news archives

March 29, 2002 - Check out a short clip (zip'd Windows Media file) of Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys acting wacky and admitting to being drunk as famed photographer David LaChapelle attempts to talk with a reporter outside of the Vanity Fair party following the Oscars on Sunday.

March 29, 2002 - Foxnews.com's Roger Friedman spoke with Leighanne Littrell recently and she was asked if she knew who Yoko Ono was, "I guess I'm her in our band. Of course, I'm not trying to break up our guys." Read more.

March 29, 2002 - Getmusic.com has a special feature on the first signing on the Backstreet Boys label KBNHA Records, Krystal. The two talk about her early days leading up to her being signed by BSB, on being a role model, performing, and more. She also gives performances of 'Angel On My Shoulder', 'Supergirl', and 'Sing To Me'. Check out all of the video clips here.

March 27, 2002 - As reported earlier on HitsDailyDouble.com and now Foxnews.com's Roger Friedman, the Backstreet Boys have decided on new management to replace the Firm, that being Irving Azoff and Howard Kaufman. Friedman also ran into Brian Littrell with his wife Leighanne at the Elton John Oscar after-party, and he speculates that the guys will rename themselves to 'Backstreet', dropping 'Boys' from their name. Read more.

March 26, 2002 - Dominic Mohan of the Sun was at the 10th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation In-Style Party following the Oscars on Sunday. Mohan said "Some were a little merrier than others, mentioning no names, er, Kevin Richardson from the Backstreet Boys." Read his full report and photos here.

March 26, 2002 - Aftonbladet spoke with Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys as he's in Sweden this week working on his solo album. When asked about the Backstreet Boys future, Nick said, "We're going thru a difficult time right now. There's a lot of things going on, and everybody wants to have a say. Only fate can tell what's gonna happen in the future." As for who's working on his solo album, Nick revealed, "A whole bunch of people. Thats all I can say for now." Read the article in Swedish here, and translated to English here.

March 26, 2002 - This week's filth2go.com blind item by Billy Masters asks, "Could it be that a famous relative of someone in this very column is being paid to lose weight? That’s the buzz coming from the boy’s bandmates, who tell me that their once fair-haired cutie has gotten so big that he’s been wearing oversized clothing and bulky jackets (didn’t Luther Vandross go through this stage about a dozen times?). They are urging him to lose the weight before their next homecoming – or before he becomes even larger than life (whichever comes first). I’m told that they have all chipped in and bought him a trainer – and now after only a couple of weeks he’s starting to look so good that he is constantly shirtless." Billy also has news of Jennifer Lopez teaming with Anastacia for a duet of 'No More Tears' originally sung by Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer, Enrique Iglesias losing his virginity, and AJ's fiance Sarah Martin. Read more.

March 26, 2002 - Aftonbladet reports Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys was involved in a fight with his bodyguard at the club Cafe Opera in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday night. Nick was partying with friends from Jive records before he got into an argument with the bodyguard. A witness told the newspaper, "He knocked him straight out." The witness added, "The man that Nick had hit fell on his knees and then fell backwards." The club's security and Nick's other guards had to break up the fight, with the beaten up bodyguard yelling when exiting the club, "That bastard hit me in my face!" Read more.

March 25, 2002 - WireImage.com has more photos of Backstreet Boys member Kevin Richardson with his unusual new mohawk/crewcut hybrid haircut. Kevin was with his wife Kristin at The 10th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation In-Style Party in Los Angeles on Saturday. Check out the pictures here.

March 24, 2002 - US Weekly reports AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys is set to marry singer Sarah Martin on January 2, 2003, the couple's second anniversary of the day they met at a karaoke bar. McLean told the magazine, "I was going to wait until New Year's Eve. I was going to take a nice trip with her up to Big Bear and do it in the snow an dall this romantic stuff, but I got nervous, and her mom said 'Just do it.'" AJ made his proposal at his Los Angeles recording studio giving Sarah a 45 karat emerald cut diamond ring with sapphire baguettes that he says he took two months to personally design. AJ says his best man will be a "friend from rehab" and that the wedding will likely take place in Los Angeles.

March 23, 2002 - Orlando Sentinel reports Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean is selling his Phillips Landing home in southwest Orange County, asking $1.95 million for the pad. McLean is wanting to sell the home and buy a smaller one in the area, while purchasing a bigger property in Southern California, where he spends most of his time with fiance Sarah Martin. Read more.

March 22, 2002 - Travis took part in an online chat on BBC's Radio 1 where they were asked "What do you think of manufactured bands like Hear'Say?" The guys responded:
Dougie Payne: I think it's fantastic TV but it's not really about music, is it?
Andy Dunlop: Some of the manufactured bands have great songs. They work just as hard.
Dougie Payne: *NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys work their butts off, so fair play to them. Read more.

March 22, 2002 - Popbitch reports the Backstreet Boys hit single 'Everybody (Backstreets Back)' can be heard in the background of the 'reported to be' R. Kelly sex tape. So the question making the rounds is he a Backstreet Boys fan or is the underaged girl? Backstreet join not so impressive company as the last time a music act was featured in the background of a celebrity sex tape was M.C. Hammer... on the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape.

