:: BSB back in town

In Pieces

Thanks to Tony

BSB back in town
By Chen Nan and Zhang Kun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-05 09:51

The Backstreet Boys are frequent flyers to China and dates in Beijing and Shanghai this month will be packed with fans. Chen Nan and Zhang Kun reports

The Backstreet Boys plan stops in Beijing and Shanghai this month as part of their 2010 world tour, This Is Us.

They will perform at Beijing's 20,000 capacity Wukesong Arena, which hosted Beyonce and Avril Lavigne.

Backstreet Boys visited China in 2004, 2006 and 2008 and they have a loyal following.

The former boy band of five members, which was established in 1993, has been out of the public eye since releasing Unbreakable in 2007.

The tour will promote the This is Us album, which was released in December and features Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brain Littrell and AJ Mclean.

"We are 100 percent better and ready to rock out the tour in China! It's what we love and it was time to came back to it," Dorough says in an e-mail interview.

"We did the pop rock thing and liked it as well, but we always felt this is where we belonged. It was just more 'US'. Hence the title of the record, This Is Us."

RedOne, the man responsible for Lady Gaga's Just Dance and Poker Face, and Grammy Award-winner Jim Jonsin, helped produce the album.

"On this record here we reached back into what made us who we are - that's great pop melodies, great harmonies - and made it current and relevant," Dorough says. "Besides the new songs, we'll do remixed editions of classic pieces like Get Down and We Got It Going On."

The band has released seven studio albums and has sold over 130 million records, making them one of the biggest selling groups of all time.

"This is Us is the second album since Kevin (Richardson) left (the band), and the music style is just like Kevin wanted before he left. We still have one more album to make with the company and we do wish Kevin could join us for it. BSB's gate is always open for Kevin," Dorough says.

This year the youngest member, Carter, turned 30 and two other members have children.

Now the band has grown up their attitudes have changed and they are calling on their fans to care for the environment.

"You can turn off the monitor while listening to music, take the metro instead of driving cars to the show - we hope to call on more people to adopt a low-carbon life style, starting with ourselves and our fans," Dorough says.

Half of the tickets for the China shows have already been sold within a month, proving the band has still got pulling power.

"What's most surprising isn't the fact they are still around, it's that they're still doing pretty much exactly what they were doing in their heyday," says Jiao Hongyue, a 26-year-old Beijinger.

Jiao is a registered member of BSB China, which has over 70,000 registered members across the country. Li Yu, 27, from Shanghai, started the club in 2002 and says there are members in Singapore and Malaysia too.

"Some people became members when the website first started and others are new, which proves Backstreet Boys' timeless charm."

Li says he has bought tickets for the two concerts in Shanghai.

"I am sure diehard fans will be there to support them no matter how cold the weather is."

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Cindy Cullen

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