Backstreet Boys return to these shores for a concert at Sunway Surf Beach next week.

Despite being down to a quartet, popular American pop-group Backstreet Boys is staying strong and promises nothing but a smashing concert this coming Feb 27 at Sunway Surf Beach, Sunway Lagoon Theme Park in Selangor, as part of its Unbreakable World Tour 2008.

The boys are definitely back in the scene following a three-year hiatus, which saw former band member Kevin Richardson leaving to pursue other interests.

Formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida, the Backstreet Boys (or more popularly known as BSB) now comprises of members Brian Littrell, 32. Howie Dorough, 34, A.J. McLean, 30, and Nick Carter, 28.

The group last appeared in Malaysia in November 2005 for the all-star Force of Nature Concert for Tsunami Aid.

“There may be only four of us left in the group but we are determined to keep it going,” said Dorough, the oldest member, in a recent phone interview from Los Angeles, California.

“There has been some adjustments that we needed to sort out since we only have four vocalists now … but everything is all good and we definitely do not want our fans to miss out on anything,” he added, before explaining that one of them would be covering for Richardson’s parts in the coming show.

With hits stretching back to the mid 1990s, there is a lot of ground for this slimmed down edition of BSB to cover.

To date, the group has raked up more than 75 million albums worldwide. BSB’s first two releases sold more than 10 million in the US: Backstreet Boys in 1997 and quintessential Millennium in 1999, which reached No. 1 in 25 countries.

BSB’s legacy of hit singles is no small change. Top Five smashes such as – Quit Playing Games (with My Heart), As Long as You Love Me, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) and All I Have to Give are the group’s signature tunes.

“One of us will do Kevin’s parts for the older hits and for the new numbers, it will just be us,” said Dorough.

The much-anticipated concert here follows the successful release of their sixth album Unbreakable last October.

The tour would be the first without Richardson and Dorough was quoted as saying: “We have not ruled out a possible return for Kevin and have no plans on replacing him.

“He is welcome to return should he wish to do so.”

That aside, the hunky Dorough, of Puerto Rican and Irish parentage, said the group had been rehearsing for the past couple of months and putting everything together for the world tour, which kicked off in Japan on Feb 16.

“It’s a huge comeback for us and it is a beginning to another exciting journey.”

The husky voiced bloke added that the latest album Unbreakable included new styles and more R&B-based tunes.

“Hopefully people will love it. It is a combination of our earlier mid-90s R&B sound with newer guitar driven pop rock numbers.”

As far as music trivia goes, Dorough also excitedly mentioned that Malaysia was one of the very first countries outside of the United States that the group had visited in its early days (a BMG/Jive marketing conference in Penang in 1995). The group’s first public performance here was at the concourse area at Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur in late 1996.

“We love the food, the people and the culture. I don’t remember specifically what I ate, but I definitely remember the food in Malaysia is simply awesome,” he related.

Before hanging up the phone, Dorough managed this line: “We look forward to meeting our Malaysian fans once more. It’s going to be great.”

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