Backstreet Boys Singer’s Son Follows Dad’s Footsteps with New Pop Single

Published: June 16, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

Baylee Littrell, son of Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell and AMERICAN IDOL Season 23 contestant, just released a new pop single, “So Be It.”

“I’m just so happy, and honestly running towards, you know, to bring it back to the guys, like running towards the Backstreet Boys legacy and what my dad has done,” Baylee told Us. “I mean, that’s why I’m doing pop music. I grew up on that, and now it feels right.”

He completely accepts his dad’s pop legacy. He feels at home.

“I’m…using it to find my fuel again. I feel like I’m 6 years old in their dressing room again dreaming, and so that’s the big difference now,” he explained.

After AMERICAN IDOL, Baylee wanted to be a country artist, which did not work out for him.

“I think when I was younger, I thought that it would be easier to do music and have your own name, have your own career without it being like kind of redirected towards my dad’s path, and so I thought, ‘OK, born and raised in Georgia, other than not counting all the time you spent in LA as a kid, you can do this, you grew up on country music and you’ll have your own crowd in Nashville, you can kind of start fresh and get away from L.A. or Atlanta,’” he thought.

“Then I came to find out it was 10 million times worse when I got to country [music] and was in Nashville,” Baylee said. “It was a nightmare. I met some amazing people, but most of it was really rough, and they didn’t like me.”

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“I kind of also realized I was like, ‘Well, no wonder, you’re supposed to be doing pop music,’” he said.

Baylee has written hundreds of songs, and there are a few that his dad wants to steal for the Backstreet Boys.

“I’ve got a couple songs that [my dad’s] like, ‘You’re not cutting that,’ and I was like, ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘Because we are!’ And I was like, ‘Are you serious?'” Baylee said.

He has another song that will come out later this year, and it’s a tribute to his dad’s band.

“It’s going to be spicy and people aren’t used to that with me,” Baylee said. “It’s going to be more confident, and you’re going to get a couple more dance pop songs. You’re also going to get some soul in there.”

“I’m really excited for people to hear it. I don’t think they’re expecting, the follow-ups after ‘So Be It,’” he shared.

His upcoming album will come out later this year, Prelude Press reported.

In a statement, Baylee said he’s proud of “So Be It,” which compares a woman to a forbidden fruit he wants to take a bite out of. That’s probably enough “spice” for most listeners…

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