Beatlemania came and went and from that a handful of family-centric groups. After that, New Edition planted the idea for New Kids On The Block, and in 1993 Backstreet Boys were born. April 20, 1993, to be exact, and this week is all about that 30th anniversary. In April 1993 I was four days away from turning six, had a new baby brother in the picture, and was mere months from kindergarten graduation. I had a lot on my plate and since these five guys down in Orlando weren’t on PBS or Saturday Morning Cartoons – I had no clue they existed, and wouldn’t for a few more years.
“As Long As You Love Me” was the first Backstreet Boys video I saw. It was during MTV Live and I can still recall being in the den of my mom’s trailer (my room at the time) and suddenly being taken with the blonde guy singing a song that I’d later know like the back of my hand. At that time though, I wanna say Spice Girls were still #1 but it wouldn’t be long before I moved all the Spice Girls’ stuff aside and made room for what was about to be the obsession of a lifetime.
When the dust settled and I had officially become one of the Backstreet Boys’ girls in school, there was little merch in Sam Goody I didn’t have. Okay, in hindsight there was so much more I needed to complete my hoarding collection, but I don’t want to sell my Backstreet Bedroom short. It was a world of wonder, an impressive feat to anyone who came of age during that time. Posters plastered every inch of wall space, and my bookshelves had more merch than reading materials.
That collection grew out of control by 1999 because that was the year. ‘Millennium’ was set to drop and every store on earth was selling just about anything with Backstreet Boys on it, and I usually found a way to get my hands on it. The only thing I couldn’t score was tickets to their upcoming ‘Millennium Tour’ that fall. My mom claimed they were insanely expensive. Looking back, they were not. The cheap seats were legitimately cheap seats if you were able to get them when they went on sale. We did not. However, thanks to my bestie’s mom – we were going to their Anaheim date, and my excitement? It was next level.
For your first concert to be one of the most iconic pop tours of the time? It was magical and I still travel with the scarf I bought that night for $20; I keep it tucked away in my suitcase. I’m only mentioning the price because today I’m sure that thing would cost upwards of $50. Damn inflation.
It would be many, many years before we saw them again because as we got older and they sort of stepped away from the spotlight, we were in the midst of teen angst and middle school, and not too far from being freshmen. Plus, Linkin Park was constructing the bridge that’d lead us from Korn and Limp Bizkit to pop punk and emo ways of bands like The Used and Story of the Year. So for a handful of years, I was keeping tabs on BSB, but not going as insane for them as I had before.
Then came their show at the Palladium in LA. I was in college by this time and if you don’t know, the Palladium is a general admission venue…having spent the past few years going to shows that are just that, we felt we would have a clear advantage and got tickets.
I still remember how excited we were to get there around 7am and being something like 97th and 98th in line. That show holds a special place in my heart because it was the first BSB show we got to go to as grown fangirls, and it was the first one Kevin came out at as a surprise. I’ll never forget how the crowd went from fun and poppy to well, basically a Metallica show circa 1991.
There would be plenty of shows after that, some with my initial BSB bestie and some with the new ones I made along the way. Most of which I’d met at those more pop-punk shows. It’s funny though how the music you connected to as a kid can lead you to some of the best people as an adult.
These new friends and I frequented everything from their 20th anniversary to Jimmy Kimmel tapings to a healthy amount of trips to Las Vegas for their regular tours and later their residency. Even my guy got to take one of those in when we did a turnaround trip for my birthday in the before times, AKA 2019.
Being a fangirl, fanboy, fanperson – people think it’s all about the thing. The group, the movie, the sport – but it’s about so much more. Backstreet Boys started as an obsession with a cute blonde boy when my hormones were starting to arise, but eventually turned into the thing that gave way to some of my most treasured memories, both alone like when I went to their star unveiling at the Walk of Fame and with friends, like all of the shows and shenanigans. Backstreet Boys played a key role in my love of pop culture, but what I’ll forever be grateful to them for is the adventures being their fan has given me.
Crushgasm 