Howard Dwaine Dorough (born August 22, 1973) is an American singer and actor. He is a member of the pop vocal group Backstreet Boys.
Early life
Dorough was born August 22, 1973, in Orlando, Florida, where he met his friend and bandmate A.J. McLean through a mutual vocal coach at the Latin carnival in 1989. His mother Paula Flores-Dorough, a school worker, is Puerto Rican, and his father, Hoke Dwaine Dorough, a police officer, former army soldier, real estate developer and bank security, was Irish American. He is the youngest by 10 years of five siblings. His sister, Pollyanna, is also a singer. Another sister, Caroline, died from lupus in September 1998.
Career
Early career
Dorough's love and passion for entertainment started when he was three years old, singing "Babyface" with his little guitar. He started performing around age six or seven, thanks to his sister Polyanna, singing during mass in the church choir and having his first role in the musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz as a singer and actor. Throughout elementary school, his mother enrolled him in children's community theaters and performed in many community theater productions of top musicals, among them "Sound Of Music", "Showboat" and "Camelot" and got him in singing/voice and acting lessons by putting him in a performing arts academy where he also took dance lessons in classical ballet, tap, and jazz. He even was in an all-boy ballet troupe. He did Little League once before switching to the arts. During junior high to high school, Dorough also did some singing in the choir, even qualified for All-State Chorus, talent shows, and joining drama club and acting school productions, as well as a school TV show called "Macho & Camacho". He got discovered by an acting agent when he was 14 and also managed to land roles in movies, such as Parenthood starring comedian Steve Martin at 15 and Cop and a Half starring Burt Reynolds, Nickelodeon TV production pilot "Welcome Freshman" and star in a commercial for Disney World under the stage name, Tony Donetti. He didn't particularly like this, but his agent thought he was Italian and believed it would help him to get discovered. Although he enjoyed it his entire life, like his bandmates AJ and Nick, he too was a victim of bullying as a child for his lack of Spanish language, his falsetto vocal range when he was 12 and his weight.
Dorough was asked by his choir teacher to perform the National Anthem at his high school basketball game. He agreed but forgot the words when it was time to sing. Despite the extreme embarrassment, he got right back on his horse and began performing again when he sang 'Unchained Melody' at his school talent show, and got a standing ovation. He also auditioned for a Latin boy band Menudo, but he did not make it. He was also involved in a peer counseling group called Friends, where he talked to other kids about living "a clean life, having fun, going to school, avoiding drugs." When he's not working in the spotlight, he works as a tour guide in Universal Orlando and worked with his sister at Zarro's Bread Basket one summer in New York when he was 14.
He was selected 'Most Talented' and graduated from Edgewater High School in 1991 the Top 10 of his class. After high school, Dorough auditioned for Backstreet Boys under his stage name, but they lost his headshot and contact info; however, after six months, they were able to track him down, thanks to AJ, and was already in the group. He got a scholarship, and attended both University of Central Florida and Valencia College with an Associate of Arts Degree with *NSYNC member, Chris Kirkpatrick.
Backstreet Boys
Lou Pearlman created the Backstreet Boys in 1993, selecting Howie Dorough along with AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, and Kevin Richardson. They were then booked to perform at many venues such as high schools and shopping malls and eventually managed to sign a contract with Jive Records in 1994. They slowly became popular in European countries, starting with Germany, and embarked on a tour supporting their debut album. The album slowly climbed up to the top ten slots in most countries and was on its way to selling more than 8 million copies.
As their second album, Backstreet's Back was being released in Europe, they released their first album in the United States which was a compilation of both their international debut and Backstreet's Back. The album climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 14 million copies. Meanwhile, Backstreet's Back became an even more significant success than their debut album, opening at the number one spot in many countries.