Backstreet Boys and NKOTB Bring Boy Band Heat to Vegas
New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys are launching separate Las Vegas residencies—no rivalry, just big plans and bigger stages.
Las Vegas is turning into a boy band capital this summer. Two of the most iconic pop groups of the '90s—New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys—are setting up camp on the Strip with major residencies, just weeks apart.
On Friday, June 20, NKOTB—made up of Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, and brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight—kicked off their first-ever Vegas residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys—Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, and Howie Dorough—are preparing for a high-tech residency at the Sphere beginning July 11.
Naturally, people are curious: Is there any competition between the two?
“We don't talk to them,” McIntyre joked in an interview with E! News. “They can take their big fat sphere and stick it up...” he added with a laugh, quickly clarifying, “No, I'm kidding.”
Donnie Wahlberg was quick to set the record straight: “We love those guys. There's no competition with us.”
Instead, NKOTB is focused on putting together a one-of-a-kind experience for fans. Wahlberg said the show is designed specifically for Vegas: “The entire show is going to be unique. We are crafting it specifically for Vegas and adding things that, in many ways, we can only do in Vegas and are inspired by Vegas.”
McIntyre promised the residency would start strong. “We’re going to have a beautiful, wonderful kickoff,” he said. “This sounds funny, but we've played prisons. We have played prisons, and when we played a prison, we were playing for the prisoners... We played for the house that we’re playing for and I think we’re going to get off on that in a little way.”
Earlier this year, Jonathan Knight told PEOPLE the new show, titled The Right Stuff, would stand out from their past tours. “Vegas is going to be insane,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be very different from other shows that we did. I mean, we are in Vegas, so it’s a little more upscale, a little more sexy. And the stage is absolutely huge.”
Backstreet Boys are equally excited about their run at the Sphere. “When this opportunity came to us to do the Sphere, it just made sense,” Howie Dorough told PEOPLE in February. “It’s a comeback on the next level. You can’t get any bigger than the Sphere.”
With both residencies offering their own unique flair, Las Vegas seems more than ready to welcome both groups—and their fans.
