did I say five?

Kelsey:
times a thousand.

Mary Gagliardi:
It sold 500,000 copies in the United States on the first day alone, setting a record for first day sales and went on to be the bestseller. As of 2015, Millennium was listed as one of the best-selling albums of all time as it 24 million copies total.

Kelsey:
That's

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh yeah,

Kelsey:
right.

Mary Gagliardi:
Kelsey, any favorite Millennium Memories faves, etc?

Kelsey:
Honestly, I just remember that the album helped me ace my spelling test

Mary Gagliardi:
Hehehe

Kelsey:
because it, millennium was like one of the

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes!

Kelsey:
words and I got a 100 on it because I'd studied the album

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my

Kelsey:
covers

Mary Gagliardi:
god,

Kelsey:
so much.

Mary Gagliardi:
it's a hard

Kelsey:
Like

Mary Gagliardi:
word.

Kelsey:
I know, and I think I was in like third grade at the time, so I don't know, that

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
was a hard word. But once millennium came out, like there were just no other albums for me.

Mary Gagliardi:
No.

Kelsey:
Like there was nothing else I wanted to listen to, it was just that and looking at Brian's face on the cover of the CD.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yep.

Kelsey:
him. And my man, Brian, was credited as the writer on so many of these songs like Larger than Life, The One, The Perfect Fan, which he wrote for his mom and even features his high school chorus

Mary Gagliardi:
Hello?

Kelsey:
in it, which is very sweet. And Back to Your Heart, which I know Kevin also contributed to. And Larger than Life, and Abbe S Bap, was the first million dollar music video at the time. I know we've touched on that in a couple episodes already. But aside from that, the album was just such a huge success. for so many awards, Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, VMAs, AMAs. They're finally getting their flowers that they've worked

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh, yes.

Kelsey:
so hard for. So this is when my life

Mary Gagliardi:
Hmm

Kelsey:
changed. On June 2, 1999, the boys embarked on their Into the Millennium Tour, which comprised of 124 sold out shows in 84 cities. Mary, do you have any memes from the

Mary Gagliardi:
Mems from Melenz.

Kelsey:
I can't even.

Mary Gagliardi:
No, I

Kelsey:
Yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
just rewatched this tour. It starts with that iconic Kevin who's ready to party line. I don't know what that is. That has stuck with me. I'm so glad that clip is making a run as having a Renaissance on TikTok. But what don't I remember? I mean, that diamond stage, all these dancers,

Kelsey:
Mm-hmm.

Mary Gagliardi:
multi-level band in the top center. It's just interesting who was a crew in high school. You were in theater, I was a backstage girl. And it was, we did the set and set design, et cetera. And it was just interesting to watch how they worked the stage. And they were so cognizant of making sure that the audience usually had one of them, if not all of them to look at most

Kelsey:
Mm-hmm.

Mary Gagliardi:
of the time. And I really appreciated how they worked that stage. I remember that Imperial March, spaceship things, just like outer space vibes.

Kelsey:
I saw Millennium twice and I still have the instant camera photo from my first concert. And when I saw them descend from the sky

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
in those blue armored outfits on the hoverboard, surfboard things, whatever

Mary Gagliardi:
and

Kelsey:
they were, I don't even think that I sang or danced or screamed. I think my jaw was just

Mary Gagliardi:
Hahaha

Kelsey:
on the floor the entire time. My mom my mom is a cool

Mary Gagliardi:
God

Kelsey:
mom.

Mary Gagliardi:
bless her.

Kelsey:
She's gonna be really happy that I'm putting this on the rocker So we saw the first We saw the first Millennium for the first time in Philadelphia And then we caught the second leg of the Millennium tour in New York and my mom let me miss school And I wasn't supposed to tell anybody that I was missing school for a Backstreet Boys concert But I totally went to school the next day like with some merch and like wouldn't shut up about it for like years, but

Mary Gagliardi:
Maybe

Kelsey:
there

Mary Gagliardi:
we

Kelsey:
is

Mary Gagliardi:
can convince Kels to post her picture from the concert.

Kelsey:
from

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
that concert,

Mary Gagliardi:
on the gram.

Kelsey:
my mom and I, there's this really cute photo of me like just being so excited to go to this Backstreet Boys concert. I literally can't even stand still for a photo. I think I'm seven years old and my mom is like trying to like hold me in place where both just have the biggest smiles on our faces. And we recreated it at their Vegas show in 2019, literally 20 years

Mary Gagliardi:
That's

Kelsey:
apart.

Mary Gagliardi:
incredible.

Kelsey:
It's super cute. So I don't know about you Mary, time and they have this one column that's called I think about this a lot and they have this hilarious piece on Kevin being

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
the hottest Backstreet Boy and there's this one excerpt that always makes me lull about the Millennium Door. So the author watched the show in what you're

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah!

Kelsey:
made of documentary and even though she wasn't even like a huge Backstreet Boys fan she was totally taken by it so this article is all about her just sort of discovering the Backstreet Boys and giving them some of the recognition that we know they've always deserved. So I want to read a quick little

Mary Gagliardi:
Please.

