Backstreet Boys Plan Worldwide 'Black & Blue' Blitz
Source: Billboard
To ring in the release of their latest studio album, the Backstreet Boys will embark on an ambitious tour which will take them to six continents in 100 hours. Beginning with a performance at the MTV Europe Awards Friday (Nov. 17) in Stockholm, the group will visit Tokyo, Sydney, Cape Town, South Africa, Rio de Janeiro, and New York by Tuesday (Nov. 21), the day their new album, "Black & Blue" (Jive) is released in North America.
The 26,000 mile trip around the world in a chartered 28-seat 737 jet will have the band in the air for more than 55 hours, and on the ground for approximately 45. At each stop the group will visit local landmarks, hold a press conference, meet with fans, and perform an a cappella version of the single "Shape Of My Heart." The track is No. 12 on The Billboard Hot 100 this week.
At the final stop in New York, the group -- Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, and Kevin Richardson -- will announce plans for a 2001 world tour in support of "Black & Blue."
Tuesday is also the day Wal-Mart will carry an exclusive satellite broadcast performance by the group to coincide with the release of the new album. The show, which will include interviews with the pop icons, will be simultaneously Web cast via Walmart.com and shown in the entertainment centers of 2,000 of the retail chain's U.S. stores, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
In addition, Walmart.com and eBay will auction the original suit worn by Carter on the group's Millennium tour and signed by all of the members of the group. Proceeds from the auction benefit the Caroline Dorough-Cochran Lupus Memorial Foundation.
As previously reported, Wal-Mart will sell an exclusive edition of "Black & Blue" that includes the bonus track "What Makes You So Different (Makes You So Beautiful)."
"Black & Blue" is follow-up to 1999's "Millennium," which topped The Billboard 200 and remains on the chart after 77 weeks. In July the album was certified by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) for U.S. sales of 12 million copies.
-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.