Source: Fox News
Good news for the Backstreet Boys: They've settled on a new management
company. The Boys have picked two famed rock reps to help them in their
future endeavors: Irving Azoff and Howard Kaufman.
Azoff was once described as "the poison dwarf" in the book Hit Men. He's
guided the careers of the Eagles, Steely Dan, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson
Browne, among others. Azoff is the sharpest knife in the drawer and takes no
prisoners, which may be just what the Boys need right now.
Kaufman, of course, is currently representing Michael Jackson, which is a
job no one wants but someone has to have.
The Backstreet Boys are in a tough position. They were once managed by the
same people as 'N Sync and Britney Spears � first Lou Pearlman, who put
them together, and then Johnny Wright.
But when Wright moved 'N Sync onto Jive, the same label as the Boys, the
Boys freaked. They switched management to The Firm, another aggressive
outfit. But their most recent album, Black and Blue, was a disappointment,
and it was followed by a premature greatest hits package.
Backstreet has also suffered from some publicity problems, most notably
drug rehab for member A.J. McLean. A group with a teen following hardly
needs that kind of attention.
Still, the Boys are not giving up and they shouldn't. I ran into Brian Littrell with
his wife Leighanne at the InStyle/Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party.
They were waiting on line patiently along with everyone else including actors
(Rosanna Arquette) and regular folk. The Littrells are a cute young couple,
and Brian can sing � witness "I Want It That Way." He could probably have a
solo popstar career, but chooses to stick with the group.
My guess is that the group will drop "the boys" part of their name and
re-emerge simply as Backstreet with an edgier sound and a more planned
future. Good luck to them. Hopefully their legions of fans will follow them into
the next chapter of their career.