AOL Music Blog chatted with AJ McLean (new dad to baby Ava Jaymes) and Howie (who will welcome his second child next year) about their childhood Christmas memories, plans for this holiday season and what's in store for their highly-anticipated 20th anniversary.
What are your standout memories of Christmas when you were growing up?
AJ: There are so many from when I was a kid, but I think me becoming a father is going to be the best Christmas memory I'm ever going to have. I think it is going to be amazing.
What was your most memorable Christmas gift from your childhood?
AJ: My mum got me the Nintendo Power Glove and I loved it. I thought it was the coolest thing ... so much so that I cut the cable off and wore it as an accessory to school. I got teased a lot, but whatever. I thought it was so cool!
Howie: I'll never forget my parents got me a karaoke machine when I was 12-years-old. It had a cassette track tape and a cassette player. So I guess I'm kind of dating myself by saying that. But it was the start of my career for me!
How did you used to spend Christmas Day when you were younger?
Howie: Normally all the family would get together, we'd eat a lot of food, open gifts early in the morning and then all the kids would play with all their new toys.
What are your plans for this Christmas?
AJ: I'll probably be changing diapers and cleaning up poo poo! I'm just going to be in Los Angeles with my wife's family. My family will be out here as well and finally now we get to have Christmas at my house. Usually I would fly back home to Orlando to be with my parents, but now they come out here. So my wife and I finally have our own Christmas tree. It's a Nightmare Before Christmas tree. It's got the Nightmare Before Christmas characters on it like Jack Skellington and Sally. It's a pretty gothic Christmas tree.
Howie, has how Christmas changed for you since you became a father?
Howie: Well, now I'm not playing with the toys anymore. Now my son [one-year-old James] is playing with the toys, although I'm normally having to set up the toys for him. But it's fun!
Do you have any New Year's Resolutions?
AJ: To quit smoking.
What can you tell us about your 20th anniversary plans next year?
AJ: We're still working on the brand new record and we have the new Christmas single which is out now on iTunes –- "It's Christmas Time Again," which Howie and Nick wrote – and we're just trucking away trying to get the record done. Then hopefully we will have a tour starting sometime mid-spring to early-summer. It's going to be an awesome tour –- we've got 20 years of music to compile into one show so it's going to be an awesome show!
And you're also getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
AJ: Yes, somewhere around March or April we'll be getting the star.
Q: What can you tell us about the new album?
Kevin: Well, we are in the studio recording, writing and working on it right now. Hopefully, it will be done the beginning of the year and we are going to launch it next year along with a 20th year anniversary tour all over the world. But now we have a song on iTunes called It's Christmas Time Again, written by these two guys.
Q: What is it like to get back together after 6 years apart?
Kevin: Well, they have always been rocking and rolling and it feels like we never skipped a beat.
Q: What are you doing for the holidays?
AJ: Well, I am having a baby, so that will take care of things for me.
Kevin: You are not having a baby she is...
AJ: Okay, we are having a baby...
Q: What do you want for the holidays?
Brian: Anything? Just to be home with my family. It's all about being around the tree and drinking some hot chocolate.
Q: Where will you be spending the holidays?
AJ: It's going to be here in LA with my family...my family will be out here as well and having Christmas at my house...so my wife and I finally got our own Christmas tree and we are going to do it at our house for the first time...It has all the Nightmare Before Christmas characters in it...so it is a pretty Gothic Christmas.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
AJ: Well, we have the new song on itunes and we are just trucking away trying to get the new record done and hopefully we will have a tour starting in mid-spring/ summer. It will be an awesome tour...we have 20 years of music to pile into one show so...it will be awesome.
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Just in time to celebrate their 20th anniversary next year, a clearly revived Backstreet Boys say a new album is more than halfway done.
The quintet, which is again at full strength with the return of Kevin Richardson, recorded about 15 songs in London earlier this year with producer Martin Terefe (Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours") and are now working in L.A with a slate of producers.
Nick Carter told Billboard at the AMAs that the boys are working with Morgan Taylor Reid as well as The Fliptones, among other "young cats" as he calls them. "Up and coming guys who I really think have a sound that hasn't been heard yet."
While Howie Dorough pegged the album's progress at around 50 percent, Carter thinks it could be closer to 75.
The group's as-yet-untitled studio album (their seventh in the U.S.) will be their first since leaving now-defunct Jive Records in 2010. They hold the distinction of being the retired label's top selling act in history. Dorough sees their newfound independence as a major plus.
"We're writing a lot for this album, working with a lot of producers," he said. "We're now free agents on our own label now. So we're really in charge of making this album ourselves and it's great, it's something we've always wanted to do."
After a six-year break, Richardson reunited with Carter, Dorough, Brian Littrell and A.J. McLean in early 2012. They made their first official appearance together at an August concert on ABC's "Good Morning America," where Richardson said "It just felt right," to return to the fold. "I feel inspired to make music again with these guys."ontheredcarpet.com .avi (17 MB)
BSB можно услышать в песне немецкой группы Centory Feat. Trey D. - Girl You Know It's True (1996), которая является кавером песни группы Milli Vanilli 1988 года. Парни из BSB (кроме Ника) указаны на обложке лишь в качестве оказания поддержки исполнителю: Special Thanx to: Kev, A.J. "Bones", B-Rok® & Howie D for all your support!!!
