BACKSTREET BOYS ANNOUNCE WORLD TOUR SET TO LAUNCH JUNE 2 IN BELGIUM

DATE: MAY 20, 1999

FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER AMANDA CAGAN MARCEE RONDAN

BACKSTREET BOYS ANNOUNCE WORLD TOUR
SET TO LAUNCH JUNE 2 IN BELGIUM
WITH MAJOR U.S. ARENA TOUR SPONSORED BY SEARS
TO FOLLOW IN SEPTEMBER

The 42 European dates encompass 13 countries and will wrap August 7 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Next, the group will take a much-needed break before hitting the U.S. arena circuit in September, a trek that will be sponsored by Sears. The group's KEVIN RICHARDSON recently said what fans could expect from BACKSTREET BOYS' new live show: "If someone's never been to a concert before, [it'll be] something they'll never forget," he told Teen People. "If they have, it'll be the best one yet."

MILLENNIUM is the follow-up to BACKSTREET BOYS' self-titled U.S. debut album and the group's third international release, which recently was honored with the prestigious Diamond Award from the Recording Industry Association of America (R.I.A.A.), signifying sales of over 10 million in the U.S. alone. The album–which follows the BSB worldwide sales of more than 29 million–has already spent 91 weeks on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums" chart and is positioned this week at #38.

"I Want It That Way"–already #18 on Billboard's "Hot 100 Singles" chart in its fifth week–recently made history by generating 164 adds in the CHR (Top 40) and Rhythm Crossover formats its first day at radio, according to the record trade publication Radio & Records. In addition, the song entered at the #1 position on the charts in the U.K., Italy, Spain, Holland, Canada, Austria, Switzerland and Germany (where the song is the first new #1 entry since Elton John's 1997 "Candle In The Wind" tribute to Princess Diana). The group's HOWIE DOROUGH recently described the song as "a good segue between the two albums. It's a great mid-tempo song with a little bit of edge. We were tempted to come on with a little bit harder and more uptempo first single. But we decided this might be a better transition."

The group recently kicked the U.S. media and promotion blitz into high gear with the May 5 MTV world premiere of the video for "I Want It That Way." The Wayne Isham-lensed clip was recently shot at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Even before the MTV premiere took place, the group had already spent most of April traveling around Europe, performing on TV shows and doing interviews for numerous radio and print outlets about MILLENNIUM's imminent release. After returning to the States, BACKSTREET BOYS spent some time in their hometown of Orlando to rest and start rehearsals for the tour before heading to New York City for the taping of their own hour-long Disney Channel special, "Backstreet Boys In Concert." Scheduled for a world premiere July 10 at 7:00 PM ET/PT, the concert was taped at the historic New Amsterdam Theater in New York City on May 11 at the in front of 1,800 fans.

The BACKSTREET BOYS–presently recognized as the biggest pop group in the world–have dominated worldwide charts and have received gold and platinum awards in 45 countries with over 28 million albums sold worldwide. BACKSTREET BOYS have scored five U.S. Top Ten singles. Three of them–the #1 hit "I'll Never Break Your Heart," "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and the current Top Ten hit "All I Have To Give"–have achieved platinum certification. On the awards front, the group are winners of the 1998 MTV Video Music Award for "Best Group Video," the 1996 and 1997 MTV Europe "Viewer's Choice" Award and 1998 Billboard Music Awards for "Best Group" and "Best Adult-Contemporary Group." They also just won four awards at the 1999 World Music Awards for "World's Best Selling Pop Group," "World's Best Selling R&B Group," "World's Best Selling Dance Group," "World's Best Selling American Group."

In the June/July issue of Teen People, BACKSTREET BOYS explained why they believe MILLENNIUM was a more personal album than their debut. Much of MILLENNIUM says KEVIN, "is about loss. We've had a lot of loss in the last year. HOWIE lost his sister [to lupus]. BRIAN and I lost our grandfather. And when we lost Denniz [co-producer of the album along with Max Martin], it was hard time for us mentally and physically. People don't realize it." "It made us mature," continues HOWIE. "When you sing, you project and feelings come out." "As artists," says BRIAN, "we had time to sit and focus on what got us to where we're at today, and that's working hard in the studio and making good songs."

Meanwhile, in web news, the group's official website–which is visited by more than 80,000 different people per week–recently underwent a complete overhaul and is now the home of the best place on the Internet to find up-to-the-minute information re BACKSTREET BOYS and the MILLENNIUM album. By logging on to www.backstreetboys.com, fans can get all the latest news about everything that's happening in the BACKSTREET BOYS' world, future single and video releases, tour dates, photos, video clips, a chat room where fans could talk to each other about the group, and messages for fans written by the guys themselves.

The European tour dates are as follows. Stay tuned for details about the U.S. tour as the dates are confirmed.