HOWIE PLANS SOLO BENEFIT SHOWS Howie Dorough will mark the second anniversary of his sister Caroline's death with two benefit shows in her memory. Howie will perform in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on September 13 and Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 15 to benefit the Caroline Dorough-Cochran Lupus Foundation. The shows come on the heels of a June 25 Lupus 2000 benefit concert that saw Howie help raise more than $100,000 for the fight against the disease (see "Backstreet's Howie Raises $100,000 For Charity"). While prepping for the solo shows, Howie is still maintaining his Backstreet duties, which include preparing for the November release of BSB's next album.(source : Mtv) BROK TIES THE KNOT Brian Littrell tied the knot with Leighanne Wallace during a traditional candlelit ceremony held at the Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta on Saturday, September 2. The paper reports that 300 guests, including all four Backstreet bandmates, attended the 35-minute media- and fan-free service, which was followed by a reception held on a reserved floor of the local Four Seasons Hotel. In a move that branded it a celebrity wedding, guests coming off the elevator were greeted by a sign that read "No photographs, no autographs." Kentucky native Littrell, 25, met Georgia native Wallace, 31, in 1997 when she appeared in the BSB video "As Long As You Love Me." (source : Mtv) "IT'S TRUE" ON BURGER CDs The Backstreet Boys are set to reveal a new track, "It's True," on a series of CDs that will be available exclusively through the fast-food chain Burger King later this month. All three CDs will include "It's True" (which will appear on the group's forthcoming album) as well as nine unreleased live versions of their greatest hits, a mix of studio and a cappella songs, and an interactive CD-ROM component. The Boys will also issue an exclusive 45-minute video, titled "For The Fans," through the burger chain. The tape includes new backstage footage and interviews, as well as live performances of hits including "Larger Than Life," "I Want It That Way," and more. The CDs and video will be sold exclusively at Burger King for a recommended price of $2.99 each with the purchase of a value meal. The offer kicks off August 28 and will continue until the stock sells out. (source : Mtv) BSB ALBUM SCHEDULED ON NOV 21, 2000. According to an interview with Howie Dorough in the Swedish paper "Aftonbladet," the band recorded seven songs in that country with producer Max Martin, including "three up-beat, two half-calm songs and two ballads." Dorough told the publication that the album is half-finished. The band's publicist told MTV News that the next BSB album is expected out before the year's end (source : Mtv) BRIAN REUNITED WITH STOLEN PETS Brian Littrell, was reunited with his pets over the weekend. The missing dogs, named Lil' Tyk Thomas and Litty Leigh, were recovered late Sunday night from separate locations in the Atlanta area. Both dogs were said to be nervous and hungry, but otherwise fine. Littrell, who had just wrapped recording sessions in Sweden, returned home in time to launch a massive search effort. According to the spokesperson, Littrell and Wallace drove to two different counties with law enforcement personnel to retrieve their missing pets after receiving a phone tip that apparently was made by one of the dognappers. While Lil' Tyk was recovered without incident, the younger Litty Leigh proved to be more of a problem when the woman in possession of the puppy didn't want to give her up. It's still not clear exactly why the dogs were taken, the spokesperson said, as the women in question offered up several different stories. The spokesperson added that Littrell and Wallace will not be pressing charges, as "they're just happy to have Tyk and Litty back." (source : Mtv) DOGNAPPING Two tiny blond Chihuahuas belonging to Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell and his actress fiancée, Leighanne Wallace, have been snatched from the couple's home near Atlanta. At press time, a spokesperson for the band confirmed that the couple's dogs, a 4 lb. male named Lil' Tyk Thomas and a 3 lb. female named Litty Leigh, were still missing. According to Littrell, who called Atlanta radio station Star 94 on Friday morning to talk about the theft, the dogs were taken on Wednesday, apparently by two teenage girls who trespassed onto the couple's property. Littrell told the station that a "generous reward" was being offered for the dogs' safe return.