Kelsey:
excerpt from her piece. She writes, quote, "'When I watch this movie now,' so I know again she's talking about the documentary, "'and I see them sleeping on airport floors "'and harmonizing beautifully in front of unimpressed

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
preteens "'and practicing choreography for hours on end, "'I am filled with genuine admiration "'and

Mary Gagliardi:
Hmm

Kelsey:
a little horrified by the ruthless, "'relentless American pop star machine. "'BSB somersaulted through the air on high wires for us. "'They danced in matching flashing bionic sex suits They put on a show. They committed to the high concept music video. They were earnest and worked hard. Watching these scenes now, I feel proud of them then, but also worried. It's as if they've stayed that age forever and I've grown up to be their very young mother. And like looking back at my little Kodak photos, I feel

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
that way too. Like they're all in their 20s.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes!

Kelsey:
Anyways, I just love that bionic sex suits for us and somersaulting through the air.

Mary Gagliardi:
It's so hot. Yes. It's so hot. It's

Kelsey:
They did for

Mary Gagliardi:
so hot.

Kelsey:
us. Okay. So back to our story. They're on the Millennium Tour. The second leg of their Millennium Tour was sponsored by Sears. And they released this really iconic campaign that featured the boys being chased by their fans of Mob

Mary Gagliardi:
That must

Kelsey:
of

Mary Gagliardi:
have

Kelsey:
Girls.

Mary Gagliardi:
been

Kelsey:
And the-

Mary Gagliardi:
the thing they used for the AMA because I knew I had seen it in a commercial.

Kelsey:
Probably, it was probably all sponsored by Sears.

Mary Gagliardi:
Ah.

Kelsey:
Everything's an ad these

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
days, even in 1999. So the ad promoted a back to school sweepstakes, which gave five fans the chance to win a $2,000 Sears shopping spree with their favorite Backstreet Boy

Mary Gagliardi:
Hello?

Kelsey:
member and a trip for four to the group's concert in 1999 in Tampa, Florida. So if you won the sweepstakes and you are listening to this podcast,

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my God.

Kelsey:
Which one did you pick? And what did you buy?

Mary Gagliardi:
And like...

Kelsey:
Did you like go into a dressing room and have like a montage with a backstreet boy?

Mary Gagliardi:
I wonder if there's like footage of that somewhere. Like if they, if Sears filmed that, I gotta look into that. I gotta find that. That's gotta be out there somewhere.

Kelsey:
Someone out there had to have won this contest because I know there are rules and regulations

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes!

Kelsey:
that don't let people do fake sweepstakes. So we need to know who won. We need you to step forward for the good

Mary Gagliardi:
Please,

Kelsey:
of the community.

Mary Gagliardi:
please tell us everything. We need the tea.

Kelsey:
So aside from making four or five lucky fans' dreams

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
come true, around this time there's some other really exciting things happening. In October 1999, Backstreet Boys re-signed with Jive for over $60 million. This is one of the largest record deals to date. In 1999, Kevin Richardson was named People's Sexiest Pop Star. Does this surprise anyone? Literally no, given especially all of his high school superlatives that we discussed in our last episode. December 24th, Christmas Eve 1999. Brian proposes to Leanne and girls around the world, including myself,

Mary Gagliardi:
Thank you. Bye.

Kelsey:
weep with jealousy, and maybe in a blackout rage, rip down all of their posters from their walls.

Mary Gagliardi:
Mm-hmm.

Kelsey:
Maybe it

Mary Gagliardi:
Maybe

Kelsey:
was me,

Mary Gagliardi:
not.

Kelsey:
maybe not. On New Year's Eve, 1999, show me the meaning of being lonely. Music video premieres on MTV just before midnight, making it the last video premiere of the 20th century, and before maybe Y2K broke the world. No one knew what

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh

Kelsey:
was

Mary Gagliardi:
my

Kelsey:
gonna

Mary Gagliardi:
god.

Kelsey:
happen when the clock struck midnight.

Mary Gagliardi:
Okay,

Kelsey:
I would have

Mary Gagliardi:
yeah,

Kelsey:
been okay

Mary Gagliardi:
that

Kelsey:
with

Mary Gagliardi:
would

Kelsey:
it.

Mary Gagliardi:
be okay. So now the clock strikes midnight and it's the year 2000 and Backstreet Boys have officially ushered us into the new millennium and they are at the height of their rising star. Arguably, popping have popped. In January, they had an iconic partnership with Burger King. They released an exclusive promotional LP of five never released live songs and the boys a burger and fish sandwich

Kelsey:
Thanks for watching!

Mary Gagliardi:
and one to be sold at Burger King. And I just finally got those promotional LPs that's for the fans, live albums for Christmas. And it is so good if you can find them on eBay, listen to it because I'm sorry they need a live album and we don't have it. I have some needs, I have some wants. And also in January of 2000 we get the infamous Backstreet about

Kelsey:
God.

Mary Gagliardi:
changed lives forever still is, you know, in circulation today people are still talk about it know exactly what it is.

Kelsey:
I post it every Valentine's

Mary Gagliardi:
Well,

Kelsey:
Day.

