Millennium by Backstreet Boys

Millennium, the Backstreet Boys' third studio album, landed on Jive in 1999 as their first worldwide release, and it's the record that turned the Orlando five into superstars. Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson brought the harmonies; Max Martin and Rami Yacoub brought the machinery.

"I Want It That Way" is the anchor, a gleaming ballad with a hook that sticks like chewing gum, and the rest glides from glossy pop and soft rock to smooth R&B, every chorus buffed to a showroom shine. The numbers were absurd: 11 million shipped in the US in 1999 alone, a record for a single year, 24 million sold worldwide, a diamond certification, five Grammy nominations including Album of the Year, and the Into the Millennium Tour, one of the quickest earners the road has ever seen. A remastered Millennium 2.0, padded out with B-sides, live tracks and demos, followed in July 2025.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.