(source : Mtv) BRIAN ACTS IN MOVIE Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell and fiance Leighanne Wallace are devastated because no one will distribute their debut movie. Littrell was "really uncomfortable and nervous" when he shot a cameo role in fiance Wallace's new flick because the Backstreet Boy knows he is a "really bad actor." Littrell, along with fellow boyband member AJ McLean, appear in the independent movie in the popstars debut film role. And, while Littrell has co-produced and recorded the soundtrack for the flick, the singer was shaking with nerves when he had to act. Wallace says, "I gave Brian a couple of lines in the movie. It is a romantic comedy and Brian drives a horse and buggie in it. I think he enjoyed it but it was really uncomfortable for him because he doesn't know what he is doing." And Wallace and Littrell are now devastated as the flick has failed to find an American distributer. Wallace adds, "We are upset because we can't find anyone to distribute the movie. Some of my friends told me ET didn't get distribution for a really long time which makes me feel better. Every day it gets better but we just can't find anyone to do it."(source : teenhollywood) KEVIN GETS HITCHED Kevin Richardson married his longtime girlfriend Kristin Willits on Saturday. Richardson, who was named "Sexiest Pop Star" by "People" magazine last November, closed the deal on his eight-year relationship at a small, private ceremony at the Cathedral Domain in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, a rep for the band confirmed. All of Kevin's fellow Backstreet Boys were in attendance at the service. Along with Richardson, BSB Brian Littrell revealed his engagement to MTV News earlier this year, though there's no word yet on when Littrell is expected to make his own trip down the aisle.(source : Mtv) BSB SET UP STUDIO TIME It's downtime for the Backstreet Boys... until July 1, that is, when the guys are slated to walk into a studio in Sweden to officially begin work on their next album with producer Max Martin. "We've been in the studio already, writing and doing some demos, but I think these are going to be some actual takes that we're going to do for mastering for the album," Backstreet's Howie D. recently told MTV News. "I've heard the stuff already from Sweden, and I've written a couple of things myself along with the guys. We just did a trip down to the Bahamas, where we all five wrote together for the first time as a group, and hopefully we've got a lot of great stuff that we're going to surprise everybody with." (source : Mtv) AJ REVEALED ABOUT BSB NEW ALBUM AJ recently visited MTV's Total Request Live set with Carson Daly. He revealed that the new BSB album, slated for a mid-September release, will have some rock, R&B, hip hop and some country rolled all into one. Meanwhile, the Boys are just writing right now. "Howie [Dorough]'s working with Babyface," on some songs for the upcoming album. AJ also revealed that Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson's instrumental talents will be displayed on the album. AJ has been spending his downtime raising money and awareness for VH1's Save The Music campaign as alter-ego "Johnny No Name." So far, AJ has raised for than $150, 000 for the campaign through his solo performances. AJ is slated to join the Boys back in the studios July 1. (source : bsbblvd) NICK UNLOADS COUCH Three lucky, deep-pocketed fans will soon be able to lounge the Backstreet Boys way after shelling out a combined $1,600 for portions of a couch once owned by the group's Nick Carter. Carter put three pieces of his sectional sofa on the online auction block on Sunday for the benefit of the Tampa Children's Hospital. The Backstreet blond autographed the noteworthy furniture before putting it on the block with the help of Tampa's Brandon Ford and WFTS ABC Channel 28. In the realm of boy band bidding, the items went for a relative song, as the sofa's middle section went to Fawn from Albuquerque for $650; one end went to Holly from Savannah, Georgia for $500; and the other end went to Stacy from Allen Park, Michigan for $450. The auction was the brainchild of Brandon Ford honcho Paul Levin, a neighbor and friend of Carter's who encouraged the singer to put his furniture on the auction block. On a more musical note, Carter and his Backstreet counterparts are expected to release their next album in mid-September. (source : Mtv) BRIAN SURROUNDED BY FANS Brian Littrell and fiancee Leighanne Wallace popped into the Sandy Plains Road K-Mart in Atlanta to buy pool party supplies when word got out around the store that Brian was in the store. When the couple attempted to leave the store with their purchases, a theif decided to use the commotion over Brian as an oppurtunity to steal a TV set. Security alarms went off and employees successfully caught the thief. Although the theif was caught, Brian was briefly detained when the cashier ringing up Brian's purchases was a little distacted and forgot to deactivate one of the security tags of Brian's purchases. Once everything was back in order, Brian and Leighanne went their way. The cashier, who was a teenager, is planning to keep the pen that Brian wrote with. K-Mart later confirmed that Brian was "in here only as a customer." (source : Bsbblvd) NICK CARTER AUCTIONS COUCH Backstreet Boy and current Tampa resident Nick Carter is auctioning off his autographed sectional couch to benefit the Tampa Children's Hospital. The couch is split into three sections, and each individual autographed piece is up for bid. The auction