Millennium (Backstreet Boys album)
Millennium is the third studio album (second in the United States) by American boy band Backstreet Boys, released by Jive Records on May 18, 1999. It was a highly anticipated follow-up to both their U.S. self-titled debut album and their second internationally-released album, Backstreet's Back (1997). It was their first album to be released in both the United States and internationally in the same form, at the same time.
Millennium
May 18, 1999
October 1998 – March 1999
- Battery (New York City, New York)
- Parc (Orlando, Florida)
- Cheiron & Polar (Stockholm, Sweden)
46:00
- Max Martin
- Kristian Lundin
- Rami Yacoub
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange
- Patrik "The Hitmaker" Lindqvist
- Stephen Lipson
- Mattias Gustafsson
- Timmy Allen
- Edwin "Tony" Nicholas
- Eric Foster White
Millennium held the record for most shipments in one year, with 11 million shipments sold in the United States in 1999. It was nominated for five Grammy Awards and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling 24 million copies worldwide. The Backstreet Boys promoted Millennium through the Into the Millennium Tour, which became one of the fastest-grossing tours of all time.
Background[edit]
Following the release of their first US album Backstreet Boys and second international album Backstreet's Back selling a combined 27 million copies worldwide, the Backstreet Boys were met with critics accusing them of being a "flash in the pan" and misconceptions that they earned a lot of money. From 1997 to 1998, the band filed a lawsuit against manager Lou Pearlman, stating that they only received $300,000 from recording and touring while he kept over $10 million. Pearlman claimed to be the "sixth Backstreet Boy", and revealed to them that he managed rival boy band NSYNC, who sold over 6 million copies of their debut album, stating that "it's business".[2] On September 18, 1998, the band left their management company Wright Stuff, which was formerly associated with Pearlman's record company Trans Continental Records.[3]
During the same period, the band also dealt with personal tragedies; Kevin Richardson suffered two family deaths,[4] Brian Littrell needed to undergo open heart surgery,[2] Howie Dorough lost his sister from lupus,[5] and the band's producer Denniz Pop died of stomach cancer. The album was initially titled Larger Than Life, which Dorough described as "almost like a thank-you song for all they've done" because they were always supporting the band.[4]
Commercial performance[edit]
Millennium debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, where it remained for 10 non-consecutive weeks. It sold 1,134,000 copies in its first week of release, breaking the previous Nielsen SoundScan record held by Garth Brooks for single-week record sales.[20] This record was subsequently overtaken in 2000 by NSYNC with the release of No Strings Attached.[21] Millennium sold nearly 500,000 copies in the US on its first day alone, setting a record for first-day sales,[22] and became the best-selling album of 1999, selling 9,445,732 albums.[23] It remained on the Billboard chart for 93 weeks, eventually selling over 13 million copies in the United States and being certified 13 times platinum.[24]
As of 2023, the album stands as the sixth best selling album in the United States of the SoundScan era with 12.3 million units sold.[25] In 2003 it was also reported as being the fourth biggest seller for Music Club sales in the US over the past 14 years with sales of 1.59 million, though these sales are not included in SoundScan's total.[26] In Canada, Millennium was the seventh biggest selling album since 1995 in the Canadian Soundscan sales era up to end of December 2007,[27] while in Japan, sales reached 1 million according to Billboard.[28] In 2015, Millennium became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling 24 million copies worldwide.[29]
Notes