The Backstreet Boys (also known as the BSBs) are a Grammy-nominated American vocal group. They were launched by boy band producer Lou Pearlman, and have been together since 1993.

They have 14 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide, making them one of the biggest selling artists of all time, and best selling boy band/vocal group. According to US Billboard 200, the Backstreet Boys are the first artist since Sade to have their first seven albums reach top 10 on the chart. Their earlier songs still remain very popular among younger audiences. When they returned to the pop scene in 2005, their sound had changed drastically, incorporating only live instruments (some of which they play themselves) and a more guitar and piano driven pop-rock sound. After the 2005-2006 tour, original member Kevin Richardson left the group on June 23, 2006, to start a family, but the four-piece refused to rule out a possible return for the singer. The now four-member group consists of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A. J. McLean. The quartet has since released two albums, the most recent on October 6, 2009, titled This Is Us, which went back to pop music, although is still considerably different from their classic sound, with This Is Us being more R&B.

Lou Pearlman, who had been inspired by New Kids on the Block in 1989, decided to create his own clean-cut boy band. After newspaper advertisements and auditions from June 1992 to early 1993, he recruited A. J. McLean in August 1992, Nick Carter in October, and Howie Dorough in December, who eventually met each other in several auditions and became friends. Following the departure of three previous members, Burk Parsons (pursued a career in ministry), Sam Licata (later performing as Phoenix Stone) and Charles Edwards, Kevin Richardson came on board in March 1993. He met the other guys through a co-worker, and the four decided to form a group, naming themselves after an Orlando flea market. The group took its final member on April 9, 1993, when Brian Littrell, Richardson's cousin, joined the group after a phone audition. Pearlman had spent around $3.5 million of fraudulently obtained money (he has been convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme during this time frame) on his search to form the group, and then spent more to launch their career. They officially became a group on April 19, 1993.

Afterward Pearlman called on Bob Curiano to write and produce for the Backstreet Boys. Their first two songs recorded were "Lover Boy", written and produced by Curiano, and "Get Ready", a cover tune. The hit, "Lover Boy" was inspired by Ana Legen, Bob Curiano's, first teenage crush. Their first concert, on July 8, 1993, was performed for 3,000 teenagers at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Pearlman booked them at grade-school assemblies and shopping malls, and assigned management duties to Johnny Wright and Donna Wright, who had worked with New Kids on the Block. Recording for their debut album officially began in the fall of 1994 and finished a few weeks prior to their European album's release in 1996. In the first few months of recording for Jive Records they worked in mainly Florida studios. They notably recorded during these late months of 1994, the ballad "I'll Never Find Someone Like You" and the track "Every Time I Close My Eyes" with Eric Foster White, as well some other songs. By mis-communication, "I'll Never Find Someone Like You" was given to Keith Martin after they recorded it and released as a single in February 1995, barring them copyrighting their version. In June 1995, they were sent to Stockholm, Sweden for a week to record at Cheiron Studios with producers Denniz Pop and Max Martin. Out of the recording sessions came We've Got It Goin' On, Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), and I Wanna Be With You.

The first single chosen to be released was We've Got It Goin' On released to radio in late August 1995. The song was a minor success, which resulted in promotion being shifted to Europe. The single did well on several European charts, which sent them on a summer tour there. They finished recording in April 1996 and filmed their second music video, Get Down (You're the One for Me) in Germany as well. On May 6, 1996, their debut was internationally, except in the USA and Canada.

European popularity grew, and the Backstreet Boys kicked off 1996 being voted the No. 1 international group by TV viewers in Germany - "I'll Never Break Your Heart" went gold there and hit No. 1 in Austria. The group earned their first platinum record in Germany and toured Asia and Canada. They became one of the most successful debut artists in the world. Most importantly they were able to get attention from China and South Asian countries where we have 2/3 of worlds population. Bangladesh (a country in South Asia), where their first album remained number 1 in the chart for back to back 13 months.

