Backstreet Boys caught up with Billboard's Lyndsey Havens & Tetris Kelly at the ACM Awards 2025.
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00:00Hanging out with the Backstreet Boys at the ACM Awards, man.
00:04How's it feeling, Phyllis?
00:05Feeling good.
00:06It's awesome.
00:06We are honored to be here.
00:08And we cannot wait to get on stage tonight and bring down the house with our boys, Rascal
00:12Flats.
00:13And I mean, you guys have been performing at a lot of country events, like stagecoach,
00:17being here.
00:18Like, what's the country vibe for Backstreet Boys right now?
00:19Why is this working?
00:21It's all love, great music, you know, great people.
00:25It just feels like home.
00:27It does.
00:27Yeah, just good, strong songs.
00:29It's just great, strong songs, great music.
00:31I mean, I think there's always a little bit like, okay, are we going to be accepted every
00:34time we go in?
00:35But it seems like every time we perform, whether it's been stagecoach or the ACMs, you know,
00:38we did this, what, back in 2017, CMTs.
00:42It's just so much love.
00:43And I can think of it as just like a lot of these fans were probably, you know, younger
00:47years were our fans, and they've just grown.
00:49And now the country's like the direction they're going, but they're still embracing the memories
00:53of the Backstreet Boys.
00:54We've got a couple number ones in the country music, so that ain't bad.
00:57That ain't bad at all.
00:58Not a bad thing at all.
00:59And I got to tell a story.
01:00I've told this story so many times.
01:02Like he said, getting let in.
01:04We were at stagecoach, and the hottest show was Paris Hilton, and none of us could get
01:10in Paris Hilton.
01:10All three of us were standing there like, what is going on?
01:13The main thing was, you said, yo, if they can't get in, I'm definitely not getting in.
01:17I'm just like, okay, well, I'm going to go back to my hotel.
01:19I'll see you guys later.
01:21The Backstreet Boys getting into Paris Hilton.
01:23We got, like, I love that, man.
01:24So, but to come in these spaces and always be welcomed must feel great.
01:27Yeah, I mean, I think the barriers or the walls that the industry puts around artists is not
01:35what the artists, all of us, think of.
01:37We, I don't know anybody that just likes one kind of music.
01:40We all love all different kinds of music, and it's about great songs, great melodies,
01:44and singing from the heart and connecting with people.
01:47Totally.
01:47We're all from the South anyway, so it's like, we just belong.
01:50There you go.
01:51We grew up listening to everything, and I think a lot of people out there listen to everything.
01:55Okay, well, I need to ask that you have, you know, been involved in country music a lot
01:59lately.
01:59You talked about great songwriting.
02:01Is it inspiring you all to make some great songs?
02:04It's interesting.
02:05I was telling the guys, the last two number ones we've had are in country.
02:09The first one was Florida Georgia Line around 2017, and now this one with Rascal Flatts
02:14hurts the most, a collab.
02:15Listen, I don't know, like, we have done some country songs in the past.
02:20Drowning, which was one of our hits in the past, kind of has a little bit of a country
02:23thing.
02:24Our Never Gone album, you know, we had some country-influenced songs.
02:27The last album, we had about a couple that were influenced.
02:31I don't know.
02:31I mean, we just love music, and we don't have any boundaries when it comes to music.
02:36We like to sing harmonies, and a lot of great written songs happen to be from the country
02:42world.
02:42So if that kind of leads us in that direction, you know, you never know.
02:46We're always inspired.
02:46We're always inspired for something new.
02:48How lucky are we?
02:49And of course, I've got to ask you before you get out of here, tease something about
02:52The Sphere.
02:53We're so excited for this show, and I know you're trying to keep it under wraps, but
02:56let's feel bored.
02:57You want to give us something.
02:58You're going to see.
02:59Yes, you did.
02:59We just added three more shows, and you're going to see something you've never seen in
03:04The Sphere.
03:05We're the very first pop-back to be in The Sphere.
03:08Yes.
03:08And we're telling everybody to wear white.
03:11Oh, my wife is pressed.
03:12We're going to take you back to the Millennium.
03:14He's ready.
03:14Millennium 2.0.
03:16White, baby blue, but yeah.
03:18Millennium blue.
03:18Millennium white.
03:19The last thing is that I heard Millennium 2.0 in July.
03:22We have something happening there.
03:24Yes.
03:24Yes.
03:24So, we are doing The Sphere.
03:27It coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Millennium album.
03:31I can't believe it's been 25 years.
03:34And so, we are releasing that.
03:37It's remastered.
03:38We have demos on that album that nobody's ever heard when we were all of our demos.
03:41Oh, that's awesome.
03:42And then we've got some tracks, some B-sides that people in the U.S. haven't heard, and
03:46then we have one original song called Hey.
03:49Oh, wow.
03:50Hey.
03:51And it comes out July 11th.
03:54July 11th.
03:54We have our first show in The Sphere.
03:56Yep.
03:56I appreciate it.
03:57I can't wait, guys.
03:57We'll be there.
03:58I promise you.
03:59Yeah.
03:59All right.
04:00That will be my first Sphere experience.
04:02I can't wait.
04:03I'll see you guys.
04:03I can't wait.