Maps of Music

Never Gone (2005)

Where the lyrics of Never Gone take you, and where it was really made.

The album was made after a nearly five-year hiatus, and its title track came from a family death: the father of Kevin Richardson, Jerald, who was also Brian Littrell's uncle.

Key places

Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles (2005)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — The source lists Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles as a recording location for Never Gone. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Dr. Luke's New York (2005)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The source lists Dr. Luke's New York as a recording location for Never Gone; the point is placed at New York City's center. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Maratone Studio, Stockholm (2005)

Recording site Master Plan — The source lists Maratone Studio in Stockholm as a recording location for Never Gone; the point is placed at the city center. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Village Recorder, Los Angeles (2005)

Recording site Village Recorders — The source lists The Village Recorder in Los Angeles as a recording location for Never Gone. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Never Gone: fifth studio album by Backstreet Boys (fourth in the United States)
• Released 14 June 2005 by Jive Records
• Successor to Black & Blue (2000), after a few years' hiatus
• Shift from teen pop toward pop rock tendencies
• Only live instruments, unlike previous albums
• Title track inspired by the death of Kevin Richardson's father, Jerald, who was also Brian Littrell's uncle
• Originally due for release in 2004

Background

• Black & Blue (2000) sold over five million copies worldwide in its first week and more than 15 million overall
• Black & Blue World Tour suspended in July 2001 when AJ McLean entered rehabilitation
• Group took a sabbatical; Nick Carter's solo album Now or Never (2002) underperformed commercially
• Backstreet Boys reunited publicly in late 2003 on The Oprah Winfrey Show
• Band resumed working with longtime collaborator Johnny Wright

Recording

• Made after a nearly five-year hiatus, with uncertainty about a return as former teen-pop stars
• Recording began in early 2004 with R&B producers The Underdogs; early experiments did not resonate with the group
• Band reconnected with Max Martin, who contributed to four of the album's twelve tracks
• Clive Davis identified Martin's demo 'Climbing the Walls' as a strong fit for the group
• Production shifted to adult pop-rock and adult contemporary style, with melody, vocal harmony and guitar-driven arrangements
• Other producers include John Shanks, John Fields, John Ondrasik, Mark Taylor and Gregg Wattenberg
• Howie Dorough told Billboard the album is not all five-part harmony like earlier work

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1993 in Orlando, Florida, as an American vocal group and pop boy band.
• Members Howie Dorough and AJ McLean met through a vocal coach; Nick Carter was found through auditions.
• Cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson, both from Lexington, Kentucky, joined; Littrell formally joined on April 20, 1993, which became the group's anniversary.
• Manager Lou Pearlman named them after Orlando's Backstreet Market flea market.

Members

• AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell (1993–present).
• Kevin Richardson (1993–2006, 2012–present); he left in 2006 and rejoined in 2012.

Career

• Debut album Backstreet Boys (1996) was a hit in Europe; the US self-titled album followed in 1997.
• Millennium (1999), led by the global hit "I Want It That Way", made them superstars; the album sold over 12 million copies in the US.
• Black & Blue (2000) and The Hits – Chapter One (2001) followed; a two-year hiatus came after.
• Comeback album Never Gone (2005) and later albums Unbreakable (2007), This Is Us (2009), In a World Like This (2013), and DNA (2019, debuting at number one).
• Sold over 150 million records worldwide, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
• Held Las Vegas residencies Larger Than Life (2017–2019) and Into the Millennium at Sphere (2025).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critical response was generally mixed to negative; most critics were ambivalent about the shift to a more mature adult contemporary sound
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): called it a 'well-made record' and a modest but effective evolution rather than a full reinvention
• USA Today (Elysa Gardner): described it as smartly produced and cannily sung, and useful for the adult-contemporary audience
• Entertainment Weekly (Dave Karger): called it a 'corny comeback' though instantly catchy
• The New York Times (Jon Pareles): described it as a very careful rebranding of an act that wants to resume selling in the millions
• Rolling Stone (Barry Walters): said it never attains the dizzy heights of previous hits
• Metacritic: average score of 40 based on seven reviews

Reappraisal

• Despite the mixed reception, fans continue to receive the album well, with many tracks ranked as concert favorites
• In a 2026 interview, AJ McLean ranked Never Gone as the best Backstreet Boys album

Records

• Opened at number one in Germany and Greece; charted in the top ten in most countries where it appeared
• US Billboard 200 debut at number three, with 293,000 copies in the first week
• Fifth consecutive US top ten album for the band
• RIAA platinum certification on 14 July 2005; close to 1.8 million copies sold in the US
• Japan: second biggest Western album of 2005, over 750,000 copies by January 2006, double platinum
• Platinum in Australia and Canada; gold in Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK
• Over 3 million copies sold worldwide by July 2007

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Warm-up club tour of 18 dates before release; most shows sold out within just 20 minutes
• 'Incomplete' debuted at number one in Australia, the group's only number-one hit there
• The video for 'Incomplete', shot with director Joseph Kahn, premiered on AOL Music's First View program on 25 April 2005
• Two videos for 'Just Want You to Know' pay tribute to the 1986 documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot, with the band playing fans of the fictional band Sphynkter
• The third US single 'Crawling Back to You' supported Music For Hurricane Relief after Hurricane Katrina
• The album was the subject of an AOL Music-presented North American leg of the Never Gone Tour, starting 22 July 2005 in West Palm Beach

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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