Jive Records and Pearlman decided to bring the boys back to their home country. They began recording their second album in January 1997, Backstreet's Back, releasing "Quit Playing Games With My Heart" in June. They also recorded the song, If You Stay, for the Booty Call soundtrack in January 1997. Coinciding with the release of their second international album, the band released a self-titled album in the US which collected songs from both international albums. They hit big on the U.S. charts and debuted at No .1 in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Finland and Austria. The two albums sold more than 28 million copies worldwide (14 million copies in the U.S.)

In December 1997, the band embarked on a 60-city, 20-country tour. In September 1998 the group began work on their next album. Work on Millennium began in September 1998, with recording taking place from October 3, 1998 to March 1, 1999 in multiple cities. A sneak preview of the tracks "The One", "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely", and "I Need You Tonight" was released on November 17, 1998 on the A Night Out with the Backstreet Boys concert video, as well as on the All I Have To Give U.S. single in December 1998. Preceded by the worldwide hit single "I Want It That Way", anticipation for Millennium was high. On May 18, 1999, Millennium was released. The day of the album's release, the Backstreet Boys made a heavily publicized appearance on MTV's Total Request Live. Millennium entered the Billboard 200 at #1, where it remained for 10 non-consecutive weeks. It sold 1,134,000 copies in its first week of release, breaking the previous Nielsen SoundScan record held by Garth Brooks for single-week record sales. Millennium sold nearly 500,000 copies in the U.S. on its first day alone, setting a record for first-day sales. This record was subsequently overtaken in 2000 by Britney Spears, and then again by 'N Sync with No Strings Attached. Four singles were released from Millennium: "I Want It That Way", "Larger Than Life", "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely", and "The One".

In 2009, the group began working on a new album that was released on October 6, 2009 and are confirmed to be working with Max Martin, OneRepublic singer Ryan Tedder, RedOne, Ne-Yo, Brian Kennedy, Pitbull, Claude Kelly, Jim Jonsin, Eddie Galan, T-Pain, Rami Yacoub, Kristian Lundin, many others.

In an interview with Extra TV the Backstreet Boys confirmed the title of their seventh album to be This Is Us. The Backstreet Boys formally announced the dates for the European leg of the new tour for the album. This Is Us Tour started on October 30.

The first single off their new album was released on July 23 under the name "Straight Through My Heart", and was released to radio airwaves on August 17, with the music video following on August 27. There are 11 confirmed songs on the album.

The album was released on September 30 in Japan and October 6 in USA and Canada. The album reached #2 on iTunes on its release date in USA and Canada and received positive reviews. The promotion of the CD was brought to a halt by the announcement that member Brian Littrell was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus on October 5.

During their promo-tour in Japan group shot music video for new single "Bigger".On November 1, 2009, they appeared on the Xtra Factor.On December 17, 2009, they will be performing a live event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Guinness Book of Records.
 
Best Sales Week in History @1.13 Million Albums (Millennium), which was shattered one year later by boy band *NSYNC selling 2.4 million records in 1 week. **Fastest Selling Album in a Year (Millennium).
Best-selling Album for First Half of 1999 (Millennium).
Most Radio Station Adds In First Week: "I Want It That Way" with 165 radio adds.
Most Tickets Sold In Oneday: 765,000 tickets (selling out all 53 concert dates).
US$14 million of merchandise was purchased by fans during the 1999 "Into The Millennium" tour.
The '99 tour drew over 2 million fans, breaking the record for largest indoor audience.
Most expensive music videos ever made: Larger Than Life (#5) (Cost: $2,100,000+)
Best International Sales Week in History @ 5 million: "Black & Blue".
First artists in history to achieve back-to-back million-plus first week sales.
The highest debut certification: "Black & Blue", which was simultaneously certified Gold (500,000 copies), Platinum (1 million copies), and eight-times Platinum (8 million copies).
"The Highest Selling Boyband In History" with over 77 million sales.
First group since The Beatles to achieve 30 million sales of two discs.
The Backstreet Boys' 2001 "Black & Blue World Tour" earned US$350 million in ticket sales, making the band among the world's highest-paid live entertainers.

Backstreet Boys discography

Backstreet Boys (1996) International Release Only
Backstreet Boys (1997) First Official US Release
Backstreet's Back (1997) International Release Only
Millennium (1999)
Black & Blue (2000)
Never Gone (2005)
Unbreakable (2007)
This Is Us (2009)