Maps of Music

A Very Backstreet Christmas (2022)

Where the lyrics of A Very Backstreet Christmas take you, and where it was really made.

The album was finished in 2021, but COVID-19 made it miss its production deadline, so it came out in October 2022 instead.

Place unknown

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A Very Backstreet Christmas: tenth studio album by the Backstreet Boys, ninth in the United States
First Christmas album by the group
Released October 14, 2022
Originally scheduled for 2021; COVID-19 pushed the release back
Mix of Christmas standards and three original songs: Christmas in New York, Together, Happy Days
Lead single: a cover of Wham!'s 1984 hit Last Christmas

Christmas album announced on April 8, 2019
Reaffirmed on Watch What Happens Live! in February 2020, when the band said it was negotiating with its record label
The pandemic stopped production, so the album slipped to 2021
The DNA World Tour was also postponed by the pandemic
Work on the first Christmas album began in March 2021
Recording started on May 5, 2021
On August 11, 2021, Kevin Richardson announced that vocal recording was finished for a top secret project, believed to be this album
On August 14, 2021, Nick Carter revealed that recording was complete
The album missed its production deadline and was rescheduled for late 2022
The band canceled its 2021 holiday residency in Las Vegas
Inspiration came from artists such as Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey
Happy Days was inspired by Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop The Feeling

1	White Christmas	2:45
2	The Christmas Song	3:41
3	Winter Wonderland	1:41
4	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas	3:30
5	Last Christmas	3:47
6	O Holy Night	3:27
7	This Christmas	3:16
8	Same Old Lang Syne	4:26
9	Silent Night	2:43
10	I’ll Be Home for Christmas	3:06
11	Christmas in New York	4:33
12	Together	3:23
13	Happy Days	3:20

Formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida, as an American vocal group and pop boy band.
Members Howie Dorough and AJ McLean met through a vocal coach; Nick Carter was found through auditions.
Cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson, both from Lexington, Kentucky, joined; Littrell formally joined on April 20, 1993, which became the group's anniversary.
Manager Lou Pearlman named them after Orlando's Backstreet Market flea market.

AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell (1993–present).
Kevin Richardson (1993–2006, 2012–present); he left in 2006 and rejoined in 2012.

Debut album Backstreet Boys (1996) was a hit in Europe; the US self-titled album followed in 1997.
Millennium (1999), led by the global hit "I Want It That Way", made them superstars; the album sold over 12 million copies in the US.
Black & Blue (2000) and The Hits – Chapter One (2001) followed; a two-year hiatus came after.
Comeback album Never Gone (2005) and later albums Unbreakable (2007), This Is Us (2009), In a World Like This (2013), and DNA (2019, debuting at number one).
Sold over 150 million records worldwide, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Held Las Vegas residencies Larger Than Life (2017–2019) and Into the Millennium at Sphere (2025).

AllMusic editor Neil Z. Yeung rated the album three and a half stars out of five
Yeung wrote that the quintet's harmonies and vocal control, honed over decades, still carry the record
Yeung singled out the closing trio of originals, saying they bring nostalgic magic and bridge the group's soul/R&B and dance-pop sides
Barney Harsent of The Arts Desk gave the album one star out of five
Harsent wrote that the album sounds far less interesting than its premise suggests
Harsent found the joy replaced by saccharine sweetness and the fun replaced by earnest emoting
Harsent concluded that the album gives absolutely nothing in return

US Billboard 200 debut and peak: number 17, with first-week sales of 20,000 equivalent album units
First Backstreet Boys album to miss the Billboard 200 top ten
Entered the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart at number one
Reached the top five in Canada
Reached the top ten in Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK Independent Albums Chart
Last Christmas peaked at number one on the US Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart, the band's third topper there
Christmas in New York reached number 19 on the US Adult Contemporary chart

The album's first single, a cover of Wham!'s Last Christmas, hit number one on the US Adult Contemporary airplay chart, the band's first chart-topper there since I Want It That Way in 1999.
A related TV special, A Very Backstreet Holiday, was pulled from airing and streaming after sexual assault allegations against Nick Carter; Carter has since filed a $2.5 million defamation counterclaim.
Christmas in New York, written by Gary Baker and others, was the second single and got a claymation music video.
Happy Days was inspired by Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop The Feeling.
The Christmas album was originally slated for 2021 and was delayed to 2022 because of COVID-19.