Can you believe that 17 years ago today, the Backstreet Boys’ released their follow-up to “Millennium,” “Black and Blue?” It was also 17 years ago that they landed in New York after their 100 hour tour around the world to celebrate the release and meet with fans from every continental.
The first week the album was released, it sold over 5 million copies globally, making it have the best international sales in a week for an album in history. In the U.S., it sold 1.6 million copies in the first week, breaking ‘NSync’s “No Strings Attached,” and made the group the first in Soundscan history to have two million-plus sales weeks with back to back albums.
So far, according to Wikipedia, the album has sold 24 million copies world wide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
To promote the album, the group went on a 100 hour world tour in a Backstreet Boys’ branded 757. The trip found them in Stockholm, Sweden for the MTV Europe Awards and then flew to Tokyo, Japan. From Tokyo, they went down under to Sydney, Australia and then Cape Town, South Africa. From South Africa, they went to Rio de Janiero, South America and then on to New York City.
The entire trip was documented in a VHS (and now DVD) released called “Around The World,” where it shows the boys’ in each stop with exclusive interviews and behind the scenes footage. (Click here to buy a copy on DVD from Amazon.)
Here are a few videos from that Nov. 21, 2000 or that week leading up to the album release.
[AdSense-B]
2000 – MTV Diary
2000 – Backstreet Boys listening to “Black & Blue” in a van after leaving the airport
2001 – Nov. 21 – MTV Special – Backstreet Over Broadway
2000 – MTV Special – TRL presents the Best of Backstreet
2000 – Australia TV Special for “Black & Blue”
2000 – MTV Europe Awards performance of “Shape of My Heart”
2000 – MTV Europe Secret Diary (almost same as USA MTV Diary)
Backstreet Boys in Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXpH23AIROg
