The Boys Are Back (Teen Magazine)

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Jun 10, 2099 Source: Submitted By: Cynthia Littrell Source: Thanks to the "Livin' on Backstreet Newsletter" for the picture. By Michelle Sullivan Our Take [this part is on the credits page] Kevin is the most mature of the bunch, keeping the guys in line in the face of any distractions. Brian comes across serious in pictures, but he's really the class clown. A.J. is the radical risk-taker, choosing flashy clothes that highlight his tattoos. Nice guy Howie is soft spoken, yet he knew exactly how he wanted his hair to look! And angelic-looking Nick is actually the imp of the group, always off doing his own thing.. and occasionally yelled at for it. For all their fame, though, they guys are polite, fun and easygoing. [This is the main article] On a recent flight, a woman seated next to the Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter and Howie Dorough asked who they were. WIthout missing a beat, Howie answered, "We're in a church choir group." Keeping totally straight faces, Nick and Howie told her they were former juvenile delinquients who once saw some kids fighting on a "back street." Instead of joining the brawl, they started singing and wouldya believe, it stopped the fight? They told her it was an omen, so now they travel the world singing as the Backstreet Boys. Hey, it's not often these guys aren't get recognized, so can you blame 'me for having a little fun? And that's just what they deserve now that the band has written, produced and delivered album number two: Millennium. Teen spent some rare downtime with A.J. McLean, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson, Nick and Howie and got to hear some major personal dish. Brian As his tiny chihuahua, Little Tyke, sits on his lap, 24-year-old Brian admits he sometimes uses the dog as a diversionary tactic. "I'll have someone hold him up and be like, "Look, everybody. Look at the cute puppy!" Then I can slip by fans unnoticed." Hmmm... chihuahua or Brian? Don't think we'd be fooled ARE YOU GUYS COMPETITIVE? We have our ins and outs, but we all have the same goals and we have our plan in progress- a new album, the whole thing all over. Here we go again! WHO HAS THE BEST BODY NAKED? Oh my gosh, you just stumped me. That's a first-time question, so... OK, WHO'S GOT THE WORST BODY? I'd rather keep my peace. WELL WHO'S GOT THE WORST HAIR ON HIS BACK? Probably Howie DO YOU LIVE OUT HERE MOST OF THE TIME? My girlfriend has an apartment out here. But I live in Orlando, so we're both East and West Coast. HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S NOT JUST WITH OU BECAUSE YOU'RE A BACKSTREET BOY? You have to be very careful. Being in this bussiness, you get a lot of friends and family members that you never knew you had and people trying to get in touch with you. You have to have a thicker guard. ARE YOU GOOD MONEYWISE? I try to be. A lot of people really flip out when they come into a lot of money and lots of people look at us as being multimillionares. Let me tell you, It's not like that. I have $20 in my wallet BECAUSE? Because my girlfriend's got the rest of it! WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR DOWNTIME? Try to remain as normal as possible. I watch a lot of Sports Center and play a lot of basketball, tennis, golf. REALLY? ARE YOU 100% OK AS FAR AS ALL THE HEART STUFF? Yeah. I just went for a check-up, and everything's good. Howie True to his image, Sweet D walks in smiling. No wonder the 25-year-old's been labeled BSB's "friendliest member." He spent most of his time with us coordinating that night's plans- so now we call him BSB's social master. DOES YOU HIGH-PROFILE VISIBILITY EVER GET UNCOMFORTABLE? It sometimes gets awkward. But I try to keep a normal life. I still go to the grocery store. I go to the malls. It's very flattering when people come up and ask me for an autograph. HAS HAVING MORE MONEY CHANGED YOUR LIFESTYLE? ANY BIG SPLURGES? I grew up in a middle-class family, and nothing was ever just given to me. I always had to work for it. I always said if I ever made any money, I wanted to take care of my family. So I fixed up my parents' house. We finished the floor and put in central air and heat and fixed some landscaping. YOU'RE STILL LIVING AT HOME, HUH? WHY? I come from a large family of five kids, and I'm the baby. We're all really tight. I used to have an apartment with Kevin and Brian, but I always ended up at my parents' house anyway. DO YOU HANG AROUND IN YOUR UNDERPANTS WATCHING TV? Not in my underpants! Boxers. But never underpants. I've got a lot of sisters, so I don't want them seeing too much!! DOES YOUR ROOM STILL LOOK LIKE IT DID WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP? The only thing I changed is the bed. I used to have one of those captain's beds that pulled out from the bottom when you had your friends sleep over. The bed was really high and had this circular mirror and bells like in a captain's room. It kept me down to reality. I finally got a bigger bed though. DO YOU LIKE PERFORMING OR DO YOU GET NERVOUS? I love performing. That's where I'm most comfortable. I'm usually a little bit nervous right before I go on or especially if I make a mistake at the beginning of the show. REALLY? YOU GUYS MESS UP ON STAGE? Yeah, whoever messed up ussually has a giggle on his face. DO YOU GUYS EVER FIGHT? We've had a few scraps here and there over just silly, stupid things. WHO'S GOT THE SHORTEST TEMPER? Probably NIck. Just because he's the youngest of the group and everybody's always kind of picking on him. Now he's getting bigger... Nick He's 19 now, but Nick wears his youngest-in-the-group badge with pride. And this 6'1" reformed prankster certainly doesn't lack an ounce of confidence. "Remember when you're dressing me, you're dressing Shaq!" he told our wardrobe stylist. WAS THE AGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND THE OTHER GUYS EVER A BIG DEAL? When we first started I was like 13 so there was a big difference between me and the next youngest, A.J., who was 16. But I've learned a lot over the years-how to communicate, how to be respectful and how not to be a pest, which I was when I was younger. SO YOU WERE ANNOYING ON PURPOSE? Yeah, I like to get a laugh out of things. I was a prankster back then. