Backstreet Boys Announce Tour Details

November 28 -- As copies of red-hot Black & Blue continued to fly off the shelves Monday, the Backstreet Boys unveiled the dates and venues of the first leg of their world tour.

The pop quintet will kick off its trek Jan. 22 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., head up the East Coast, cross the Midwest, and swing down the West Coast, wrapping up March 14 in San Diego. The band is then slated to head to South America in April and Europe in June, before returning for more dates in North America. The 2001 tour will conclude with shows in Asia and Australia.

Tickets for most performances will go on sale in early December.

Black & Blue is expected to have a chance at breaking the first-week sales record — 2.4 million copies — held by rival band 'N Sync's No Strings Attached since last spring. The previous record holder was the Backstreet Boys' Millennium, which sold 1.13 million copies in its first week in 1999.

Backstreet Boys Tour Dates

January

Jan. 22 — National Car Rental Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.Jan. 26 — Coliseum, Charlotte, N.C.Jan. 27 — Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.Jan. 30 — First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pa.

February

Feb. 2 — MCI Center, Washington, D.C.Feb. 3 — Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J.Feb. 4 — Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.Feb. 7 — SkyDome, Toronto, OntarioFeb. 8 — Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pa.Feb. 12 — Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill.Feb. 15 — Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Mich.Feb. 17 — Target Center, Minneapolis, Minn.Feb. 18 — The Alerus Cente, Grand Forks, N.D.Feb. 20 — Pepsi Center, Denver, Colo.Feb. 23 — GM Place, Vancouver, British ColumbiaFeb. 25 — Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Wash.Feb. 27 — Rose Garden, Portland, Ore.

March

March 2 — Oakland Arena, Oakland, Calif.March 5 — The Pond, Anaheim, Calif.March 8 — MGM Grand, Las VegasMarch 12 — America West Arena, PhoenixMarch 14 — Sports Arena, San Diego