Mary Gagliardi:
see, see, it's still in circulation. People are still talking about it, Kelsey included. And another fun fact, in February of 2000, Stan Lee created a Backstreet Boys comic after meeting Nick, who was apparently a big comic fan. And they had a single edition comic book called, they had a single edition comic book come out through their collaboration titled Backstreet Project. And they sold it like as merch and as souvenirs at their concerts and online stores one and there was like a series of flash-based webisodes that also came out which is kind of cute and of the time and I love I thought this was really cute um I did a little recon on this in January on June 17th in 2000 Kevin Richardson and his lovely lady Kristen got married and here's a little backstory on that Kevin and Kristen met when they were both working at Disney World in 1992 Age check. We were probably one years old at that time, which is alarming. And

Kelsey:
Yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
you know, they dated for a very long time and eventually got engaged and got married in Kevin's hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. And just outside of a church camp, if you've watched the documentary, if you haven't, you probably should just pause and go watch it now. But we see this, we see this church camp when So I love that they got married at Kevin's home. And the ceremony started a half an hour late because Nick was late and in shorts because he missed his flight and had to charter a private single prop engine plane to the event, to the wedding, and the airport had lost his luggage. And that just does not surprise me at all. And all the men in the wedding party, wore Versace suits and Gucci sandals and I believe had

Kelsey:
That's cute though, he did everything he could, trains, planes, and automobiles

Mary Gagliardi:
He made

Kelsey:
to make

Mary Gagliardi:
it. He

Kelsey:
it.

Mary Gagliardi:
made it. And just only a half an hour late for Nick. And but apparently it was just Kevin's family, his brothers that were his groomsmen, not the boys. But according to other BSB members, I think Howie is the one who squealed a little bit. The wedding was very emotional for Kevin. He cried a lot. And that is a quote, which is just so adorable.

Kelsey:
Okay, so he sag like a frickin' canary.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
Geez, Howie.

Mary Gagliardi:
And apparently him and But Kevin just could not do it because he could not stop crying and

Kelsey:
Oh

Mary Gagliardi:
I know and um

Kelsey:
That's

Mary Gagliardi:
I

Kelsey:
really

Mary Gagliardi:
know

Kelsey:
sweet. I literally told Mike if I walk down the aisle and you don't cry, I'm

Mary Gagliardi:
And

Kelsey:
canceling

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm sure he

Kelsey:
it

Mary Gagliardi:
cried.

Kelsey:
like it's off

Mary Gagliardi:
Of course

Kelsey:
Of course

Mary Gagliardi:
he did.

Kelsey:
he did If I don't see

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm here.

Kelsey:
tears immediately, I'm turning

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
around

Mary Gagliardi:
so I thought that was those were, I never had heard that before until recently. And so that was fun to read. And so then, so that's in June. So just three months later, September 2nd, 2000, cover your ears, Kelsey. This is when Brian and Leanne got married in Atlanta. This was a super hush hush event. They had, you know, wristbands to get into the wedding because fans were trying to get in. You had to show ID. It was a very secretive ceremony. But Kevin had a surprise up his sleeve because they didn't want it to, I read an interview with Leanne and she didn't want it, they didn't want it to become like a Backstreet Boys karaoke night. And so

Kelsey:
..

Mary Gagliardi:
the guys weren't planning on performing or anything, but Kevin had a surprise and he sang Brickhouse in celebration. And, but he stopped there. and then Brian actually surprised Leanne and serenaded her with a ballad song called Everything that he had written specifically for this special occasion and dedicated to his new wife. I'm sorry Kelsey.

Kelsey:
That is, it's okay, I eventually got

Mary Gagliardi:
Okay,

Kelsey:
over it.

Mary Gagliardi:
okay.

Kelsey:
But it's really funny that you say that fans were trying to

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh

Kelsey:
sneak

Mary Gagliardi:
yeah.

Kelsey:
in. In this, in the Rolling Stone article I talked about a little bit earlier, there were so many funny examples of fans trying to sneak into things where the Backstreet Boys were. They said like little girls would have

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh.

Kelsey:
notepads and recorders and pretend to be reporters

Mary Gagliardi:
Awwww.

Kelsey:
with like teen Nick, like Nickelodeon kids

Mary Gagliardi:
That's

Kelsey:
and stuff.

Mary Gagliardi:
so cute. I am

Kelsey:
Also so

Mary Gagliardi:
creative.

Kelsey:
smart, like they should meet them

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah, I agree.

Kelsey:
So only a year and a half after Millennium was released, the Backstreet Boys took a trip to the Bahamas in May 2000 to get started on their new album. And then they were back again not long after in November with Black and Blue. And once again, this album is breaking records left and right. It recorded the best international sales in a week for an album in history by selling over 5 million copies in its first week. 2.6 million copies in the first week making them the first artist since the Beatles to achieve back-to-back million plus first week sales I mean what a huge moment for them to continue riding

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
this wave To stay in the pulse to stay in the midst of the zeitgeist I mean, it's really incredible to that they were continued that you can get

Mary Gagliardi:
Okay.

Kelsey:
rid of that Mary favorite song on black and blue.

Mary Gagliardi:
Okay, well, let's take a quick hour to talk about this. How am I supposed to answer this? I would say, especially once again, the songs that Max Martin had his hands all over. I mean, I'm a sucker for those hard-hitting Swedish beats, the call, get another boyfriend, then that classic crooning of

Kelsey:
Oh

Mary Gagliardi:
Shape

Kelsey:
yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
of My Heart. And also, okay, first of all, let's talk about that harmony chorus of the call where they're like, ah, ah, ah.

Kelsey:
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes. Yes. Kelsey is doing it justice and it is just, it is just a,

Kelsey:
Choo-choo.

Mary Gagliardi:
yeah, oh, there are the beats. You just get, get it all in that song. And that's also what I learned about cheating.

Kelsey:
Oh my God.

Mary Gagliardi:
I know I like didn't get what that song was about until I, many years.

Kelsey:
I know, it was kind of giving men another way to be like, oh, my battery's

Mary Gagliardi:
Gotta

Kelsey:
dead,

Mary Gagliardi:
go!

Kelsey:
sorry babe.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah, now

Kelsey:
Yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
I'd be like, well, where's your portable charger?

Kelsey:
Gotta get this on baby I'm sorry

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes, and then also I think we need to also mention how kind of how Get Another Boyfriend has kind of had a renaissance and good god, AJ's good god,

Kelsey:
Oh my god.

Mary Gagliardi:
was born as and how AJ's good god was born and is now expected in both choruses of that song. I mean, I don't know.

Kelsey:
So right before they go into the chorus, AJ goes, good God! And it is like the most exciting thing ever.

Mary Gagliardi:
And I think if he didn't do it at a show now, people would be like appalled, concerned.

Kelsey:
Are you okay? Yeah, be like,

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
are you okay? Like, is everything cool,

Mary Gagliardi:
I

Kelsey:
AJ?

Mary Gagliardi:
don't know the story behind it, but I would like to.

Kelsey:
That's a, you know, that's a good goal for us as entrepreneurs. We will have AJ one day. I'm manifesting this. One day we'll have AJ on the pod and we will ask him, how did good God come about?

Mary Gagliardi:
Please, please.

Kelsey:
So yeah, Get Another Boyfriend is definitely my favorite song from the album, TBH. But also I love Answer to Our Life, which was

Mary Gagliardi:
Call

Kelsey:
written

Mary Gagliardi:
the

Kelsey:
by

Mary Gagliardi:
boys.

Kelsey:
all five of them. Isn't that so cute?

Mary Gagliardi:
I do like that song too, and it makes it special that it's them.

Kelsey:
It's like happy. It's like a happy song. I feel like that album's kind of dark. Like it's like, get another boyfriend.

Mary Gagliardi:
Good.

Kelsey:
The call. I'm cheating on you. And then it's like, oh, here's a happy

Mary Gagliardi:
Well,

Kelsey:
one.

Mary Gagliardi:
black and blue, right? Like that makes sense.

Kelsey:
Also, more than that.

Mary Gagliardi:
How did I forget more than that? And everyone.

Kelsey:
I sing more than that to my husband every day and he's like, I need you to stop. And I will never stop.

Mary Gagliardi:
a backstreet place

Kelsey:
Because I'll love him more than that.

Mary Gagliardi:
you won't say the words and take them back

Kelsey:
Never. Never! Don't give loneliness a chance, Mike!


Mary Gagliardi:
So we got three singles from Black and Blue. We got Shape of My Heart on October 3rd. October 3rd? Is that the Mean Girl Day? We

Kelsey:
Yeah,

Mary Gagliardi:
got two,

Kelsey:
I asked him what day

Mary Gagliardi:
yes,

Kelsey:
it was.

Mary Gagliardi:
it was,

Kelsey:
It's shape of my

Mary Gagliardi:
yeah,

Kelsey:
heart day.

Mary Gagliardi:
oh my goodness. We got October 3rd,

Kelsey:
HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Mary Gagliardi:
Shape of My Heart, my heart on October 3rd. We got the call on February 6th 2001 and more than that on April 17th 2001. And, you know.

Kelsey:
I need you to watch that music video again,

Mary Gagliardi:
Which

Kelsey:
Mary.

Mary Gagliardi:
one?

Kelsey:
There's one more than

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh,

Kelsey:
that.

Mary Gagliardi:
and it's like the backgrounds.

Kelsey:
It's, yeah. And there's this one scene where they're like, I won't say the words, then take them back. And it's just this scene of Nick Carter like waving his finger like no, no, very slowly.

Mary Gagliardi:
I need that.

Kelsey:
And it just, it's so cheesy and so good. It's also like long hair AJ era where he had like blonde highlights like longer, curlier hair. It was very,

Mary Gagliardi:
trying to

Kelsey:
very

Mary Gagliardi:
picture

Kelsey:
good.

Mary Gagliardi:
long hair not like Howie long hair.

Kelsey:
No, just longer for him, because up until then, his hair was

Mary Gagliardi:
Like,

Kelsey:
pretty much either mushroom cut, and then it was

Mary Gagliardi:
okay,

Kelsey:
buzzed

Mary Gagliardi:
oh,

Kelsey:
for

Mary Gagliardi:
I can

Kelsey:
the majority

Mary Gagliardi:
picture it. It's like

Kelsey:
of,

Mary Gagliardi:
high and curly, right?

