Why The Backstreet Boys' Record Label Wanted To Change Their Biggest Hit Song

"I Want It That Way" will go down in history as one of the most iconic songs of the '90s and the hit that put the Backstreet Boys on the map. The song came out on the Backstreet Boys' third album, "Millennium," and effectively launched the boy band into the stratosphere, but it could've sounded completely different if their record label had its way. 

One aspect of the song that sparked public intrigue was the ambiguous lyrics. "I never want to hear you say, 'I want it that way,'" is repeated throughout the chorus, and the implications of that line has been questioned since the song's release in 1999, even to the band members. "First of all the song makes no sense," remarked AJ McLean on a 2020 episode of "Watch What Happens Live" (via Instagram) when asked what the vague lyrics imply. "There was a completely different version of the song that actually made sense and thankfully we decided to go back to the one that didn't make sense. I don't think it would've been as big as it was, had it made sense."

Chances are, they were right. AJ McLean appeared in the documentary, "Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands" (via People), and revealed the tweak that almost changed everything. According to McLean, the executives at their record label were put off by the iconic lines repeated in the chorus and suggested a change. "They felt like this song didn't make any sense, it wasn't going to go anywhere," remarked McLean. They suggested that the line read instead, "I love it when I hear you say, 'I want it that way.'" However, as McLean explained to Us Weekly, the band didn't agree with the change: "It just didn't feel right. We went with our gut and we fought the label on it tooth and nail." Safe to say that they wanted it that way.

Many of the uber-successful boybands of the '90s, including *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, had more in common than making girls swoon. They all, at certain points, happened to be managed by Lou Pearlman, and many of them pursued legal action against him.

Pearlman was one of the most notorious music managers of the '90s, forming and representing many of the groups that found great success during that time. Several of the men he worked with recounted what it was like working with him in the biographical series, "Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam." The Backstreet Boys were the first to sense something off about him and filed a lawsuit against Pearlman in 1998. According to ABC News, their lawsuit alleged that they only made $300,000 in five years, just a fraction of the $10 million Pearlman made. Sadly, what happened to the Backstreet Boys wasn't an isolated incident: *NSYNC followed in their footsteps and reached their own settlement with Pearlman in 1999.

In June 2007, Pearlman was arrested and convicted for money laundering via a Ponzi scheme and was sentenced to 25 years in jail. He suffered from cardiac arrest and passed away while incarcerated in 2016.