The Backstreet Boys will perform on the first day of the Changjiang International Music Festival in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, on April 30. (Photo : Getty Images)
Following its success in May the previous year with performances from German rock legends Scorpions and U.S. singer Demi Lovato, the Changjiang International Music Festival will be returning on April 30 headlined by the Backstreet Boys.
"With such a long performance [of 90 minutes], fans can expect lots of their favorite songs, plus some deepcuts they may have forgotten about," band member Nick Carter said in an interview with China Daily.
Founded in 1993, the Backstreet Boys have become one of the world's bestselling boy bands. The group has raked in more than 145 million record sales with a string of classic hits including "I Want It That Way," "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" and "Everybody."
In 2006, band member Kevin Richardson left to pursue a solo career but has returned to the group in 2012.
"It has been quite a ride. We've grown up together and seen the best and worst of each other," Carter said, adding that the five of them--including Richardson, A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, and Brian Litrell--see themselves more as a family than as a band. "We never could have envisioned the way our journey has played out, but we are happy at the way things have turned out."
Carter also said the group has begun recording their ninth album in 2015 and will return to the studio in the next couple of months.
"Their performance (in China) will be similar to their concerts. Fans will be able to enjoy great shows at a low price--200 yuan ($33) a day," said Tang Xiaolei, a Los Angeles-based performance manager and main producer of the Changjiang International Music Festival.
Aside from the Backstreet Boys, more than 30 singers and bands from China and abroad are also expected to perform at the festival, including Chinese rock musicians Cui Jian and Xu Wei, Singapore pop singer Stefanie Sun and Hong Kong popstar Sandy Lam.
The two-day music festival was established in 2009 by the Zhenjiang Media and Culture Industrial Group in Zhenjiang, a small city on the banks of the Yangtze River in eastern China's Jiangsu Province.
With fans flocking from neighboring cities like Nanjing, Changzhou and Shanghai as well as abroad, the group invested tens of millions of yuan to construct the Shiyezhou Changjiang International Music Island on the Yangtze as the site of the festival.
Tang said the previous festival was a huge success with more than 100,000 attending the event and the number is expected to rise this year.
"Besides the global stars' performances, there was a mix of popular singers and bands catering to all age groups, and we also targeted families," said Tang. "Those elements made our music festival different."
