
Backstreet Boys land Las Vegas residency at the Sphere. Backstreet's back, all right
The iconic Y2K boy band will kick off a nine-show residency July 11, making the quintet the first pop act to play the state-of-the art venue christened by U2 in 2023.
'We're heading 'Into The Millennium' once again!' the group said Wednesday on Instagram. 'Relive your Backstreet Boys Y2K memories, but this time… LARGER THAN LIFE at @SphereVegas starting this July!'
Band members AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough and the embattled Nick Carter are bringing their 1999 album, which featured the hit 'I Want It That Way' as well as 'Larger Than Life,' 'Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely' and 'The One,' back to the stage. Indeed, the 'boys' are currently grown men whose original fervent fanbase likely now consists of moms whose children are old enough for a Vegas trip.
'Fans can expect an unforgettable experience as the Backstreet Boys bring their legendary 'Millennium' album to life, alongside a selection of their greatest hits,' concert producer Live Nation said in a statement. 'Beloved classics like 'I Want It That Way,' and 'Larger Than Life,' will be delivered or enhanced with cutting-edge visuals and sound made possible by Sphere's revolutionary immersive technology.'
The Into the Millennium shows are set for July 11-13, 18-20 and 25-27. Aspiring concertgoers can sign up for the artist presale until Monday. Backstreet Boys Fan Club presale begins Tuesday and will be followed by additional presales. The general sale begins Feb. 21, with all tickets sold at backstreetboys.com.
The Backstreet Boys' stint at the Sphere follows residencies by U2, Phish, the Eagles, Dead & Company and Anyma. Country star Kenny Chesney will also set up shop at the Sphere from May to June for 15 shows.
The Grammy-nominated group — whose music was a radio mainstay and perennial No. 1 on MTV's 'Total Request Live' at the turn of the century — released its 10th studio album 'DNA' in 2019 and later that year launched the subsequent DNA World Tour, its biggest arena tour in 18 years. They also released their first Christmas album, 'A Very Backstreet Christmas,' in fall 2023.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
AJ McLean has 'constant reminder' of Liam Payne
AJ McLean has a "constant reminder" of Liam Payne on his phone. The Backstreet Boys singer grew close to the late One Direction star - who died in October aged 31 after falling from his hotel balcony - when shooting Netflix series Building the Band, and he has kept a recording of their final conversation because he felt the chat perfectly reflected the kind and funny person he knew Liam to be. AJ - who hosts Building the Band - told People magazine: "I've not deleted it. I've kept it on my phone as a constant reminder of who he was. He was a very positive, uplifting person. "He had a real quick wit about him. I don't know if it was the British humour or just him as a person. I think that was one of the things that him and I really, really gelled immediately with. "Both of us were sarcastic and fun and funny, and always making jokes and pranks and just having fun with everybody on set. "But also as an artist, he was extremely talented. Not only as a singer-performer, but as a songwriter-producer, and he truly did light up the room when he'd walk on set." AJ, 47, had known Liam for a long time but they got particularly close while the Strip That Down singer was filming his stint as a guest judge on Building the Band. AJ said: "We've known each other over the years since One D started, but this was probably the most lengthy time that we've ever really been in the same room talking about everything from music to sobriety to life." The I'll Never Break Your Heart singer got the chance to hear Liam's final music, and he hopes the record gets released one day because he thinks fans will love it. He said: "He hit me up when we had a few days off from shooting and sent me what would've been his most recent solo album, just to ask my opinion on the music... And I thought it was an insane body of work. It was so good. I hope somewhere down the road, somehow people get to hear it, especially all the One D fans."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
AJ McLean Kept a Recording of His Final Conversation with Liam Payne on His Phone as a 'Constant Reminder' (Exclusive)
AJ McLean revealed to PEOPLE he has a recording of his final conversation with the late Liam Payne McLean says Payne was always "making jokes and pranks" while filming the Netflix show Building the Band Payne tragically died in October at age 31, a few months after filming for Building the Band wrappedAJ McLean will always have something personal to remember Liam Payne by. Speaking with PEOPLE ahead of the Netflix premiere of Building the Band, where McLean served as host and Payne as guest judge, the Backstreet Boys member revealed he kept a recording of their last conversation. "I've not deleted it. I've kept it on my phone as a constant reminder of who he was. He was a very positive, uplifting person," McLean, 47, tells PEOPLE. "He had a real quick wit about him. I don't know if it was the British humor or just him as a person. I think that was one of the things that him and I really, really gelled immediately with. Both of us were sarcastic and fun and funny, and always making jokes and pranks and just having fun with everybody on set." He continues, "But also as an artist, he was extremely talented. Not only as a singer-performer, but as a songwriter-producer, and he truly did light up the room when he'd walk on set." Building the Band was first announced in August 2024 and filming kicked off that summer. "The singers are in complete control as they seek to form their very own bands in individual 'booths' without ever seeing each other. All they have to go on is musical compatibility, connection, chemistry and merit," a synopsis for the show reads. "What will happen when the bands finally meet, and looks, choreography, and style come into play? With incredible performances, compelling drama, and one big goal — to find the next great music band — the stage is set for an unforgettable experience." However, a few months after filming wrapped, Payne tragically died in Buenos Aires, Argentina after he fell from his hotel balcony in October at age 31. Though McLean had known Payne for years, the pair developed a close friendship over the course of filming. "We've known each other over the years since One D started, but this was probably the most lengthy time that we've ever really been in the same room talking about everything from music to sobriety to life," McLean says. He adds, "He hit me up when we had a few days off from shooting and sent me what would've been his most recent solo album, just to ask my opinion on the music... And I thought it was an insane body of work. It was so good. I hope somewhere down the road, somehow people get to hear it, especially all the One D fans." Episodes 1-4 of Building the Band are available now on Netflix. Read the original article on People


Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
Backstreet Boys' AJ McLean on what helped him overcome being a ‘chronic relapser' after narrowly avoiding jail
Though AJ McLean has had his share of public ups and downs, the Backstreet Boy star — who has been open about his struggle with addiction throughout the years — has proven that recovery is possible. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the proud father of two — who stars as the host of Netflix's singing competition series, "Building The Band" — got candid about the challenges he's faced within his sobriety journey, detailed the lessons he's learned along the way and explained why he doesn't have "another relapse" in him. "I'm sober today. I can't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow. And I was sober yesterday. I stay in the now. I stay in the moment. I take everything in," McLean, who is gearing up to celebrate four years of sobriety this fall, said. "It is the age-old saying of stopping and smelling the roses. I actually physically stop and smell flowers. I have a different confidence — not arrogance, not ego — that I've never had. And it's a confidence that is empowering." "That is because of the work I've put in and continue to and will have to do the rest of my days in existence," he continued. "It doesn't stop when you stop doing the work, when you stop spreading your experience, strength and hope, reaching out to other addicts and other people in the world that may be suffering from whatever, if you stop doing that, is when s--- goes south. That's when the ego becomes the villain, and it takes over." In 2021, McLean referred to himself as a "chronic relapser" after recalling a moment in which he drank alcohol shortly after completing rehab. "I can do short bursts and I'm OK. Because even when I would relapse, I wouldn't go on a bender," he told host Alexis Haines during an episode of the "Recovering from Reality" podcast. "I am a chronic relapser, but I've never gone for like a month straight of just drinking and partying. It's been like one night, and then I'm sober for a week or two. And then it's one night. It was always back and forth." The pop star, who has been in and out of sobriety for years, said he's "dodged more bullets" in his life than people think. "The drugs and alcohol, for me, that was a Band-Aid. I suffered from something my best friend calls 'Piece of s---ism.' I had no self-esteem." WATCH: BACKSTREET BOYS' AJ MCLEAN 'DODGED MORE BULLETS' THAN HE'D LIKE TO ADMIT IN HIS JOURNEY TO SOBRIETY "I don't have another relapse in me," he admitted to Fox News Digital. "It will not end the lucky way it has ended in the past when I've dodged bullets and never went to jail, never got a DUI. I'm pretty sure the last time I did drugs, there was fentanyl in there. I'm still here talking to you. I've dodged more bullets than I'd like to." While McLean — who shares two daughters, Elliot, 12, and Lyric, 8, with his estranged wife, Rochelle — knows that most of his past is public knowledge, he hopes to control the narrative by having honest and raw conversations with his children. "My girls are very smart, and I've been able to be brutally honest, to a certain degree, about my past," he said. "I don't want to scare them… I want them to know enough about their dad that when they're allowed social media, when they're allowed these things, they don't read it and get a different perception. I want them to hear it from the horse's mouth." As a member of one of the most popular boy bands in history, fame inevitably took a toll on McLean —who lost sight of who he was somewhere along the way. "That's really the root of the biggest problem," he said. "The drugs and alcohol, for me, that was a Band-Aid. I suffered from something my best friend calls 'Piece of s---ism.' I had no self-esteem. So you won't do esteemable things without self-esteem and the growth that has happened from that departure to now. You ask my bandmates, you ask my family, I am a different person. I am the person that's always been there. It just got kind of stifled." "I don't want to stifle that person anymore," he continued. "I know that AJ McLean is a member of a band, but it doesn't define me. I'm Alexander James. That is who I am. AJ is a character in a band that I play that I'm very grateful, has had a 32-year career and hopefully more. And I'm beyond grateful for that. But it doesn't make me who I am. It doesn't define me." Kickstarting his career as a pop star at just 16 years old, McLean said he and "Building the Band" co-star Liam Payne shared many similarities — both personally and professionally. "We did share a lot of parallels, even though there's a huge age gap," he said of the late One Direction member, who tragically died at the age of 31 from falling off a hotel balcony in October. Though Payne, who served as a celebrity judge on the Netflix show, faced his own addiction battles throughout the years leading up to his death, McLean said he was fortunate enough to see the late singer at his "truest" self while on set. "There were still a lot of similarities of the highs and lows, but I got to see him in his truest form, and he lit up any room he walked into," McLean said. "He was a gentleman. He was funny. He was super-talented, so well-spoken to of these bands, giving his feedback, could get his point across without ever sounding condescending or discouraging." "He always finished with a positive anecdote or a positive comment to keep these bands inspired and to not lose hope or get frustrated. And it takes a real stand-up person to do that. And that's what he was. He was an absolute stand-up individual, talented beyond talented." The show, which also stars Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland and Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger, will see gifted singers vie for a chance to form the next great music group sight unseen, leaving looks out of the equation. "What I love so much about it, unlike other music competition shows, it's twofold," McLean said. "One, it's a cash prize. There's no getting stuck in a box with a major record deal and potentially getting shelved or being told what to wear and what kind of music to do and who's the frontman or frontwoman. These bands get to control their own destiny, and it gives the power back to the artist. So that's a huge plus for me. While McLean — who is also gearing up for another Las Vegas residency with the Backstreet Boys this summer — is grateful for his past, he's very much looking forward to the future. "I can tell you, honestly, it has been an incredible journey," he said.