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That Time I Stood Next To Nick Carter and Didn’t Even Know Who He Was
Who the hell are the Backstreet Boys?
I was on vacation in Spain. My wife and I saw a crowd of young girls yelling something. We couldn’t make it out. In retrospect, it became clear that they were yelling “Backstreet Boys.”
Later in the trip, exiting our hotel, we saw some young guys including one standing next to me who was packing up a guitar or something. I don’t really remember what. The crowd of girls were yelling “Backstreet Boys” and “Nick.” I did get that they were yelling “Nick” although I didn’t know who Nick was, even though he was right next to me.
The Backstreet Boys weren’t big in America yet, but the girls of Spain sure knew who they were. And, at my age, I didn’t know what young people TODAY were listening to — like most people throughout history, my musical tastes were determined when I was a teen — like these girls who were excited about the Backstreet Boys.
With the news of Nick Carter’s brother Aaron dying at 34, I thought back to that trip to Spain. We went to Madrid and Barcelona. I remember much of the trip, but forgot our encounter with the Backstreet Boys until I read the recent headline. I remember noticing that Nick looked a little nervous, uncomfortable with the attention. It was early in his stardom, and he was very young…
