The Backstreet Boys Just Revealed That They're Releasing Their First Christmas Album

Christmas is coming early for BSB fans. For the first time ever, the Backstreet Boys are releasing a Christmas album later this year, and, no, they're not just playing games with your heart. The late '90s/early 2000s boy band — comprised of Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean and Brian Littrell — announced the news during an April 8 event to promote the GRAMMY Museum's Backstreet Boys: The Experience exhibit in Los Angeles, per Entertainment Tonight.

"We've done a song or two, but we have never done a Christmas album," Kevin revealed during a more than one-hour Q&A with KIIS-FM’s JoJo Wright at the event, according to ET. "We're going to be doing a full-length Christmas album, some classics and some originals. We are working on that while on the DNA World Tour."

Fans don't have to use their imagination too much to figure out what the original holiday tunes may sound like. After dropping "It's Christmas" in 1996, the group harmonized on a followup festive pop carol in 2012 called “It’s Christmas Time Again."

BSB's new holiday project will be the ribbon on yet another marquee year for the group whose hits span more than two decades. After the guys' current Las Vegas residency, Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life, wraps later this month, they'll officially kick off the aforementioned DNA World Tour on May 11 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Their jaunt around the globe, of course, is in support of their new album, DNA, which, following its January release, became the first No. 1 record in almost two decades, according to Rolling Stone. (Their 2000 release, Black & Blue, and 1999's Millennium, both also topped the charts.)

When the band hits the road next month, it will truly be a family affair. Opening for the group during the North American leg of their tour: Brian's 16-year-old son, Baylee Littrell, who's giving a career in country music a shot.

"He didn't have to audition. He's got a little connection," Brian joked to ET, with Kevin adding, "We know that he's got the goods. So he don't have to audition for his uncles."

According to People, Baylee decided he wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps about as far back as he can remember. "Since I was 6 years old, my dream has always been to go on tour," Baylee told the magazine. "I wanted to do what my dad did." He further elaborated on the sweet memory to People:

"One of their shows — I think it was the tour after their album This Is Us from 2009 — they went out on the road and I remember right before they went on, I put on one of my dad’s jackets from one of his outfits in his dressing room and I stood in front of the mirror. He comes in and is like, ‘Hey Bubs, what are you doing?’ and I’m like, ‘Well I want to be like you.’ I asked, ‘Can I get up there instead one day?’ He was like, ‘Well, you never know.’ And now the opportunity to open for him and the guys is like that 6-year-old self standing in front of that mirror in his dressing room with his jacket on. It’s a dream come true.”

Between DNA, their upcoming world tour, and now an impending new Christmas album to top it all off, the Backstreet Boys truly are the gift that keeps on giving.