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SELF NOW? I'm a very quiet person. I consider myself a modern-day hermit. I don't like to party. I'm happy in my hotel room just chillin' SO WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE OFF? I play video games and sports wiht my friends. I go to the movies and drive around in my car. DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PLACE? Yeha I'm a realbig fan of the beach and the ocean, so my place has just about everything to do with the ocean. It's on a small canal. so I'm thinking about getting a boat. DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND? I'm seeing somebody. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SEEING THIS PERSON? That's classified. That's kind of the secret part of my life. YOu know? WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GIRL? You don't really know until you meet the person. She could be tall or small... SO YOU DON'T DATE JUST GORGEOUS GIRLS? When I was in school, I wasn't very attractive to girls in school. But I remember a girl I dated who was sweet and really kind. I've dated girls who might not have been that attractive, but they were just as kind and as sweet-hearted as anybody. A.J. If there's a hot trend of the moment, all eyes are on the multi-tattooed, pierced, wild-haired and extensioned A.J. The 21-year-old hipster rebel considers his body his canvas and we gotta admit we like art. WHY THE PINK HAIR? The guys actually said,"Why don't you dye your hair pink?" I was shocked. These guys are used to it now, and it kind of ticks me off that nothing shocks them anymore, Like, if I dye my hair blue, They're all"Man, that looks cool." HAVE YOU EVER MADE A MAKEOVER MISTAKE? I had my hair put in braids, and I pulled it back in a ponytail. When I saw it, the first thing I said ti myself was "What was I thinking?" I ended up taking them all out. I sat on my butt for eight hours getting those things tied in my head and it didn't even pay off? I looked absolutely stupid. DO YOU GET AGGRAVATION FOR YOUR TATOOS? I don't care. I'm the complete opposite of every clean-cut, decent-looking guy you could think of, yet I have the biggest heart in the world. I got my first tattoo two years ago, and I haven't been able to stop. I've got 10 f them now.I'm going to get one tommorrow on my stomach. It'll be a 69, my lucky number. ARE YOU DATING SOMEONE? I just broke up with my girlfriend of five years, but I've been with my new girlfriend now for almost nine months. WON'T SOME OF YOUR FANS BE BUMMED TO KNOW THAT YOU'VE GOT A GIRLFRIEND? When the group first started, we weren't supposed to have girlfriends, or if we did, we were supposed to say that we didn't. But it's now gotten to the point where the fans accept us for who we are and relize, "OK, these are five good-looking guys. They have to have normal lives. Unless they're all gay"-which we're not-"they have to have girlfriends" WHAT GROSSES YOU OUT? I've never blown my nose. My mom probably did it when I was a baby, but I can't do it. I can stand to see blood and puke, but when it comes to anything mucus-oriented or phlegm or someone spitting I gag. Kevin BSB's oldest member, Kevin is always focoused and ready to work. "C'mon, let's go," the 27-year-old says in an effort to round up the rest of the guys. "So is Kevin the ringleader?" someone asks. "He wants to be!" Brian shoots back. AS THE OLDESR IN THE GROUP, DO YOU ACT BIG BROTHERISH TO THE REST OF THE GROUP? It just happens, yeah. It's like my big brothers growing up. They were always on me about things, but I knew that they loved me and cared about me. These guys are like family. We've been together for six years, and we've gone through a lot together. It sounds kind of corny, but we fight like brothers and we love each other like brothers, We've never had fist fights though. ANYBODY EVER THREATENED TO LEAVE THE GROUP? No, it's never come to that, luckily WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU LOST YOUR HAIR? i'd probably go ahead and shave it. That'd be cool. I'd probably look pretty freaky with these big ol' eyebrows. IF YOUR MANAGER SAID,"WHAT'S WITH THE EYEBROWS? WE GOTTA CHANGE THEM,"WOULD YOU? I wouldn't let anybody touch my eyebrows because I don't want to look like a made-up girl or whatever. They're big ol' Groucho Marx brows. I think you just have to be happy with what god gives you. WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME? I hang out with my best friend, who's a rap artist. I co-produced some stuff with him. I mostly do normal things like go skiing, go to the beach, surf, write music DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND? I'm dating someone right now. I've know her for seven years and she really means a lot to me, so we'll see what happens. I KNOW YOU WENT THROUGH A TOUGH TIME LOSING YOUR DAD I was 19 years old when he passed away. I was 21 when I met the fellas. DID IT SAVE YOU? It motivated me. WHen my father got sick, I moved home to Kentucky. After he passed away, I lived there for almost a year, and then I was like, "I can't stand this anymore." Life is short. I just followed my heart, and it brought me back to Orlando. DO YOU DREAM ABOUT GOING TO YOUR HIGH SCHOOL REUNINON AND SAYING"CHECK ME OUT!?" My reunion is coming up. I'm from a really small town in Kentucky. There were only about100 people in my graduating class. Everybody is really happy for me. ARE THEY GONNA MAKE YOU GET UP AND PERFORM? Nah, I'm just going to go and hang out and catch up. CAN YOU BE DOING THIS IN SIX YEARS WITH THESE GUYS OR IS THERE NO WAY? That seems to be the big thing with the press. Now that we've gotten kinda successful, they're like,"Ah, they'll be gone in a year" or "They wont last." But I feel like as long as we keep making hit records and nobody gets thrown in jail or goes crazy, we can make records as long as we want. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: top seo guys FccrW2 A round of applause for your blog post.Much thanks again. Really Cool. Comment on this item. Next Item: BOYS POWER Prev Item: YTV All Access Interview