is taking place in conjunction with the Brandon Ford dealership (brandonford.com) and Tampa television station WFTS ABC 28 (wfts.com). (source : Starsplash) THE ONE The Backstreet Boys latest video, "The One" has been played on everybody's local music station. The video is compiled of highlights from the Boys' "Into The Millennium" tour, both behind the scenes and in the spotlight. This is a different video for the Boys compared to their other videos such as "Larger Than Life" and "I Want It That Way." If you haven't seen the video yet, you can check "The One" as well as other Backstreet Boys videos at MTV's website. (source : Mtv) BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS The Backstreet Boys were the top winner at the Sixth Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Tuesday (May 9), as they scored two awards. The Backstreet Boys' Millennium scored wins in the Favorite CD - Internet Only and the Favorite Group - Pop categories. (source : Allstar) AJ NOT ENGAGED Backstreet Boy McLean is not engaged to his girlfriend Amanda Latona. The official Backstreet Boys Band website www.bsbband.com says of McLean's romance: "Although he feels very close to Amanda, and hopes that she will turn out to be the one that he shares his life with, he feels that they are both too young to make a decision like getting married right now. And they have no plans to do so in the immediate future. A.J. says that he wants to settle down and have kids at some point, but not now." (source : Launch.com) OFFICIAL BSB BOOK DUE IN JULY 5 Backstreet Boys: The Official Book - the first and only book authorized by the group hits retailers nationwide on July 5. "I think it is high time that we give back to our fans what they honestly deserve - which is to be closer to us and to be a part of our lives as much as we are a part of theirs. Backstreet Boys: The Official Book is the official book, from our perspective with our input." - AJ. The 128-page book, will carry a suggested retail price of $14.95 and under each of the book's photographs are brief captions by the group members. The book has scheduled first printing of 500,000 copies to meet the demand of the band's millions of fans nationwide. (source : Launch.com) HOWIE DUET WITH SISTER Howie Dorough is going to help his sister Pollyanna to release a single titled "Fly To Heaven". He and his sister recorded a song that is about his sister Caroline Dorough-Cochran, who passed away in 1998 from lupus. "Eventually what we want to do is hopefully make that a single and make all the proceeds go to the Lupus Foundation, to raise money for the awareness of the disease and just to hopefully give back to the people." Dorough has been collaborating on songwriting and producing with Pollyanna on the project for the past year. The sibling duo currently has a four-track EP, but is not yet widely available. The collection features "Fly To Heaven," "Andale Mi Corazon," "Take Me Away," and "Don't Wanna Live My Life Without You." (source : Launch.com) HOWIE IN A MOVIE Howie Dorough is starring in an upcoming movie called "Bloom" where he plays a town bullie who picks on young boys gearing up for his bar mitzvah. The movie is expected to start shooting later this year, although no actors officially have signed on to the project. Dorough made his big-screen debut at age 15 in director Ron Howard's 1989 Steve Martin comedy "Parenthood." (source : SonicNet) AJ TOURING AS JOHNNY NO-NAME Bsb tour is over and AJ is going to be hitting the road in US by himself as Johnny No Name. The Johnny No Name tour, which benefits VH1's youth charity the Save the Music Foundation, is scheduled to wrap up on April 9 in New York. [More...] (source : Backstreetboys.com & SonicNet) BACKSTREET'S BURGER? The Backstreet Boys have teamed up with Burger King for a promo deal which gives the fast food chain the rights to sell the band's exclusive video and CD. It will feature an advance single from the fourth album and 5 never released before live songs taken from BSB's previous tours. (source : Lime) BRIAN & KEVIN GETTING ENGAGED Yup! Scream your lungs out. This is nothing but the truth and who's the lucky misses? Brian is engaged to Leighance Wallace ( a blond actress who is 6 years older than Brian) Kev got engaged on Valentine's Day to blond Kristin Willits ( a dancer for Cher ) The 28 years old hunk says he and Willits have dated on and off for 8 years since they met at Disney World. "She knew me when I was a Ninja Turtle" - Kev. In Nick's opinion, Brian & Kev will make a very good, all-round, strict dads. (source : StarSplash & Lime ) BACKSTREET PROJECT Nick Carter and Stan Lee has created a comic book featuring the Backstreet boys. Basically, the comic book is about the superhero adventures of the boys. Each of them have their own mutant power.[More...] (source : Backstreetboys.com) HOWIE HAS A WEBSITE If you're a Sweet D freak, go and check out his very own official website www.howied.com You can find pictures, recipes from mama D and lots more. So, what are you waiting for?! (source : Lime)