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Помню, когда группа была на пике популярности, их песню The One использовали в ходе предвыборной компании одного из кандидатов в мэры то ли Лос-Анджелеса, то ли Сан-Франциско, не помню какой город. Были тогда заголовки типа "Backstreet Boys свели с ума всех, даже политиков". Группа же просто запретила воспроизводить песню и все.
Looking back at all the outfits you've ever worn on stage, what are some of your regrets?
Brian: "We wore some sucky crap!"
Kevin: "Tommy Hilfiger overalls that were bright blue and bright white..."
A.J.: "They weren't Tommy Hilfiger, though."
Kevin: "They were supposed to be Tommy Hilfiger overalls, they were made out of parachute-pant material. Those were pretty crazy looking. They were knock-offs that were supposed to be Tommy Hilfiger."
A.J.: "They were Tommy with one M. Tomy."
Nick: "This was horrible.The same thing, overalls as well, but they were actual leather. They were't patent leather; they were leather. And we wore them while we were over in Japan. They were the hottest things. So, as far as any malfunctions or the worst thing to wear, it was complete leather on stage. It was a bad idea."
Howie: "We used to wear clothes that were like three sizes too big for us, always."
We asked our readers for Qs, and Nick, everyone wanted to know: What would it take to make you bring back the bowl cut?
Nick: "Honestly, I tried growing my hair out on the NKOTBSB tour, and I just looked like a really busted version of David Guetta. I just think the long hair is not working for me anymore."
What about today's boy bands? Do you take sides on the One Direction/The Wanted debate?
A.J.: "I like them both. I think they're all really talented. They all have really great pop songs. It's just nice to hear good pop music on the radio again and not just the same old five songs on repeat. And next year you'll be hearing Backstreet songs, so there you go."
Oh? When does the next album come out?
Kevin: "We're in the studio now. We're going to try to finish it up this year and the first thing next year, we'll have it ready."
Backstreet’s back — and shining brighter than ever.
After six years apart, the ’90s fan-favorite quintet is making a comeback. The fab five — Nick Carter, A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson — have reunited to record a brand-new album in honor of their 20th anniversary, joining forces in the studio for the first time since 2005.
And the best-selling boy band ever — having sold more than 130 million albums worldwide — are out to prove they can still make fans swoon with their longing lyrics, pitch-perfect harmonies and classic dance moves.
“I think we want to defy Father Time and just keep moving,” Carter told Celebuzz at Old Navy’s Rockstar Jeans fashion show in New York City. “You can call it our reunion album, but we really have never quit. [You] can’t stop. Once you stop, you get old.”
How have the guys stuck together after all these years?
“I don’t know if we necessarily have a secret other than just good chemistry,” Carter confessed. “I think we love our music. We love what we do.”
Richardson credits their collective “persistence” for the group’s longevity. After spending years focusing on solo albums, starring in reality shows and starting families, the Backstreet Boys have their nose to the grind for their forthcoming album, due out in 2013. And they promise this record will be more mature than earlier work.
“We just came back from London on a three-week writing trip,” explained Richardson. “So far, the songs that we’re writing are kind of personal. I wrote one about my son. Whether it makes the album or not, we’re not sure. We’re still in a creative phase where we’re writing and experimenting.”
“We want it to be a personal album about what’s happening in our lives now,” he continued. “A.J. is getting ready to be a father. Howie, Brian and myself are fathers already. So we’re just trying to make it a personal record.”
So what advice does Backstreet — who have been making female fans scream since before Justin Bieber was even born — have for new-to-the-scene boy bands like One Direction and The Wanted?
“Just stay on your own path,” said McLean. “We’ve stayed true to ourselves and here we are 20 years later. Just stay on your own path and you do your own kind of thing. And we all wish them the best of luck.”Еще одно интервью на celebuzz.com о Бритни Спирс и шоу X Factor (видео скачать с backstreetboys.cl).
Between Britney Spears on the X Factor and the Backstreet Boys reuniting, it seems the best of the ‘90s are making a comeback.
Just two weeks into the second season of the Fox singing competition show, Spears is still settling into her new post on the judges’ panel. And with all her wacky facial expressions and her harsh critiques of the contestants, the singer has been receiving mixed reviews.
But the Backstreet Boys — Nick Carter, A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, and Kevin Richardson — have nothing but praise for their fellow ’90s Jive Records pop star.
What did the fab five have to say about Brit Brit?
“I think she did great,” A.J. McClean gushed to Celebuzz at Old Navy’s Rockstar Fashion Show in New York City. “I think her and Demi are both doing an awesome job.”
Though they don’t watch much of the Fox series — Carter confessed he’s only seen “a bit of it” — Backstreet did catch wind of boy band refugee who auditioned on X Factor. “My wife told me though that some kid who didn’t make the cut was talking all about Backstreet Boys,” said McLean.”Like nonstop, Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys, Backstreet Boys.”
The man McLean is referring to is Vincent Thomas of San Francisco, Calif., who said of his former European boy band, “We were like the next Backstreet Boys.”
“And they played ‘Backstreet’s Back’ for the montage,” McLean continued. “So that’s awesome.” And every so accurate, as McLean notes: “Backstreet is back.”
