Nick Carter And AJ McLean Expand The Backstreet Boys Sound With New Emotional Solo Music
Nick Carter’s “I Will Wail” And AJ McLean’s “Live Together”This week on ABC’s, Dancing With The Stars Nick Carter showed us all that Backstreet’s back in a big way! He and his dance partner Sharna Burgess, paid tribute to his band mates, and the Backstreet legacy, by dancing a jazz routine to one of the group’s biggest hits, “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” Nick and Sharna broke out some of the signature choreography from that song’s iconic music video, and then turned it up a notch! The dance was a part of a theme to help honor the star contestants’ most memorable years of their lives. Nick appropriately chose the year of 1992, the year he became a Backstreet Boy. Since BSB went on to become the best-selling boy band of all time, it may seem like an obvious choice for him to make.
Nick Carter And Sharna Burgess Dance To “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
From Dancing With The Stars
ABC
The Nick Carter Story: How The Youngest Backstreet Boy Became A Man-Chapter 2 “Backstreet Boys Rise To Fame”
Since joining the Backstreet Boys in 1992 along side Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell, those band mates evolved into his brothers. This is why Nick chose a song in their discography that many have adopted as the band’s unofficial theme song. With that said,even though the highlighted year was 1992, the soundtrack to Nick and Sharna’s dance was originally released in 1997. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” was first included on the group’s second European release, Backstreet’s Back. It was later released as the fourth single from the group’s self-titled American debut at Jive Records’ founder, Clive Calder’s request. However, the label’s then president, Barry Weise though the “Backstreet’s Back” tagline would confuse new American fans, since the group was first established in Europe, and have already moved on to a second album before ever being introduced in the United States. However since BSB was formed in Orlando Florida, the Boys thought they would just redefine the meaning of “Backstreet’s Back” to “back home.” It was later included on the 1998 re-issued deluxe version of the US Backstreet Boys album. The re-branding proved to be the right decision because it became one of group’s most successful singles. It sold 2.1 million copies individually, and helped the band’s US debut reach over 15 million in sales.
Backstreet Boys
“Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”
From Backstreet Boys/Backstreet’s Back
Jive Records
Boy Band Members From Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, 98 Degrees, and O-Town Support Nick Carter At Dancing With The Stars
Not a moment goes by that we’re not proud of you @nickcarter! Amazing job #TeamSharNick #dwts
— backstreetboys (@backstreetboys) October 6, 2015
Cheering my boy on tonight with my baby !! Everyone vote #TeamSharNick !! #DWTS pic.twitter.com/fG55XPt50p
— AJ Mclean (@skulleeroz) October 6, 2015
ALRIGHT!!!!! DWTS ABC 👀 https://t.co/TDkWJ9rGu7
— Brian Littrell (@brian_littrell) October 6, 2015
EVERRRRYBODDDY! Vote now for @NickCarter and @SharnaBurgess they served major #BSB tonight! #TeamSharNick #ktbspa 1-855-234-5610
— Lauren Kitt Carter (@Lauren_Kitt) October 6, 2015
Another fun one from last night! @dancingabc #jacobtakeover pic.twitter.com/MNppzDk5zs
— Jacob Underwood (@JacobUnderwood7) October 6, 2015
Boybands unite! pic.twitter.com/is26tSyyMX
— Nick Carter (@nickcarter) October 6, 2015
As Nick is getting his dance on in the ballroom and working on his upcoming movie, Dead 7 the Backstreet Boys continue to prove that they can expand their sound and image, trying new things creatively and enter a new era for themselves as artists. Nick has not only done this with a reality show, and a collaboration album with Jordan Knight, but he is also gearing up to release his third solo studio album. That album, All-American promises to present a more mature Nick Carter. This is evident on the album’s first single, “I Will Wait.” The track is a stripped down, emotional love song that sounds like nothing Nick has ever released before. In a recent interview with Pop Crush Nick talked about his out look for the music on his new album.
Nick Carter
“I Will Wait”
From All-American
Kaotic Records Inc.
“In a lot of ways [DWTS] has given me confidence. I had a not-so-successful solo project that came out a long time ago and then one other one that I did overseas that did okay, but I’ve never had any success as a solo artist. I’ll be the first to admit it and that’s okay. I feel like I’m maturing musically, professionally and as a dancer on the show. Even though I’m 35, I’m now maturing as a performer, an entertainer. So yes, the show has inspired me and that’s why I decided to release the single. It’s a great representation of where I am in my life. Everything has worked together to get me to this place where I can try [making music as a solo artist] again. I’m so happy with the single because I took a couple steps back and I asked myself: “What do my fans want? What do Backstreet Boys fans want? What do people love about the boy bands?” We as entertainers and artists sometimes over think and overanalyze and we try to do something that has a meaning. But then I realized, it’s about love songs. That was one of our specialties and we haven’t done that as Backstreet Boys in a long time, so I decided to go with an old-fashioned love song as my first single. Everybody wants to be in a relationship that lasts forever and they want to go grow old with one another. They want that happy ending. I just wanted the single to be simple, beautiful and elegant. Just a beautiful old-fashioned love song.”
Nick isn’t the only Backstreet Boy branching out on his own to create music with a deeper message. AJ McLean recently gave an interview to Rolling Stone to discuss his first solo offering since his 2010 Japanese release, Have It All. That new solo project is a powerful single called “Live Together.” Rolling Stone helped AJ launch the video for the rocking track on October 6t. It is a video with gripping images that directly reflect the world we see on the news. It hammers home the message of equality in a world full of racism and homophobia. AJ talked with Rolling Stone’s Leena Tailor about what inspired the socially conscious message.
AJ McLean Featuring Jordan James
“Live Together”
Live Together Foundation
“I used to spend all my time on Instagram and social media, seeing what’s going on in entertainment,” hey said “Then one day, I downloaded the CNN app and became glued to it ….racial issues, cops killing young black men, the uproar with anti–gay marriage … all this negativity. I finally snapped and went, ‘This is ridiculous. This is the world my daughter’s growing up in, and it’s a f****d-up one.'”
McLean then became determined to use his celebrity to help raise awareness of these issues. That is why the proceeds for the song go to AJ’s new “Live Together Foundation”, an organization founded to help fix local problems for various communities. The first of these projects was to help rebuild the music room for a Pasadena high school, after their instruments were stolen. You can check out the emotional story behind Live Together Foundation’s inaugural project in the video below!
Live Together Foundation Rebuilds Pasadena High School Music Room
“But we’re going back in on the 12th to dust off the cobwebs. We’re working with a new producer, Jay Cash, who wrote “Sugar” for Maroon 5. This is just the beginning phase, but we’re hoping to have the album done before our cruise in May.”
We will keep you posted on the details! Until then keep an eye out for Nick Carter’s new album, All American coming really soon. Good luck on Dancing With The Stars Nick!