Kelsey:
yeah, high and curly, right.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes, but so while there are some crudy love songs like More Than That, Shape of My Heart, and The Answer to Our Lives, et cetera, I feel like the title is definitely a nod at them, growing up, getting a bit darker, edgier, get another boyfriend, the call. There's more adult-ness in this album, I would say.

Kelsey:
Yeah, I read that one interpretation of the album title was because of Lou Proman left them so bruised.

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh!

Kelsey:
He left them black and blue and they

Mary Gagliardi:
There's

Kelsey:
were sad.

Mary Gagliardi:
definitely artistic interpretations of that. I think that's very interesting. Something that alarmed me during this time period, looking back at it now as like a permanently tired adult myself, is just how much they were going and how nonstop of a time this was for them. Like as Kelsey said, Black and Blue came out just a year and a half after Millennium. Like how exhausting that must've been for them. And this just generally seems time in the boys' lives. AJ has since revealed that on the set of the call music video was the first time where he tried cocaine, hence the decision to wear sunglasses, allegedly. And after his grandma's death in 2001, AJ has said that this is where he believes his addiction really started to spiral out of control and take over. Him and Nick have both admitted to drinking a lot more during this time and abusing alcohol and substances. And can you blame them? They were AJ specifically has been extremely candid and open about his struggles with addiction that seemed to really rear their ugly rear its ugly head during this time period and we're so appreciative of his transparency and continue to hope he is doing well and happy and healthy.

Kelsey:
He's so open about

Mary Gagliardi:
Mm-hmm.

Kelsey:
it and it's so great to hear. So has Nick. Nick's been really open about his journey

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
with substance abuse too. And it's just always helpful, I think, to see someone

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah!

Kelsey:
coming on the other side. It's very inspirational. So yeah, this time was nuts for them. There's no getting around it. And to promote the release of Black and Blue, they did this crazy promotional

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
tour around the world in 100 hours, not days, hours. November 17th, 2000, they visited Stockholm, Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City. Fifty-five of those 100 hours were spent traveling and 45 were spent making these public appearances.

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh f-

Kelsey:
There's a DVD of this short tour and it was also like a board game and it was

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes!

Kelsey:
released in 2001. It was called Around the World. I had it and I watched it every single day for a year. I'm not kidding.

Mary Gagliardi:
I was...

Kelsey:
They had their Backstreet Boys plane.

Mary Gagliardi:
Wow, that was cool.

Kelsey:
of their plane from memory

Mary Gagliardi:
I thought

Kelsey:
alone.

Mary Gagliardi:
it was so cool.

Kelsey:
And they'd play like, they played like dominoes and stuff. It was so cool. And I mean, how crazy. It's just

Mary Gagliardi:
Thank

Kelsey:
crazy.

Mary Gagliardi:
you.

Kelsey:
We would never now because of the emissions from the

Mary Gagliardi:
Right.

Kelsey:
plane, like that's just kind of like not environmentally responsible, but back then it was very

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
cool.

Mary Gagliardi:
absolutely. Oh, I actually just another one I just rented on Prime and it was an incredible blast from the past. Did I say that right? I actually just rented around

Kelsey:
Yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
the world on Prime and it was an incredible blast from the past. Go watch it. Now let's talk on some more fun random facts about Black and Blue.

Kelsey:
Let's.

Mary Gagliardi:
Let's. So, old Nicholas played the drums and Kevin played the on the album, very cool. All five boys are creditors. Okay, we already said that. And I thought this was interesting. I'm curious on your take, Kels. I read an article where an EW editor described get another boyfriend as quote, a frenzied cut that is a dead ringer mix of it's gonna be me crossed with baby one more time. I don't know how I feel about that. I do think it's frenzied, but how do you, I mean, they're all kind of Max Martin But what do you think?

Kelsey:
Honestly, I kind of agree with that assessment, but like what's wrong with it? Like, so

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah, it's

Kelsey:
it's

Mary Gagliardi:
not

Kelsey:
fucking good.

Mary Gagliardi:
perfection,

Kelsey:
Like,

Mary Gagliardi:
right?

Kelsey:
who wouldn't want the baby of the love child

Mary Gagliardi:
I

Kelsey:
of those

Mary Gagliardi:
know,

Kelsey:
two

Mary Gagliardi:
right?

Kelsey:
songs?

Mary Gagliardi:
So like, we're taking that as a compliment, EW editor. So thank you. It is. And they the boys also did a very memorable performance of a medley of their songs at the 2000s Grammys. And they performed the Bee Gees, a Boys to Men song and Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely. I'm sure you all will remember this when I tell you it's the one where Nick is wearing his glasses. And he just looks so for a Grammy was Shape of My Heart and again were snubbed. But of course they won a ton of other awards during this time period. There was no shortage of awards. Another fun fact is when we recently found out that Howie Dorough has an infamous fart on the call that was recorded by who actually spilled the proverbial beans on this in an interview and he said quote when we were in the studio with Max making the song the call Howie was in the booth and we were doing that vocal breakdown dun dun dun dun dun dun dun and or is he doing duh dun dun dun duh I don't know it just says dun dun dun so you decide which one it is and Max gave Howie his harmony Max gave Howie his harmony and I think he was just putting so much air into the vocal that he was singing, he went dun dun and he farted. But he farted not only on the beat but in key. So Max tweaked it because he's a genius, that's my ad, and made it sound like one of his patented bass sounds and it stayed on the record.

