Backstreet's back.
All five of the Backstreet Boys -- Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough -- reunited on the "Good Morning America" summer concert stage on Friday and had some big announcements for fans, including a new album and a Backstreet Boys cruise.
"Well, 2013 is going to be a big year for us," BSB's Richardson said on "GMA." In 2006, Richardson quit the band after 13 years. But now the boys are back. "It's our 20th anniversary. We're in the studio right now working on an album. So we are gonna have that ready, hopefully, for the beginning of next year."
McLean interjected to make another special announcement to the crowd at Central Park: "Next year, just so you guys know, there will be a BSB cruise next year, in October, with all five."
Backstreet later reconfirmed the cruise on Twitter.
A cruise!? Music cruises are not that uncommon. Big names stars like Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, KISS, Dave Matthews, Frankie Avalon and R. Kelly have taken to the high seas.
"The rise of the music cruise has been an unexpected bright spot," wrote the New York Times' Joe Levy in March. "It remains a surprise to many people that for somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 a day, you can vacation with your favorite rock stars for a few days, lie in the sun and eat as much as you want, but there is an ever-expanding roster of music cruises."
Fans love the experience.
"To interact with them at the pool or run into them at a midnight buffet after they had performed was just a great experience," a vacationer who saw Kenny Chesney perform on a cruise to the Caribbean told The Associated Press back in 2007. "It's the ultimate VIP ticket," Ray Waddell, who covers the concert industry for Billboard magazine, added. "Anyone with a dedicated, loyal fan base is fair game for this."
Now, the Backstreet Boys are trying their hand at a concert cruise in 2013 to mark their reunion and two decades as a band.
The band closed the "GMA" summer concert series right before Labor Day weekend and the official end of summer, marking a momentous moment for BSB, who formed in Orlando, Fla., 20 years ago.
"I'm a person that always follows my heart and follows my gut. My heart said, 'Nows the time,'" Richardson said Friday. "It just felt right. I feel inspired to make music again with these guys."
The Backstreet Boys are currently living together in London recording a new studio album together, Us Weekly reported in July. And, for them, it's just like old times.
"It's awesome, it really is," Carter said in an interview last month. "The vibe is fantastic. It's just been really organic. It's like never before. It's revitalized. We're living in a house together out here at the moment. We wake up, have breakfast together. We're not sick of each other at all!"
Want to know if your favorite pop act is reuniting in 2012? Check out the slideshow below.
