Kelly Clarkson ruled the early aughts with hit after hit and solidified herself as one of the most successful American Idol contestants in history — and as one of the most impressive vocalists in recent memory. In the years since, she’s also proven to be a huge music fan in her own right, taking on coaching duties for The Voice and sharing impressive covers of her favorite songs on her eponymous talk show. Despite her extensive knowledge of popular music, she recently revealed that doesn’t know any songs from another turn of the century pop icon, The Backstreet Boys — and, honestly, I’m trying my best to believe her.
During a recent visit to The Tonight Show, the 41-year-old singer squared off against host Jimmy Fallon in a game of “Back That Track Up.” During the match, contestants have to race to guess which song is being played backwards. Over the course of the friendly competition, both stars were able to identify some classic hits, including “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran and “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. But both were completely stumped when “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys started playing, and Questlove eventually had to chime in to give the right answer. While Fallon caught on immediately, the “Breakaway” performer still seemed confused – and then she revealed a surprising anecdote about her childhood:
I wasn’t a boy band kid!
Okay, so that’s fair – despite the heated debate amongst Millennials over whether Backstreet Boys or *NYSNC were the superior pop group, many of us did choose to sit the conversation out entirely. This is a judgment-free zone for anyone who may not have vibed with “As Long As You Love Me” or “Bye Bye Bye.” Kelly Clarkson made it clear that she thinks the boys are “great,” but then followed up her revelation by saying she wouldn’t have known the group’s signature track even if they had played it forward.
What?! Now that is a little bit shocking. I mean, I wasn’t fully on board with the boy bands that rose to fame in the late 1990s. But despite the fact that I would have preferred to blast Linkin Park on my stereo, I can still admit that I knew – and still know – every single word to “I Want It That Way.” That’s because, at least where I grew up, you really couldn’t escape it. The song spent more than half a year on the Billboard charts and peaked at No. 6, so it goes without saying that it was one of the biggest hits at the time. If you also find it hard to believe the Grammy winner doesn’t know the band’s most famous song, you can see the confession for yourself here:
Is it really possible that Kelly Clarkson could’ve made it to Y2K without hearing the Backstreet Boys? She did grow up in Texas, so she may have had more exposure to other genres, like country music, than top 40 boy band fare. I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it’s pretty mind-blowing to think that one of the biggest pop stars ever didn’t know one of the biggest pop songs ever.
Even if she wasn’t familiar with BSB until now, that may change soon. Between *NSYNC’s long awaited reunion at the VMAs and the Backstreet Boys gifting fans with their first Christmas album last year, it seems like we’re in the middle of a ‘90s boy band-essaince. So there’s still time for Kelly Clarkson to learn to love the songs that so many of her fellow Millennials grew up with. And if she’s looking for a new song to add to the list of Kellyoke covers, I’m just saying – “I Want It That Way” would be a great choice. She would nail the bridge.