Backstreet Boys are craving Korean dish bulgogi

U.S. pop group Backstreet Boys have said they want to eat the Korean barbecue dish bulgogi as soon as they arrive in Korea next week for their concert in the country.

"It's our favorite Korean food...... we hope to get to eat it right away if we have time," members A.J. McLean and Brian Littrell recently stated over an e-mail interview with the Korean press.

The two also expressed their excitement at performing in Korea for the third time, saying they remember Koreans fans being "considerably enthusiastic" and that they wish to see such fans again at the upcoming concert.

The boy band, who last performed in Korea in 2006 and 2008, will be promoting their latest album "This Is Us" at their show on February 24.

"Fans will get to experience the new album and take a trip into the past for two hours," the two singers were quoted as saying.

They explained that the performance will be filled with "creative ideas" and that it will be similar in style to their previous "Millennium" and "Black & Blue" tours.

When asked about the recent change to their style of music, they answered the difference "probably comes from maturity and improved vocals" and said that the group and their fans "have all grown up together naturally with every album."

They also shared their thoughts about being called a boy band, saying "it is not important whether we are called boy group or vocal group. We just want to be remembered as good musicians or good group, like the Eagles and Boys II Men."

They credited their long-running popularity to their "commitment to music for seventeen years and the members' understanding for one another".

Formed in Florida in 1993, the Backstreet Boys were arguably the most popular boy band of the 1990s and early 2000s. They have released six studio albums in the U.S., which produced numerous pop hits including "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", "Everybody", "Larger Than Life" and "I Want It That Way".

Their U.S. debut album -- the group first achieved success in Europe and debuted in their home country afterwards -- reportedly sold over 14 million copies in the U.S. alone. Their second studio album, "Millennium", stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart for ten weeks and sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

The boy band was originally composed of five members; Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson. In 2006 however, Kevin Richardson left the group to start a family and the remaining four members have since released two additional albums.

Reporter : Ko Kyoung-seok kave@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr