Breakup Rumors. Aren’t they lovely?
Not so much. I’ve addressed this partly in another post talking about not worrying about it. But that said, I realized this has been going on longer than I remembered. I was sifting through files on my Media Archive and saw a file dated for 1998 talking about break up rumors? NINETEEN NINETY EIGHT. Now I know a lot was happening at that point with Lou Pearlman and all but I mean that was also peak Backstreet Time. I watched it and it’s addressed in a German Music News clip showing them at a press conference for A Night Out.
Mind you they had just barely broken into the US by this point. This was so freaking early into their career that it’s a bit mind-blowing. It also reminded me of how many times we’d heard this over the years. In retrospect I do think the break they took is the closest we ever came to this happening. Just due to everything that was happening at the time. And even then, it didn’t happen.
Then, I searched break up in the archive external drive that I have. Part of me cringes at what I’d get if I had decided to google search magazines and articles for this. But then we’d probably a post that would be a mile long. No need for that.
I did however, find another video from 2000.
Not that the National Enquirer has ever been anything but bull. Still. Two years go by and the break up rumors go wild again. Mind you by this point all sorts of things were happening behind the scenes. Still, why not let a BSB tell the world if it even WAS going to happen? This was one of those cases where the media wanted them to fall apart so they go can brush them off as “just a boyband” instead of the legendary talent they already were even back then. I feel like they get more respect today but that said they had so many years of people pretending they were a phase that these rumors were ways of trying to justify that.
Finally we have the ONE time a Backstreet Boy has said they were breaking up. And it was an April Fool’s joke. This is why we love you Kevin. This was 2002. So we have them battling with Jive, we have AJ fresh off his struggles, Nick with his very first solo album causing some drama. Like I said above, if it was going to happen I think this would’ve been the time. All of that and Kevin joking about a breakup cause you know what? He knew it wasn’t happening.
The point of this all is really to take anything you hear with a grain of salt. This was back in the early ages of the internet no less. Now anyone and everyone can claim they heard something. They can claim they saw something. Fake News is now a common term as annoying as it is. As far as I’m concerned things are literally the best they’ve been and the Boys aren’t stopping now. No matter how many times “journalists” say they’ve reunited, or claim they might be breaking up, doesn’t make it true.
Did any breakups actually happen? Nope.
Does the media call every major BSB album or tour a “reunion?” Annoyingly yes.
Do they listen any time we correct them? Nope.
Just for the record however…
Backstreet Boys have NEVER broken up.
The Dark Side 
I am sure if Lou won the lawsuit it might been the end of them financially. And yes I thought when Nick did his first solo.album.that was the end of them too.
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