One of the biggest tours of all-time began 17 years ago today.
The Backstreet Boys’ began their “Into The Millennium” tour, supporting their recently released “Millennium” album on June 2, 1999 in Ghent Belgium at Flanders Expo.
Accordin to Wikipedia, the first leg of the tour was a European leg, which ran until August 7, 1999, featured more than 40 concerts in over 30 cities and 13 countries. The first leg of the North American tour initially sold 53 dates (40 announced and 13 added due to demand) in 39 cities, was scheduled to run from September 14–December 2, 1999. The entire leg sold out on the August 14 onsale date. The reported 765,000 tickets grossed sales estimated at $30 million, with face values set at $28.50 and $38.50. A majority of the tickets sold out within the first hour of the sale, and several venues set records for sell-out speed.
During the second leg of the tour, the boys broke another record. The concert at Georgia Dome in Atlanta on February 19, 2000, was the 5th most attended concert in American history and the most attended concert by a pop artist. The concert still holds the record for the biggest concert ever held in Georgia as of this post. No other artist who has performed at the Georgia Dome has broken the record.