Howie Dorough

Howie Dorough - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Howie Dorough

Howard Dwaine Dorough (born August 22, 1973), also known as Howie D, is an American singer and actor. He is a member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys.

This profile of Howie Dorough covers Early Life and Family Background, Early Career and Breakthrough, Backstreet Boys, Solo projects and TV and film appearances.

Early Life and Family Background of Howie Dorough

Dorough was born August 22, 1973 in Orlando, Florida, where he met his friend and bandmate AJ McLean through a mutual vocal coach at the Latin carnival in 1989. His mother, school worker Paula Flores-Dorough, is Puerto Rican. His father, Hoke Dwaine Dorough, was a police officer, former army soldier, real estate developer, and bank security guard of Irish American descent. Dorough is the youngest of five siblings by 10 years. His sister, Pollyanna, is also a singer.

Early Career and Breakthrough of Howie Dorough

Dorough's love of entertainment began at age three when he sang and played "Babyface" on his little guitar. Thanks to his sister Pollyanna, he started performing at age six or seven. Dorough sang in the church choir during Mass and sang and acted in the musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.

Throughout elementary school, Dorough performed in community theater productions of top musicals such as "Sound Of Music," "Showboat" and "Camelot". He attended a performing arts academy where he took singing lessons; acting lessons; and dance lessons in classical ballet, tap, and jazz. During junior high and high school, Dorough sang in the choir, qualified for the All-State Chorus and talent shows, and joined the drama club. He acted in school productions and on a school TV show called "Macho & Camacho."

Dorough was discovered by an acting agent when he was 14. The agent gave him the stage name Tony Donetti. He managed to land roles in movies such as Parenthood and Cop and a Half. He also played a lead role in the Nickelodeon TV production pilot for "Welcome Freshman" and starred in a commercial for Disney World. Dorough even auditioned for the Mickey Mouse Club. Dorough was a victim of bullying as a child due to his lack of Spanish fluency, his falsetto vocal range when he was 12, and his weight.

Dorough's choir teacher asked him to perform the national anthem at his high school basketball game. He agreed to do so, but forgot the words when it was time for him to sing. Despite the extreme embarrassment, he got right back on his horse and began performing again when he sang 'Unchained Melody' at his school talent show, receiving a standing ovation. He also auditioned for the Latin boy band Menudo, but he did not make it. He was involved in a peer counseling group called Friends in which he talked to other kids about living "a clean life, having fun, going to school, avoiding drugs." He worked as a tour guide in Universal Orlando and worked with his sister at Zarro's Bread Basket one summer in New York when he was 14.

Dorough was named 'Most Talented' and graduated from Edgewater High School in 1991 as one of the top 10 members of his class.

After high school, Dorough auditioned for Backstreet Boys under his stage name, but they lost his headshot and contact information. After six months, they were able to locate him. He attended both University of Central Florida and Valencia College. Dorough obtained an Associate of Arts Degree.

Backstreet Boys

Lou Pearlman created the Backstreet Boys in 1993, selecting Howie Dorough along with AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, and Kevin Richardson. They were then booked to perform at many venues, such as high schools and shopping malls, and eventually signed a contract with Jive Records in 1994. They slowly became popular in European countries, starting in Germany, and embarked on a tour to support their debut album. The album slowly climbed to the top ten slots in most countries and was on its way to selling more than 8 million copies.

While their second album, Backstreet's Back, was being released in Europe, they released their first album in the United States, a compilation of their international debut and Backstreet's Back. The album climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 14 million copies. Meanwhile, Backstreet's Back became an even greater success than their debut album, opening at number one in many countries.

An in-studio fart from Dorough was recorded and used as a part of the beat for the song "The Call" from the Backstreet Boys' fourth album, Black And Blue.

They started recording Millennium in 1998 and released it in May 1999. It became one of the biggest-selling albums ever, reaching number one in many countries. Their first single from Millennium's follow-up album, Black & Blue, Shape Of My Heart was released to radio on October 3. Black and Blue recorded first-week sales of 1.59 million copies in the US, making the Backstreet Boys the first artists to achieve back-to-back million album sales.

After releasing their greatest-hits album, they went on hiatus and regrouped in 2003. They released their next album, Never Gone in 2005. Although critics were negative, it enjoyed considerable commercial success. They released their next album, Unbreakable in 2007 and the follow-up This Is Us in 2009. Their eighth album In a World Like This was released on July 30, 2013. Their ninth album DNA was released on January 25, 2019, and was followed by a new headlining tour in May of the same year. They have become one of the biggest-selling artists of all time, with record sales exceeding 135 million worldwide.

Solo projects

Dorough worked as a producer for singer-songwriters George Nozuka and Katelyn Tarver as part of his management partnership with former 3deep member CJ Huyer, which led to the formation of HC Entertainment in 2004. Since 2010, he's also managed the Canadian band Neverest under Dorough's company, 3 Street Management.

In 2006, he started work on his first solo album. The album would include Spanish/Latin songs as well as American ones. But he eventually changed his mind about the album's style. Noting that his Spanish was not the best and that he did not want to be something he was not. Around 2010, he started working on an album in a more pop/R&B style. Dorough's first solo album, Back to Me, was eventually released on November 15, 2011. The album featured many songs that Dorough co-wrote himself. The album's first single, "100", was released in the summer of 2011 and received moderate airplay primarily in Canada. Also in November 2011, Dorough joined Britney Spears for her Femme Fatale Tour in South America.

In 2015, although Howie had not announced he was working on a second solo album, some producers mentioned working with him on a new album slated for release that year. On May 9, 2019, he announced on Twitter and Instagram that his new solo album, "Which One Am I," would be released on July 12, 2019. The album was written by Tor Hyams and Lisa St. Lou and was produced by Hyams.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howie_Dorough), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.