I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Backstreet’s back: Last month, Backstreet Boys released “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” their first new single in five years. They’re not usually a band we associate with playing instruments, but that’s just what they did during their appearance on The Tonight Show last night, teaming up with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots for a “classroom instruments” rendition of their staple, “I Want It That Way.”
The whole gang was there: Nick Carter played the tambourine, Brian Littrell opted for apple shaker and wood block, Howie Dorough rocked a coconut, AJ McClean wielded a maraca, Kevin Richardson played the Güiro, and Fallon and The Roots filled out the band with various other plastic and wooden noise-making things. If you’ve heard a Fallon classroom instruments performance before, you know what to expect: a kiddish sound that still honors the original song and is overall just some good clean fun.
Elsewhere on the show, Backstreet Boys gave a more normal performance of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” complete with vintage boyband choreography. This all leads up to the band’s upcoming ninth album, the follow-up to their 2013 record In A World Like This, which is expected at some point this year.
Watch their classroom instruments performance above, and watch their more traditional rendition of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT2SF0v3BCw
