And while BSB admits they've mostly cleaned up their act (except for cussing onstage here and there), they believe the new wave of recording artists has it much easier nowadays.
McLean continued, "But, the fame now—it's like night and day. The other side of that which was different for us: Without social media, without YouTube, without instant access, we had to do everything grassroots. We had to do every interview, every radio show, every outlet. We had to go to every country—that was the only way to do it. There was no Instagram, or posting things on YouTube to get a record deal."
Speaking about his experience at a One Direction concert, Howie also explained, "The new wave of boy band says, 'Oh, we don't do what they do.' But to be honest, to me, it's not as entertaining. What we do is we truly entertain people. Music, staging, dancing, everything."
This, Carter shared, is why Backstreet Boys has maintained their success decades after other groups have fizzled out.
"I think that's why we're still here in a lot of ways. Because it was always about a show. Regardless, we could always make great music and we could have hits. But whenever we hit the stage, we had to give a show that people would remember and that stood on its own," he recalled.
Biebs and 1D: Care to comment?