Howard Dwaine "Howie" Dorough (born August 22, 1973) is an American musician and member of the Backstreet Boys.

Biography

Early life

Dorough was born in Orlando, Florida, where he met future friend and bandmate A.J McLean^[1]. He has a Puerto Rican mother,^[2] Paula Flores, and an Irish American father, Hoke Dorough, the youngest of 5. He is half Hispanic and speaks fluent Spanish. Dorough has had a passion for the entertainment business since he was three years old, when he would jump on his grandparents bed, singing "Baby Face" while strumming his tiny guitar. At the age of six, Dorough participated in an Orlando production of The Wizard of Oz. During his teen years, he auditioned for Latin boy band Menudo, but failed to make the cut. He became an international star in the late 1990s as a member of the Backstreet Boys.

Backstreet Boys

Dorough auditioned for the Backstreet Boys, where he reached worldwide fame along with group mates AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and Nick Carter. After the group reached stardom, Dorough and the rest of the band became staples on the covers of such magazines as Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine. In 1998, Dorough's sister, Caroline Dorough-Cochran, died of Lupus. After her death, Dorough established the Dorough Lupus Foundation. The foundation helps raise awareness about the disease, financial support for those who cannot afford treatment, and money for research. To date over half a million dollars have been raised for finding a cure.

As one of the four remaining contributing voices to the Backstreet Boys, Dorough is notable for his high falsetto. He usually sings the highest harmony line in the choruses, and is notable for being a staple voice of choice for ballads, where he has taken over some slow-tempoed lines ("I Want It That Way", "Drowning", "The Answer To Our Life", "The Perfect Fan", "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely"). He has sung lead on several Backstreet Boys tracks, the most notable being "Spanish Eyes" from the Millennium album and two tracks that he penned himself: "What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful)" and "How Did I Fall In Love With You".

Dorough has replaced most of Kevin Richardson's parts in concerts when they perform songs, such as the "I Want It That Way" performance in Japan,^[3] even though they have completely different vocal ranges.

Other projects

In 2007/08, Dorough had been working as a producer/mentor to singer/song-writer George Nozuka.

On the Backstreet Boys Unbreakable tour in 2009, he sang a new solo song entitled "She's Like the Sun".

Dorough has also guest-starred in the television series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch in the episode "The Big Head" as an egotistic rock star named Strum. He also guest starred on an episode of Roswell, and voiced Santa Claus on the Nickelodeon preschool animated series Dora the Explorer in the Christmas episode "A Gift for Santa".

Dorough collaborated with Sarah Geronimo, for her 2008 album Just Me. In June 2008, Dorough teamed up with Rock Your Religion to help conquer Lupus through sales of ?The Howie Pendant by Rock Your Religion.? Proceeds from will be donated to the Dorough Lupus Foundation,

In January of 2009, Howie became manager to YouTube/Interscope artist Dan Talevski.

In July 2009, Dorough and Ariel Moore, former singer in Clique Girlz teamed up to create a girl teen pop group No More Drama. Auditions were scheduled on July 11.

Personal life

On December 8, 2007 Dorough married his longtime girlfriend Leigh Boniello. He met Leigh when she was hired to be a webmaster of the Backstreet Boys fanclub in late 2000. They have one child,son James Hoke Dorough on May 6,2009

Discography

Collaborations

• "Show Me What You Got" (Howie Dorough featuring BoA)
• "I'll Be There" (Howie Dorough feat. Sarah Geronimo)
• "It Still Matters" ~??????(Ai wa Nemuranai)~ (The Gospellers featuring Howie Dorough)

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Irish immigration to Puerto Rico

References

External links

• Backstreet Boys Official Website
• The Dorough Lupus Foundation
• The Dorough Lupus Foundation MySpace Website
• Howie Dorough Spanish

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