Millennium is the third studio album by American pop vocal group Backstreet Boys, released by Jive Records on May 18, 1999. It was a highly anticipated follow-up to both their U.S. self-titled 1997 album and their second released album, Backstreet's Back (1997). 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 ever.

Background

Following the release of their 1997 albums Backstreet's Back and Backstreet Boys 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." On September 18, 1998, the band left their management company Wright Stuff, which was formerly associated with Pearlman's record company Trans Continental Records. During the same period, the band also dealt with personal tragedies; Kevin Richardson suffered two family deaths, Brian Littrell needed to undergo open heart surgery, Howie Dorough lost his sister from lupus, 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 always supported the band.

Promotion

Every version of Britney Spears' debut album ...Baby One More Time that was released before Millennium contained previews of three songs as hidden tracks, placed at the end of the album against Spears' wishes. The band appeared on Saturday Night Live and Total Request Live during the album's release date, and filmed a Disney Channel concert special called Backstreet Boys in Concert the same day.

Singles

Four singles were released from the album:

Tour

The album's supporting tour, Into the Millennium Tour, started on June 2, 1999, and ended on March 15, 2000, with a total of 123 shows in 84 cities spanning three legs. Their concert at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, was the fifth most attended concert in American history, and the most attended concert by a pop artist.

Critical reception

Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "Millennium has no pretense of being anything other than an album for the moment, delivering more of everything that made Backstreet's Back a blockbuster." Robert Christgau gave Millennium a two-star honorable mention, stating that the album is "softening it a little up for their younger demographic, sexing it up a little for their own peace of mind," specifically praising "I Want It That Way" and "Larger than Life." Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B−, stating that they have taken risks in their lyrics, as "Teen acts normally can’t acknowledge their romantic power. They have to remain the longing ones in order to seal the twin fantasies of purity and accessibility". Arion Berger of Rolling Stone commented that the album was "prefabricated, too pretty, suspiciously well-choreographed", criticizing Nick Carter's straining vocals on "I Need You Tonight," stating that "It's Gotta Be You" was a rehash of their 1997 single "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and mentioned how "The Perfect Fan" evaporated throughout the song. However, he praised "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely," describing it as "digging its melodic claws into your skull on the first listen [...] it's the swooniest blending of the five vocalists' timbres to date, and mighty pretty besides". Writing for Spin, Joshua Clover criticized the opening track "Larger than Life," stating that it "boogies deftly and punks daftly [...] but huffs fame like glue", while praising other uptempo songs such as "I Want It That Way," "Don't Want You Back," "It's Gotta Be You," and "Spanish Eyes". He concluded by stating that while "the calendar flipping soundtrack" isn't Robbie Williams' song "Millennium" (1998), it 'smashes Silverchair's "Anthem for the Year 2000"' (1999), comparing the band more to Alanis Morissette than NSYNC.

Commercial performance

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. This record was subsequently overtaken in 2000 by NSYNC with the release of No Strings Attached. Millennium sold nearly 500,000 copies in the US on its first day alone, setting a record for first-day sales, and became the best-selling album of 1999, selling 9,445,732 albums. 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. 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. 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. In Canada, Millennium was the seventh biggest selling album since 1995 in the Canadian Soundscan sales era up to end of December 2007, while in Japan, sales reached 1 million according to Billboard. In 2015, Millennium became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling 24 million copies worldwide.

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Credits for Millennium adapted from AllMusic and album's liner notes. Backstreet Boys Additional musicians Technical Design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales