The Backstreet Boys grew out of the success of New Kids on the Block, when manager Lou Pearlman decided to form a similar venture. This one would be even more successful, as the Backstreet Boys became the most popular boyband ever with album sales estimated to total 100 million.
The newly assembled band performed their first concert in 1993, although it was not until 1994 that they received record label interest. Their first single, "We've Got It Goin' On", only reached No.69 on the Billboard charts and, as a result, their debut album, Backstreet Boys, was only released in Canada and Europe. They followed this in 1997 with their Canadian/European release Backstreet's Back. In an effort to have another stab at American success, they repackaged songs from both of their initial albums into an American release Backstreet Boys, released in the same year. The repackaging worked and Backstreet Boys (US) went on to 14x platinum status.
By this time the relationship between the band and their manager had soured, especially in light of the fact that Pearlman had been skimming unusually high profits from the band's income. The first of several lawsuits was brought against him.
Millennium was released worldwide in 1999, and has since been certified 13x platinum. They followed this a year later with Black And Blue, which incredibly managed to sell four million copies in just over a month, though it failed to outperform the phenomenal sales of its predecessor in the long-run.
In 2002 most of the band decided to leave their management company, though Carter stayed on to pursue a solo career. His solo debut Now or Never was released in 2002. The rest of the band began to pursue solo efforts too, but by 2004 they reconciled their differences, beginning with a small Asian tour. They cemented this success with a new album Never Gone (2005) and, though it marked something of a change stylistically, it sold well.
Most recently they have released 2007's Unbreakable, their first since Richardson left the group. It has been well received by critics and fans alike.