Kelsey:
I mean, he's so talented, even his toots are

Mary Gagliardi:
No,

Kelsey:
on

Mary Gagliardi:
so

Kelsey:
key.

Mary Gagliardi:
listen closely. I've tried to listen for it and I don't, it just sounds like Max Martin perfection.

Kelsey:
Toot toot, beep beep.

Mary Gagliardi:
Also during this time, it's worth noting that in 2000, Brian was named one of Teen People's Top 25 Hottest People Under 25, tying

Kelsey:
So I'm saying.

Mary Gagliardi:
with Mr. Justin Timberlake himself.

Kelsey:
That was rigged.

Mary Gagliardi:
I

Kelsey:
That

Mary Gagliardi:
know.

Kelsey:
was rigged.

Mary Gagliardi:
and one should have clearly been ahead of the other and we all know who that is. It's Brian. But on January 22, 2001, right on schedule, the boys kicked off their Black and Blue tour in which they had shows in five continents. Now the tour was put on hold in July, on July 9, 2001, when it was reported that AJ had entered rehab to battle his addictions. in now infamous intervention for him at a Boston hotel. You can hear the boys tell this story in the documentary. Again, if you haven't seen it, pause this episode, go watch the show on what you've made of documentary. So the tour resumed in August and concluded in November of 2001. So over almost a year, almost a year, right? January, February,

Kelsey:
a year.

Mary Gagliardi:
March. Yeah, so that okay so AJ went to rehab in July, the tour resumed in August, and then that eventually concluded in November of 2001. It's almost a year-long tour. I thought it was kind of insane and sad that AJ was basically given a month to get better and get back on the road again, like probably right into old habits, old triggers, kind of reminds me of what Brian

Kelsey:
Great.

Mary Gagliardi:
went through. Some iconic...

Kelsey:
All

Mary Gagliardi:
yes!

Kelsey:
of them, like, anytime anything bad has happened to them, like, even this summer, Brian's mother-in-law died when Kevin's mom passed away. Like, they're all on stage.

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh, Aaron.

Kelsey:
Aaron Carter and Nick Carter, Nick performed, like, the same, like, 24 hours. Like, they don't cancel shows,

Mary Gagliardi:
I know.

Kelsey:
like, for personal stuff, for better or for worse. I mean, not to say that that's a good thing,

Mary Gagliardi:
It's

Kelsey:
but

Mary Gagliardi:
just,

Kelsey:
they just, like,

Mary Gagliardi:
it

Kelsey:
won't

Mary Gagliardi:
is

Kelsey:
do

Mary Gagliardi:
what

Kelsey:
it.

Mary Gagliardi:
it is. Sometimes I wish they would, you know, but I wonder if it's

Kelsey:
I

Mary Gagliardi:
like

Kelsey:
know!

Mary Gagliardi:
therapeutic for them maybe to keep it like for Nick maybe. You know, I wonder

Kelsey:
Right.

Mary Gagliardi:
for him to do that performance, but you know, who knows? But...

Kelsey:
But every single one of them has a story

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
of coming, experiencing something very deeply traumatic and tragic and performing

Mary Gagliardi:
through it.

Kelsey:
within

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
hours.

Mary Gagliardi:
exactly. But so they're on their black and blue. They had their black and blue tour. Some iconic openers included Myra Miracles Happen.

Kelsey:
Miracles

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
open

Mary Gagliardi:
Crystal Harris Supergirl from Princess Diaries.

Kelsey:
Oh my God, and Kevin is in her music

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh yes.

Kelsey:
video.

Mary Gagliardi:
They must have like met through the soundtrack. I wonder how that like, because it's right around the time that they were working on the soundtrack. So that that's interesting. But also Shaggy, Cisco and Destiny's Child were BSB openers. And

Kelsey:
amazing.

Mary Gagliardi:
this tour grossed 300 million. It was the biggest tour of the year. I actually didn't go to Black and Blue. But Kelsey, I know you did. What can you tell us about it?

Kelsey:
I mean, it's kind of funny like why I even went to the door. I went to the Philly show. I only got to go because of a medical emergency and my parents fell bad

Mary Gagliardi:
Like, so

Kelsey:
for

Mary Gagliardi:
you

Kelsey:
me.

Mary Gagliardi:
got sick and they got you tickets because they felt bad.

Kelsey:
I had appendicitis on my 10th birthday and

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh.

Kelsey:
my parents felt so bad for me. I honestly think they got me tickets because all I remember is like waking up from this, it was like my first time ever having like being

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
that sick or like needing a surgery. And I just remember like waking up in like the children's

Mary Gagliardi:
How?

Kelsey:
hospital and my dad was standing over me. He was so worried. He had like tears in his eyes

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh.

Kelsey:
and he was like, don't worry baby, we're gonna get you to the Backstreet Boys concert once you are better. I was like, oh my God, really?

Mary Gagliardi:
I need to get sick more often.

Kelsey:
I was like, do you have more than one appendix? You can take the other one. Like, what? I was like, oh my gosh.

