In the midst of Backstreet Boys celebrating the 25th anniversary of their album Millennium with their Sphere Las Vegas residency, another one of their albums has also turned 25.
Black & Blue, the group’s fourth album, was released Nov. 21, 2000. It sold 1.5 million copies in its first week, making them the first group ever to have more than 1 million first-week sales with two albums back to back. The album produced the hit “Shape of My Heart” and has since sold some 15 million copies worldwide.
While Millennium seems to be universally beloved, does Black & Blue still hold up? “Yeah, it does,” says Backstreet’s AJ McLean.
“When I found that out [about the anniversary] a couple of days ago, I was like, ‘God bless it! 25?'” he tells ABC Audio. “Because you think Millennium‘s already 25 years. And now you got another record that’s 25 years. Like, wow. And every album has stood the test of time.”
“It really is truly a phenomenon,” AJ says of Backstreet’s continued popularity. “And we are so blessed and so grateful. Like, it just doesn’t happen. And to happen to five just regular guys just doing something that we love? It’s pretty freaking cool.”
But Backstreet is also looking forward in addition to looking back: They’re already discussing their next musical era.
“We’ve had some conversations,” AJ shares.
Despite his busy schedule — including the Nov. 27 release of his new solo EP, hi, my name is alex, and the Jan. 9 release of his solo album — AJ says, “There’s gaps in there where we could potentially make another album. Who knows? But we are definitely talking about new music and what that might look like.”
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