The Backstreet Boys are indeed back.
But it took them a little longer to get here than they probably expected.
The multiplatinum-selling “boy band” — featuring Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean and Kevin Richardson — actually kicked off their DNA World Tour way back in May 2019.
Then the pandemic hit in early 2020 and the group was forced to postpone — and then postpone again — numerous concert dates.
Now, more than three years after the DNA World Tour got its start, the Backstreet Boys are finally returning to Northern California to perform three big shows.
We had the chance to chat with Littrell about the road show, which touches down Aug. 6 at Toyota Amphitheatre at Wheatland, Aug. 7 at Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View and Aug. 9 at Concord Pavilion. For show information, visit backstreetboys.com.
Q: What was it like coming back to the DNA tour after such a long break?
A: Well, it’s different. It was really tough for our bodies to get back into rehearsals. When you are sitting idle at home for over two years — that’s tough. We got our bodies back up and ready after rehearsals and we are ready to go.
Our objective with this tour and the show is just to re-solidify what the Backstreet Boys have been doing for almost 30 years. That’s just good quality music — good quality show.
It really keeps us young, being out there onstage. And it also keeps us in shape. So, when you don’t do it for two years, your body gets out of line.
It’s good to be back. Backstreet’s back. No pun intended, but — alright!
Q: OK, give me the dirt. Which Backstreet Boy needed the most work getting back in shape after two years?
A: Oh, man, you are looking for me to throw somebody under the tour bus.
Q: Yes, please.
A: I think you would get a consistent answer across the board if you asked everybody — and I think even Kevin would admit to this. Kevin just turned 50 this past October. Yes, he’s a Backstreet Boy, but he’s 50 years old. Who would have ever thought that a boy band member would be 50?
It’s been tough for all of us. But, at the same time, I think he would be the first to admit and jump out and say, yeah, it was tough on his body. He was a little overweight going into rehearsals and he told everybody that. He said, “I’ve got to cut weight.” And he did. By the time we got to the first show in Las Vegas, he had cut many, many pounds.
Q: In the darkness of the pandemic, before the COVID vaccines were created, did you ever feel like that not only this tour might not happen — but that touring, in general, might be over?
A: To be honest with you, Jim, there was a time in probably mid-2021 where there were just a lot of questions left to be answered. Everybody at that point was really looking at their lives and their career choices and going, “Hmmm. I never thought this could be possible or be a reality.”
I wouldn’t say that I ever thought it would be gone — completely, completely forever. I had hoped that things would somehow, someway get back to normal and that we could all share in live music again.
I think it’s a must. I think concerts, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, weddings, things were you can gather — even at church — you have to do these things for your social life.
I was really missing it.
Q: You weren’t the only one. I’m sure your fans are just thrilled that the Backstreet Boys are back out on the road again.
A: We are blessed to do what we do and love it and be passionate about it for so long and to be the soundtrack of so many people’s lives for so long. It’s a great feeling to have that opportunity to be back.
Q: How has the crowd changed over the years?
A: The crowd is really the same. The one difference that I have known over the years is that there are more guys coming to the Backstreet Boys shows then there were before in the past.
I would say husbands and boyfriends, who were maybe afraid to like us in the high school days. But they are kind of like, “Oh, man, those guys stuck it out, and they stuck together, and they continue to make good music, so we’ll support them.”
These guys are showing up and singing every song and every word.
Q: And I’m right there with them, especially when you get around to playing “Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)” — which I think is one of the greatest pop ballads of the last 30 years.
A: The funny thing about that song, in particular, is that we recorded that song at about 3 in the morning in Stockholm, Sweden, and we cut it in like two hours. It was just kind of this throwaway last-minute song that made it on the album and it turned out to be one of the biggest hits that the Backstreet Boys are known for.
That “Quit Playing Games” song is really the one that put us on the map in America and around the world. So, we’re thankful for those few hours that it took in the studio at 3 in the morning.
Q: I also admire what you’ve accomplished outside of the Backstreet Boys. You could’ve presumably gone a lot of different directions with your solo career, so what made you decide to record contemporary Christian music?
A: There’s nothing more gratifying than to do what I do, but also point somebody in a different direction. I am not really pointing them to me, or the artist per se, but the reason why you do music.
For me, growing up singing in church as a little boy, I made a promise to myself long ago that if I ever had a chance to do a solo record that that’s what it would be. It would be contemporary Christian music, gospel music — basically my flair, or my touch, on what touches me musically.
I grew up listening to guys like Michael English and Sandy Patty as well as Michael W. Smith. These people were like milestone people in my life musically, growing up singing in church.
Q: You’d make good on that promise to yourself in 2006 with the release of the debut solo album “Welcome Home.”
A: It wasn’t anybody but God who allowed that to happen. God has multiplied my audiences around the globe. But he’s also expected a lot of me to be the character and the man that I am and stand for something I believe in and not be afraid of what the world may say.
That’s just my pitch, man. This is what I do. This is who I am. And this is what I always will be.