Mary Gagliardi:
That's so funny.

Kelsey:
So they let me, they got me tickets to Black and Blue. My dad came with me to that concert with

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh.

Kelsey:
my mom. So it's like just a sweet memory. I wasn't as like enamored this time around, I feel like, because just the first concert, I mean, there's nothing like your first

Mary Gagliardi:
Riot.

Kelsey:
concert. You know, you're standing there with mouth open, but it was still great. It was still great.

Mary Gagliardi:
Well, I have watched it on YouTube before and give me a sense of the vibe, Kelsey. Did you, I know you did it.

Kelsey:
It's giving Matrix vibes. Like, it, everything was darker.

Mary Gagliardi:
Leather.

Kelsey:
Like, just the way it looked, like leather. Yeah, like Mick wears this really,

Mary Gagliardi:
Log coat.

Kelsey:
like he, I remember thinking that he looked like the Matrix, yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
How

Kelsey:
Like,

Mary Gagliardi:
are

Kelsey:
and

Mary Gagliardi:
they

Kelsey:
the-

Mary Gagliardi:
not like sweating?

Kelsey:
I mean, they def are. But I mean, the thing that's great about seeing the Backstreet Boys, no matter what tour it is, they're singing live.

Mary Gagliardi:
I don't know.

Kelsey:
And I remember thinking like, they sound a little different, you know, than the CD that I have at home. But yeah, it definitely felt more of like an adult show. And I feel like this is when I noticed for the first time that maybe these songs like weren't for me

Mary Gagliardi:
Thanks for watching!

Kelsey:
as a 10 year old. Like I couldn't really relate to like cheating on my significant

Mary Gagliardi:
Hello.

Kelsey:
other because I never had a significant other.

Mary Gagliardi:
I know.

Kelsey:
Like it felt older. It definitely felt older. Oh, I'm like a little girl and those are like men. For the first time, my rational

Mary Gagliardi:
See,

Kelsey:
brain

Mary Gagliardi:
I don't

Kelsey:
kicked

Mary Gagliardi:
know

Kelsey:
in.

Mary Gagliardi:
if I got that rational brain. I was still like, oh, I'm growing right up with them. I never made that leap. I just, and partially I think I just loved the music, even if I didn't relate to the words. It's just Max Martin

Kelsey:
right.

Mary Gagliardi:
is like my person, my music person. So whatever he puts his hand on, I like it regardless of the lyrics, usually, usually.

Kelsey:
hear that.

Mary Gagliardi:
I think you're doing the national anthem part. Yeah,

Kelsey:
Sorry, I thought I was just reacting.

Mary Gagliardi:
I meant to put it to I think I didn't delete the space.

Kelsey:
Oh,

Mary Gagliardi:
You're fine.

Kelsey:
sorry. So, okay, so we have Black Mood Tour. Okay, here's a big moment for Backstreet Boys. You may be thinking to yourself, what haven't they done? Well, they haven't performed at the Super Bowl yet. And if you listen to our Super Bowl episode, you know what I'm about to say. On January 28th, 2001, Backstreet Boys performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl. 50, what's

Mary Gagliardi:
35.

Kelsey:
the V? Five? Oh my God, that's three Xs.

Mary Gagliardi:
I'm

Kelsey:
So yes, Super Bowl 35

Mary Gagliardi:
sorry.

Kelsey:
in Tampa, Florida. And in case you missed our Super Bowl episode, you need to know that the Backstreet Boys were given the option to perform either the half time, most coveted musical stage of the year or the national anthem. And the boys felt like the national anthem would be more quote unquote meaningful, end quote, to perform. So they passed on the half time stage show with Britney Spears and who do you think were right there to pick up on their heels? Obviously it went to Nsync so I'm upset about it still but it was a big deal that they were so big that they were going to do a Super Bowl halftime

Mary Gagliardi:
I know,

Kelsey:
show.

Mary Gagliardi:
and they would have crushed it. Like it would have been so good. It would

Kelsey:
Rush.

Mary Gagliardi:
have been, ugh, I know. We're salty about it.

Kelsey:
Think of all the leather,

Mary Gagliardi:
Ugh.

Kelsey:
think of all the aerodynamics.

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh, the leather! Oh, God. Yes, there would have been a lot of leather. But, so what else happened during 2001? Well, I'll tell you, on July 24th, 2001, the iconic, incredible, still listened to today Princess Diaries soundtrack was released. And that included a one, What Makes You Different Makes You Beautiful. And it is worth noting that underrated Bup. I will sing this to my pug a lot because I think he feels left out that he doesn't have a nose and so I sing it to him. Well he has a nose but he's just he's

Kelsey:
He has

Mary Gagliardi:
flat.

Kelsey:
a nose, just

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes

Kelsey:
not a

Mary Gagliardi:
he

Kelsey:
snout.

Mary Gagliardi:
does. So I think it's just such a beautiful song that has a beautiful message and I love it. And also in 2001 we get Nick appearing on his little brother Aaron's album Oh Aaron. I was a big Aaron girl growing up. I was like all right I may not have a chance with Nick, so I guess my rationality was kicking in and I was like, I'll just end up with this little brother, of course. Still kind of crazy.

