Boybands come and go, but while they’re around, there’s always intense debate about them. What’s their best song? Who’s the best singer? Who’s the hottest member? At the risk of inciting a throng of angry millennial fangirls, people even fight about the least popular members. Even influential boybands like Backstreet Boys fall prey to this. And people want to know: Who could be the least popular Backstreet Boy?

The Backstreet Boys, as is known by most people who were pre-teens in the early ’90s, is Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson. The group formed in 1993, though it wasn’t until 1996 that they released their first album, unsurprisingly titled Backstreet Boys. They followed this with Backstreet’s Back the next year. Those two albums together made the Backstreet Boys not just insanely popular, but also put them on the path to becoming the biggest-selling boyband of all time. Over the course of their whole career, the Backstreet Boys have sold more than 100 million records, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

Most fans have their favorite member. Littrell and Carter often took the lead in the singing department, plus Carter had that pretty boy blond thing going for him. McLean had bad-boy energy, and, at least according to The Cut, Richardson is actually the hottest member because he looks good with or without facial hair. That leaves Dorough, who is sometimes considered the least popular member of the Backstreet Boys, despite his talents and good looks.

He still released solo albums

According to The Columbus Dispatch, Dorough knows he’s not the most popular Backstreet Boy. Despite this, other members of the group understand how important he is to the success of the band; Carter even called him “the man of the group.”

Dorough joined the band when it started. He told The Columbus Dispatch that he first met McLean during that time and was one of the first members of the group. As the group gained popularity, several other members began releasing solo albums. In 2002, the Backstreet Boys decided to leave their management company The Firm, wrote The New York Times, because they felt they weren’t getting sufficient attention. But Carter stayed because he wanted to go solo, and the company promised to support him. At this time, McLean went into rehab. A few years later, Richardson left the group.

So the Backstreet Boys went on hiatus. Dorough felt this was the perfect time to start working on his own album too. The Columbus Dispatch said Dorough wanted this first album to reflect more of his Latin roots. Dorough, after all, is of Puerto Rican and Irish descent. But he realized his Spanish wasn’t fantastic and didn’t want to pretend to be something that he isn’t. In the end, Dorough took four years before he released his first solo album, Back to Me, in 2011. The album generated one moderate hit in Canada. He released a second album in 2019.

He never really liked being in the background

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Dorough understands that he was more in the background in the group. He told Grammy.com that he struggled with being in the shadow within the band. He said he never wanted to be a background singer, and when Backstreet first started, he was more of a lead singer. But, he noted, he’s made peace with that, and besides, the other members really want him to step more into the spotlight. Especially after Richardson left, Dorough began working harder to be more in the lead.

These days, the Backstreet Boys are all back together, Richardson included. And even though Dorough released a new solo album recently, he maintains the Backstreet Boys remains his priority when it comes to music. Dorough also has a family to take care of. He has two kids with his wife, Leigh; in fact, his most recent album is more of the family-friendly sort, which can also appeal to his children. He’s working on a musical, called Howie D: Back in the Day, that’s loosely based on his life. The show premiered in early 2020 in Nebraska.

Unfortunately, people want to rank members of a group as the best and least, and for that, Dorough always knew he’d be in the shadow of the Backstreet Boys’ more popular members. Well, if he wants to bask in more fame, maybe he can also join Dancing with the Stars, like other members, and be in the limelight.