First off, 1999 was the year you announced that you had a girlfriend - why did you decide to do that?
In the beginning our careers were so important cos we were just starting out but once you get to a certain level you realise that it's not about making everyone else around you happy. All the success in the world isn't worth it if you don't have someone to share it with, someone that will treat you the same no matter what. In the beginning I had a girlfriend off and on but it was something that I didn't want to talk about.
Why not?
I never knew what the outcome would be because I was never home and I was trying to deal with the BSB schedule - although I guess there are ups and downs in any relationship.
So what's changed?
Now I'm at a point in my life where I'm 24 years old and I have to do things outside of Backstreet Boys. That's just my career and there is a life outside of the group. As big as it may seem and as lush and interesting as the whole thing is I'm just a real person.
Was it hard to admit to the fans that you have a girlfriend?
Not really. The more honest
you are at the beginning
the more they respect
you. Ever since we
started out, I've
never had anything
to hide because
that's just not my
personality. If you
want to know
something I'll tell you,
but there are some
things that I'll keep to
myself because I don't
want the whole world to
know. 1 have to have a
private life. I'm not going
to tell someone where I'm
going on my vacation so
that they can show up there
because that's the whole
point of having a
vacation! But I never
really got any backlash
from the fans.
Do you ever look to
see what people are
saying about you on
the internet?
Oh yeah, I'm on the
internet a lot actually. I've seen a lot of things
saying that my girlfriend is a witch with a 'b' It gets
lonely and it's good to have someone to share all this
with and someone to talk to and bounce things off.
How can the fans support you more?
They should say, 'He's a grown man and he's got to do
things that witch make him happy.' If they want to show
us real support then the fans will be happy for us
because we are just human, we have
normal lives. I'm not a teenage girl and I never have been a
teenage girl so it's kind of hard for me to understand what goes through their heads.
You've been involved in a lot of charity work this year...
I've started a heart endowment programme for kids and it's been raising a lot
money. It's called Brian Littrells Healthy Hearts for Kids. I recently
met 3 ladies who have started a European foundation and it's somettring we can eventuatly do worldwide. So far we've raised quite a lot of money for little kids and now we're trying to decides who's going to receive the money to have surgery because we get calls from people every day.
How do you feet about your latest album now we're at the start of the new millennium?
Very pleased. I co-wrote Lrger Than Life,
The One and The Perfect fan. AJ and I
worked on It's Gotta Be You, as well as Kevin's song, Back To Your Heart
The Perfect Fan is all about your Mom. You must be really proud of that particular song...
It was a milestone in my career. We put
lot of work into it and I wanted it to be a song that everybody could relate to. Whether you're a Little-bitty boy or girl looking at your mum and thinking, 'Wow, you did a lot for me, mum', or you're old and your parents have passed away. It was just a big thank you to my mum.
What inspires you?
Feelings that I have. When I was going through a relationship thing with my ex-girlfriend I wrote the song Where Can We Go From Here? It's a sad love song that everybody can relate to. It's about a confusion in your life when you have to decide what to do or to go and how you achieve the goals you want to
You've become the musician of the band...
I wouldn't say that. Song writing kind of comes easy to me. I've written a Lot of songs but not many of them have been
finished or produced because I don't have much time.
Are there any you'd like to see finished in the year 2000?
I'm probably going to be working with my older brother on some material. It's going to be country music actually, so
it'll be interesting to write. I've written some country songs for him already so when we qet some time off to relax I'll
go into a studio and spend some time with him.
With all the things you've said about your music, your girlfriend and the importance of
being happy, it sounds like you're the most likely member to Leave the band...
No! There will be a time when we'll all want to do our own things but that doesn't mean we're going to break up. It'll just be a
designated time we all decide on, whether we want to follow solo careers, get married and start a family, go back to school, or act
in a movie. Some of the guys want to do that. I know Howie and AJ are working with different people and we're a[t planning to
do that in the future. It doesn't mean every song I write has to go to the Backstreet Boys. I wouldn't mind putting a solo album
together but I don't know that I'm really ready for that!
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Brian Thomas Littrell ~ The Golden Voiced Backstreet Boy
- Established Jan 1999 -
