Band · The Best-Selling Boy Band of All Time
Most frequent collaborator: Martin Karl Sandberg · 25 tracks
Holds writing credit on 27 of 110 tracks
Mostly no. The Backstreet Boys are a vocal group, and only about a quarter of the tracks across their albums carry a member writing credit. Their biggest hits, including 'I Want It That Way,' 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back),' and 'As Long as You Love Me,' were written for them by outside professionals, above all Max Martin and Sweden's Cheiron Studios team. Members like Brian Littrell did co-write some later material, such as 'Larger Than Life.'
Across all 110 tracks: how many Backstreet Boys wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
Share of all 110 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Percentage of all 110 tracks, across every album, where each member holds a credit - split by role.
| Member | Period | Lyrics | Music | Production | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ McLean | 1993-present | 10% |
10% |
0% |
100% |
| Howie Dorough | 1993-present | 15% |
15% |
0% |
100% |
| Nick Carter | 1993-present | 12% |
12% |
0% |
100% |
| Kevin Richardson | 1993-2006, 2012-present | 7% |
7% |
0% |
78% |
| Brian Littrell | 1993-present | 12% |
12% |
1% |
100% |
Backstreet Boys's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
Where Backstreet Boys sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
None of the signature songs above fall in this category.
Jive Records
Jive Records / Trans Continental Records
Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records
Polydor Records
RCA Records
No albums from this decade.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. MK Martin Karl Sandberg · MM Max Martin · TA Timmy Allen · DM Dan Muckala · KL Kristian Lundin · RY Rami Yacoub
Data Insight
The Backstreet Boys' authorship score of roughly 5-10% is among the lowest for any major pop act. Across eight albums, their songwriting credits are sporadic and appear mostly on deeper cuts; the Max Martin/Kristian Lundin/Andreas Carlsson production machine drove nearly every hit, making the Boys almost entirely interpreters rather than composers.
Quick Facts
Creative Fingerprint
A vocal group, not a writers' room: the Backstreet Boys sang songs written for them by Max Martin and Sweden's Cheiron hit factory, with members like Brian Littrell picking up co-writes only on later albums.
The Story
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993, consisting of AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell. They became the best-selling boy band of all time, with global sales exceeding 100 million records, built on the Scandinavian pop factory of Max Martin, Denniz Pop, Kristian Lundin, and Andreas Carlsson. Kevin Richardson departed from 2006 to 2012 before rejoining. Almost all of their biggest hits were written entirely by professional outside songwriters.