A related television special, A Very Backstreet Holiday, was pulled from airing and streaming debuts after sexual assault allegations against Nick Carter,[5][6] who has since filed a defamation lawsuit for $2.5 million dollars.

[13] With their DNA World Tour postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Backstreet Boys started working on their first Christmas album in March 2021,[14] and began recording on May 5, 2021.

[15] On July 12, they officially announced their return to Las Vegas for a holiday residency scheduled for November and December 2021.

[16][17] On August 11, Kevin Richardson announced they had finished recording vocals for a "top secret project," believed to be the Christmas album.

Songwriter Gary Baker announced in an interview that one of the songs he wrote for the album "Christmas in New York" would be the next second single with a brand new music video premiere in claymation.