Kelsey:
Move over Lizzie

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes,

Kelsey:
McGuire.

Mary Gagliardi:
here I come. So you could hear Nick's voice on Oh Erin and Not Too Young, Not Too Old. I loved Oh Erin and I loved hearing him and Nick's voices together. They do have a lot of similarities, obviously, and it just was very sweet

Kelsey:
Yeah.

Mary Gagliardi:
that Nick

Kelsey:
Super cute.

Mary Gagliardi:
crazy, weird, sad note, the boys had their own kind of terrifying experience with 9-11. And on the 10th, 9-10, the boys had completed a sold-out show in Boston and that following morning, Brian's wife Leanne had planned to catch a flight back to LA aboard the American Airlines flight 11, along with a set carpenter, Daniel Lee, who was returning home to LA to see his wife, and she was just about child. It's like devastating. But that night, however, Leanne decided to cancel her flight that she wanted to stay with Brian. And but Daniel Lee, the, the set carpenter was actually one of the 92 people who were killed when the hijacked plane crashed into the North Tower. And the boys performed the next day. And during a concert in Toronto, Brian, Brian spoke about Lee actually and led the moment audience in a moment of silence and all the victims of the attacks You know, it's crazy hearing these celebrity stories and how close so many of them were to 9-eleven I remember hearing that Michael Jackson had a meeting in the World Trade Center World Trade Center that day And he like slept through it because he had stayed on the phone with his mom all night. Like how does it's just crazy to hear some of these stories

Kelsey:
so

Mary Gagliardi:
and

Kelsey:
sad.

Mary Gagliardi:
devastating of course and But that is the low note of what I had.

Kelsey:
That was a low note, but okay, also side note, you don't have to include this, but why does everything bad happen in Boston for them? AJ gets confronted, Nick got confronted in Boston also.

Mary Gagliardi:
What was Nick confronted

Kelsey:
Oh God.

Mary Gagliardi:
for?

Kelsey:
His alcoholism when he was getting his pay docked, remember

Mary Gagliardi:
That

Kelsey:
they

Mary Gagliardi:
was

Kelsey:
had to

Mary Gagliardi:
in Boston.

Kelsey:
bang down the door? That was also in

Mary Gagliardi:
A

Kelsey:
Boston

Mary Gagliardi:
different year though.

Kelsey:
a different year.

Mary Gagliardi:
Oh my god, I need to revisit the

Kelsey:
I

Mary Gagliardi:
timeline.

Kelsey:
know,

Mary Gagliardi:
I can't believe it.

Kelsey:
they're never coming back to Boston. So that was a very sad note, Mary, but it's still important in their story. Again, they're never gonna not perform.

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
Like, the whole country stopped that day, and Backstreet Boys

Mary Gagliardi:
And I just,

Kelsey:
didn't.

Mary Gagliardi:
I want to say, I really think a lot of, I've been thinking about it since we were discussing it earlier, and I think a lot of it goes to the fans and they really don't want to disappoint their fans. And they know people bought tickets, traveled, and I think it would take a lot for them to cancel a show on their fans.

Kelsey:
Yeah, that's very well said. And I mean, speaking of the fans, I mean, those six years were just pure Backstreet Boys mania. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing or seeing them, much to

Mary Gagliardi:
Yeah.

Kelsey:
our delight. And we've already been talking for 18,000 million minutes, so we need to end it here. In our next episode, we are gonna talk about the post-Black and Blue era to today,

Mary Gagliardi:
today.

Kelsey:
because that's right, they haven't gone anywhere, people.

Mary Gagliardi:
As long as there'll be music, they'll be coming back again, Kels. And yes, so this was our big episode. Hopefully our next one won't be as chunk as large, but there's just a lot to fit in and a lot to cover. So stick with us.

Kelsey:
Chunky? Were you gonna say

Mary Gagliardi:
I was going

Kelsey:
chunky?

Mary Gagliardi:
to say chunky. I'm tired you guys. I'm sorry. But it also just a quick reminder, you know, front of the podcast, to fill a gamma have their Backstreet Boys 30th anniversary book coming out on April 11th. But it's available anywhere now. Like what was I?

Kelsey:
Look, you can pre-order

Mary Gagliardi:
But

Kelsey:
it now.

Mary Gagliardi:
oh yes, I cannot okay. And also just a reminder, Carolee Hancock and Amelia Filigamo have their Backstreet Boys 30th anniversary coming out on April 11th, but you can pre-order it literally anywhere now. What makes this book so special in my opinion is the attention to detail and clear heart and love that went into this book. It includes personal backstories and journeys for all five of the boys. They go through all There's fan stories, memories, a ton of beautiful photos and so much more. It's a great coffee table book, such a stunning piece of art, and we congratulate Amelia and Kara for this accomplishment. We love the book.

Kelsey:
We love the book and it inspired some of the tidbits in today's

Mary Gagliardi:
Yes.

Kelsey:
episode and the next one you'll hear. So if you enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving us one star for

Mary Gagliardi:
Okay.

Kelsey:
every Backstreet Boy and subscribe to the pod. We love you guys. We'll see you next

Mary Gagliardi:
Bye.

Kelsey:
week. Bye!