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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 of Spanish descent, 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 show business, this would only be the start of a string of musicals he would do in the local Orlando scene. Throughout high school he was actively involved in theatre and chorus. He rented out the production equipment often, having participated and created a show by the name of 'Macho & Camacho' during his high school years. Howie spent much of his childhood preparing for life in the spotlight. Introduced to the arts by his older sister Pollyanna at the age of six, he quickly found himself actively involved in the Orlando entertainment scene and eventually landed acting roles in local theater, movies such as “Parenthood” and “Cop and a Half”, and on multiple Nickelodeon productions. Spending his free time at auditions, rehearsals and various lessons, Howie became a true student of his craft. (Howie Dorough Website)

Career

Dorough later 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. 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 Brian Littrell (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).

Discography

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Howie Dorough Spanish

Footnotes

1. ^ Netter, Matt (1999). Backstreet Boys * Aaron Carter. New York: Pocket Books. p. 55. ISBN 0-671-03539-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
2. Netter, Matt (1999). Backstreet Boys * Aaron Carter. New York: Pocket Books. p. 79. ISBN 0-671-03539-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Backstreet Boys Official Website
• The Dorough Lupus Foundation
• The Dorough Lupus Foundation MySpace Website
• The Dorough Family
• Ultimate Source for Everything Howie
• Backstreet Boys Online Source for Backstreet Boys

• 1973 births
• Backstreet Boys members
• Falsettos
• Roman Catholics
• Florida musicians
• Irish-American musicians
• Living people
• People from Orlando, Florida
• Puerto Rican-American singers
• Spanish-American actors