The Backstreet Boys‘ upcoming holiday special will be filled with familiar faces. Seth Rogen will narrate “A Very Backstreet Holiday” on ABC, while Meghan Trainor, Rob Riggle, Nikki Glaser, Ron Funches and Atsuko Okatsuka are all scheduled to make appearances.
Rogen first met the band in 2013 when he invited them to be a part of “This Is the End,” the comedy he wrote, produced and starred in.
“I stayed in touch with Seth after we shot ‘This Is the End’,” AJ McLean tells PvNew. “We collectively — us and ABC — have been reaching out to special guests and putting together our dream list to see who was available. Seth was into it! We haven’t even heard what he does as the narrator.”
BSB also worked with Rogen on his charity, Hilarity for Charity, which raises money for Alzheimer’s. “He was like, ‘If you guys ever need anything, let me know,'” Kevin Richardson recalls. “So we’re like, ‘Remember that offer?'”
“A Very Backstreet Holiday,” set to air on ABC on Dec. 14, will feature McLean, Richardson, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough, as they celebrate the festive season and perform hit classics off of their tenth album, “A Very Backstreet Christmas.”
After what the world has been through over the last few years, the band agreed that now was the time to release their first Christmas album and have the special.
“I think the Backstreet Boys bring a very nostalgic feeling from a particular time in their lives that are so special to them and important,” says Carter of the fans’ connection to the music. “Everyone in the world knows a lot of Christmas songs, they’ve grown up with them and they celebrate the holidays together. They’re just a part of people’s lives so we’re just happy to have a little part of that.”
The band had discussed recording a holiday album for years but now, they “finally had the time,” says Richardson. According to Littrell, they all came together to figure out “how to Backstrify” the classics and made sure that each singer had a chance to shine on the record, so that every fan is satisfied. In addition to some classic favorites, the album includes original tracks, “Christmas in New York,” “Together” and “Happy Days.”
“A Very Backstreet Holiday” airs on ABC Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. ET.