March 22, 2002 - Expressen.se reports Backstreet Boys star Howie Dorough and his sister Pollyanna spent time in a Los Angeles studio recording 'We Will Meet Again', a song written by Swedish singer/songwriter Bosson. According to Bosson, "They where so nice and humble. Completely down-to-earth. Howie is such a pro. Everything turned out perfect. It went so well that I'm going over there to work with them again." Read more.

March 21, 2002 - Extra TV's website has a brief clip of Backstreet Boys recovering alcoholic AJ McLean talking about his eight months of being sober which has been helped by his fiance Sarah Martin. AJ said, "She was more of a social drinker, but she just stopped everything when I went in. She's very supportive." Check out a video clip of AJ talking from the VH1's charity golf tournament in Miami here.

March 21, 2002 - Glenn Gamboa of Newsday was at last week's South by Southwest Music Conference where he spoke with Jeff McClusky, president of Chicago-based radio promotion company McClusky and Associates about the record industry's need for someone new to boost sales. McClusky said, "There's a lot of looking for the Next Big Thing, especially as it seems Britney, *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys have run their course. They drew massive sales for a period of time. The emphasis now goes to finding what the next trend is. Right now, there isn't a Thing." Read more.

March 20, 2002 - WireImage.com has photos of Kevin Richardson and his wife Kristin at the Vanity Fair Bebe EMA 'Rock the Casbah' Party in Hollywood on Monday. The Backstreet Boys bushy browed star has shaved most of his head, but left a clump running down the center. A sort of crewcut-mohawk hybrid. Fans on message boards everywhere are laughing. It isn't pretty. Check it out here.

March 20, 2002 - Fans on the Backstreet Boys forum at LiveDaily.com are in horror over Kevin Richardson's latest hairstyle. jesslovesbsb wrote, "That is not even funny. You'd think it'd be funny, but its NOT! Thats easily worse than a mullet." NeeCee wrote, "WTF kinda crack is that mofo on?" Read more.

March 20, 2002 - The Hollywood Reporter says Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and R. Kelly are amongst those that will their music in a new format intended to replace the CD. Jive Records will be the first label to commit their roster to the new DataPlay format. DataPlay discs are the size of a large coin in a clear plastic shell that hold more than 11 hours of compressed music files. Read more.

March 19, 2002 - Launch.com reports former Backstreet Boys keyboardist-songwriter Tommy Smith filed a lawsuit against the group, the members' individually owned and operated personal music-publishing companies, and Zomba Enterprises, Inc. in the United States District Court Central District Of California on Friday. Smith claims to have co-written 'The Answer To Our Life' and 'Time' on the group's 'Black & Blue' album. Read more.

March 19, 2002 - ktkm writes " According to HitsDailyDouble, the Backstreet Boys have signed with management team Irving Azoff and Howard Kaufman. The band parted ways with The Firm earlier this year and have been actively seeking new representation since. Hits goes on to say that "while the band has sold 10s of millions of records, many think they could be past their prime.""

March 18, 2002 - A fan tells Backstreet Boys fan site allbackstreet.net that she spoke with Wade Robson recently. Jessica wrote, "Hey everyone! I just got back from Wade Robson's master class and he told me that the songs he's penning with Howie Dorough from BSB is going real well, and he's hoping that at least one of them will be good enough for BSB'S new album. I really hope so to, and I asked him if he'll possibly choreograph any dances for them and he said that they are in talks with each other right know, so hopefully it will all work out good, plus Wade can make the guys look even hotter than you can imagine, Wade has the moves, let me tell you. So everything is going great with Backstreet's new album due out in the middle of November and they are doing some collabrations as well with Bono and Alanis Morissette and others. I think this well be the best Backstreet album ever and their tour will be off the hook."

March 15, 2002 - Ted Casablanca of E! Online reports Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys was spotted grabbing a counter seat at the trendy breakfast joint the Griddle, on Sunset Blvd. Kevin was dressed in denim jeans and a t-shirt as he and a friend enjoyed lunch.

March 15, 2002 - Eugenia writes "There was a small interview with Howie from the Backstreet boys on yesterday's TRL. There were said few words about BSB upcoming album. Plus he told that they're looking forward to release the album in the 3rd quarter of the year. For the full transcript click here."

March 14, 2002 - Backstreet.net has a two minute clip of Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys singing the National Anthem with his sister Pollyanna on Fox TV's Celebrity Boxing special tonight. Check it out here.

March 13, 2002 - An Aaron Carter fan named Ted posted 44 photos from the Aaron Carter concert at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on March 2. Check out the pictures, that feature his brother Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys here.

March 13, 2002 - MTV News reports that during an interview with VH1 over the weekend in Miami, Backstreet Boys member A.J. McLean revealed that he's engaged to up-and-coming singer Sarah Martin. They hope to have the wedding sometime in 2003, hopefully on the anniversary of the day they met. Tabloids had been reporting this information since around Christmas time.

