Howie Dorough

Howie Dorough

Howard Dwaine Dorough (born August 22, 1973), also known as Howie D, is an American musician and member of the boy band Backstreet Boys.

Biography

Early life

Dorough was born in Orlando, Florida to a Puerto Rican mother, Paula Flores, and an Irish American father, Hoke Dorough. Dorough 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 to get his start in entertainment business.

Personal life

On August 16, 2007, Dorough announced his engagement to long-time girlfriend, Leigh Boniello. Dorough and Boniello, a film exec turned real estate broker, met in 2000, during the Backstreet Boys' Into the Millennium tour, where Boniello was serving as webmaster to the Boys' official site. Dorough planned his proposal on his DLF Cruise in December of 2006. He proposed to her on New Year's that year. The two were married on December 8, 2007.[1]

Career

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, Howie's sister, Caroline Dorough-Cochran, died of Lupus. After her passing, Howie 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 contributing voices to the Backstreet Boys, Howie is notable for his high falsetto. Being the countertenor, he has usually sung the highest harmony in the choruses, and is notable for being a normal 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').

Howie 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" sung with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds(Black and Blue).

Still he's mostly the official two-part harmoniser of the group, often supporting either Brian, Nick or AJ while they're singing solo (e.g. 'Incomplete' chorus, 'Larger Than Life' pre-chorus, some parts of 'I Still', 'Shape Of My Heart' pre-choruses). However, on the latest album "Unbreakable," Howie's voice has been more noticeable in many of the songs; this is because Kevin Richardson didn't participate in this album. Moreover, Howie has mostly replaced Kevin's part in live concerts when they perform old songs, such as in an I Want It That Way performance in Japan, even though they have completely different vocal ranges.

As of late, Howie has also been working as a producer/mentor to singer/song-writer George Nozuka.

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.

Discography

Main article: Backstreet Boys discography

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Howie Dorough Spanish
• Best-selling music boyband

External links

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