[12] In March 2017, the group began a concert residency in Las Vegas that lasted two years, titled Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life.

Howie Dorough and AJ McLean were natives of Orlando, Florida, who met each other through a mutual vocal coach and later discovered Nick Carter through auditions.

[13] Cousins Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell, both from Lexington, Kentucky, sang in local church choirs and festivals when they were children.

[13] In 1992, Lou Pearlman placed an ad in the Orlando Sentinel to create a vocal group with a "New Kids on the Block" look with a "Boyz II Men Sound.

[14] Between late 1992 and March 1993, Pearlman held open casting calls and hundreds of young performers auditioned at his blimp hangar in Kissimmee, Florida.

[16] Littrell flew from Kentucky to Orlando to formally join the group on April 20, 1993, a day after receiving a phone call from Richardson about it.

[19] The group then continued to perform in various venues during summer 1993, from shopping malls, restaurants, to a high-profile charity gala in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

[25][26][49][50] Millennium was released on May 18, 1999, on which day the Backstreet Boys made a heavily publicized appearance on MTV's Total Request Live.

[52][53] Four singles were released from Millennium: "I Want It That Way", which is widely regarded as one of the greatest pop songs of all time, "Larger than Life", "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely", and "The One".

[56] Millennium remained on the Billboard chart for 93 weeks, eventually selling over 12 million copies in the United States and being certified 13 times platinum.

[59] On June 2, 1999, the Backstreet Boys embarked on the Into the Millennium Tour, which comprised 115 sold-out shows in 84 cities, with some additional dates put due to high demand.

[66][67][68] A song completed during the July recording sessions, "It's True", was released on August 28, 2000, in a compilation album sold exclusively at Burger King restaurants, titled For the Fans.

[73] To promote its release, they traveled around the world in 100 hours, visiting Stockholm, Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and New York City.

The tour was put on hold in July when it was reported that McLean had entered rehab to battle alcoholism and depression after Richardson held an intervention for him at a Boston hotel.

In November 2003, McLean appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about his addiction to alcohol and drugs and his struggles in rising to fame for the first time in public.

[93] Both Richardson and the rest of the group issued a statement on their official site, stating that he departed amicably and the door was always open for him to return.

[94] Following Richardson's departure, the group turned down an offer to star in a reality show to find a new member and stated that they were not planning to replace him.

Richardson rejoined the rest of the group on stage at the Palladium in Hollywood, Los Angeles on November 23, 2008, for the last North American stop of the tour.

The day prior to the album's release, it was reported that Littrell had contracted swine flu, causing the group to cancel a signing at Hard Rock Café in New York for the NYC Pinktober event on October 5, 2009.

[131] Their documentary movie, titled Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of, was released in theaters and online on January 30, 2015, in the U.S., on February 26, 2015, in the UK and Europe, and on March 28 worldwide.

A free copy of the theme song "In the End" was released on March 28, performed by band members Nick Carter, AJ McLean and Howie Dorough; Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick from NSYNC; Jeff Timmons from 98 Degrees; and Erik-Michael Estrada from O-Town.

[137] On April 1, 2016, Carter told Entertainment Tonight the group signed a deal with Live Nation for a nine-show "test residency" in Las Vegas.

[140] On August 19, 2016, the group released "God, Your Mama, and Me", with country duo Florida Georgia Line, which was taken from their third studio album Dig Your Roots.

[150] On April 8, 2019, the band released their exhibit at the Grammy Museum before it was opened to the public two days later, showcasing tour outfits and memorabilia from their childhoods.

[153] At their Las Vegas residency, they received keys to the Vegas strip as the mayor declared the 10th Backstreet Boys Day, and during the 20th anniversary of "I Want It That Way",[154] the group participated in a handprint ceremony to commemorate the ending of their two-year residency at Planet Hollywood and were also presented with a check donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada.

Following sexual assault allegations against Nick Carter,[166][167] several appearances and publicity campaigns for the release were canceled, including the planned ABC television special, A Very Backstreet Holiday.

[4] In order to fight the boy band stereotype and the backlash from New Kids on the Block's lip-sync scandal in the beginning, they would sing a cappella every chance they could get.

The advertising promoted back-to-school sweepstakes, which gave each of the five fans the chance to win a $2,000 Sears shopping spree with their favorite Backstreet Boys member and a trip for four to the group's concert on December 1, 1999, in Tampa, Florida.

Carter subsequently told Lee about his original concept of a six-issue series of comic books featuring members of the Backstreet Boys as superheroes called "Cyber Crusaders."

[207] The group has supported multiple charities over the years, including Children's Miracle Network, City of Hope, Kids Wish, Live Together, and Lupus LA.