March 12, 2002 - This weekend saw the end of top Britney Spears fan site WorldofBritney.com with one of the many reasons given being continuing money lost running the site. Now word is that Backstreet.net is in major financial problems having raised about 36% of the funds required to keep the site open. After checking out what Backstreet.net's financial troubles were, I have to admit I'm flabbergasted at what they are shelling out to run a site. Read more.

March 12, 2002 - Steven Baldwin ended up winning the Celebrity Fear Factor last night. Kevin Richardson ended up with $10,000 for his charity.

March 12, 2002 - Steven Baldwin called in to promote his appearance on Celebrity Fear Factor Monday morning's Howard Stern Show. Howard had already watched a tape of the show and he said, "That guy from the Backstreet Boys, Kevin, is the coolest guy I've ever seen". Then Steven says that not only is he cool, but he showed up on the set by himself with only a knapsack. He said Kevin was like Kung Fu.

March 11, 2002 - Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys will show off his spiderman techniques on NBC's Fear Factor on Monday (3/11) at 8 pm. Here's a picture of one of his stunts.

March 10, 2002 - US Weekly reports the Backstreet Boys are inching even closer to breaking up. An inside source with the group revealed, "The guys have been fighting." With solo plans for the group members and because "now that they have tons of money," things aren't looking good for the group's new album plans. Part of the problem for the new LP is "they have big egos, so each feels they have more of a say than the other." Read more.

March 8, 2002 - I've compiled Overture.com list of the most searched for musicians in January and by a huge margin, Britney Spears headed the pack. With over 2.5 million searches, the singer dwarfed runner up Jennifer Lopez (525,492 searches). Others on the list include Tupac at #7, *NSYNC at #9, Christina Aguilera at #11, Mariah Carey at #13, Mandy Moore at #15, and Backstreet Boys at #16. For a complete list, read here.

March 8, 2002 - Syndney writes "What happens when you mix pro-golfers with celebrities you get.... VH1's annual celebrity pro-am tournament tees off for "Fairway to Heaven '02."" Read more.

March 8, 2002 - E! Online's Ted Casablanca reports A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys was spotted with his girlfriend going basically unnoticed, except by the server whom AJ tipped well after their meal. McLean had burger and cheddar fries ---no booze of course-- while talking biz. 

March 8, 2002 - Howie D. of the Backstreet Boys and sister Pollyana will be singing the National Anthem at the Celebrity Boxing match on Wednesday, March 13th at 9pm EST on FOX.

March 8, 2002 - From the latest Wade Robson official newsletter: "The next day he was a little tired, but back to work. He met with Backstreet Boy, Howie D on Thursday. They are writing together for Backstreets new album. The songs sound really good."

March 7, 2002 - Star reports Aaron Carter has been keeping an eye on his brother Nick Carter's ways with charming the ladies. Aaron said of his Backstreet Boys bro', "As far girls go, heck, I've been watching HIS moves since I was 7 - I don't need any coaching - it's in my blood!"

March 6, 2002 - Backstreet.net posted a transcript of Aaron Carter's online chat on AOL on February 26. On plans on working with brother Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys, Aaron said, "I don't know. We should be working on stuff. We have talked about it. We are going to see what we can do." Read more.

March 5, 2002 - MTV News reports the Backstreet Boys plan on using their own songwriting in their 'Black & Blue' followup, along with the help of Jermaine Dupri and Glen Ballard. Kevin Richardson revealed at last week's pre-Grammy party held by Clive Davis, "We've [already] been doing some writing individually and together."

March 4, 2002 - A fan that attended Saturday's concert featuring Aaron Carter and his Backstreet Boys brother Nick Carter has posted some photos from the show, promising more on Monday. Check out the pictures of the pair on stage here.

March 4, 2002 - WireImage.com has photos of Aaron Carter posing with radio contest winners at a Kmart in Las Vegas on Saturday. Check them out here.

March 3, 2002 - A frighteningly persistent male teenybopper was holed up all night at Mandalay Bay and another Vegas hotel on Friday in a hunt to meet up with Aaron Carter. The fan ran into Aaron twice but his bodyguards refused to allow a photo to be taken with him. He did manage a shot with Nick Carter, as the Backstreet Boys star was also in town. Check out his full story, that he promises to today, here.

March 1, 2002 - The latest poll on popdirt.com is asking 'Which artist do you expect to have the top selling U.S. pop album in 2002?' Both Nick Carter's solo album (despite denials that it will come about) and the Backstreet Boys are amongst the nominees. Vote here.

March 1, 2002 - Star reports the parents of Backstreet Boys Nick Carter and brother Aaron Carter are at the center of a neighborhood controversy as angry neighbors are fuming over land-clearing, noise, and odors coming from work being done on their home in the Florida Keys. So many complaints have been lobbed against the Carter family, that Code Enforcement has issued a stop work order. Worse yet, the Carter family is ignoring notices to remove junk and debris from their property, and never did apply for permits on their pool, docks, plumbing, and clearing.

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