Bob Carter

The Backstreet Boys, or BSB, was a boy band and pop group that rose to considerable popularity in the late 1990s, and has since broken music and concert sales records, having sold more than 87 million a

The Backstreet Boys, or BSB, was a boy band and pop group that rose to considerable popularity in the late 1990s, and has since broken music and concert sales records, having sold more than 87 million albums (38 million in U.S.) to make them the highest-selling boy band on record. The five-member group consists of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson.

Lou Pearlman, an aviation entrepreneur based in Florida, was inspired by the success of the New Kids on the Block in the 1980s to create his own clean-cut boy bands. After a series of auditions in 1992 and 1993, he recruited Nick Carter (at 12, the band's youngest member), Howie Dorough, McLean and, following the departure of two members - Sam Licata and Charles Edwards - Richardson came aboard in March 1993, who was 20. The group took its final shape on April 19, 1993, when Brian Littrell - cousin of Richardson - joined the group after a phone audition. Their first concert on May 8, 1993 was performed in front of 3,000 teenagers. Pearlman booked them at grade-school assemblies, shopping malls and Sea World, and assigned management duties to Johnny Wright, who had worked with New Kids on the Block.