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.
