From Staff & Wire Reports

How big are the Backstreet Boys? Bruce Springsteen made headlines for selling out 15 nights in New Jersey in less than one day. The Boys sold out the entire nation in 60 minutes.

The Backstreet Boys -- Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, A.J. McLean, Nick Carter -- have been around since '92, even though their first hits came just two years ago. Since then, they've been hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.

Their show in Knoxville, set for 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 28 at Thompson-Boling Arena, is sold out. Most of those tickets were grabbed up within the first week.

To get tickets, Allison Williams' parents -- Jim Williams and Shebby Graves -- used the auto-dial on every phone in their house for 90 minutes before getting eighth-row seats on the first balcony of Thompson-Boling Arena.

Eight-year-old Allison will be attending with five of her friends.

"I'm tired just thinking about it," Graves says laughing.

For Allison, her admiration for the five-man vocal group is simple. "I like them because they just have good music, and they are cute," she says.

This will be Williams' first concert, and she says she can't wait for the Boys to do "Larger Than Life" because the song is "fast and entertaining."

Not convinced yet of their popularity? Consider these Backstreet Boys facts:

* So far, a clean-as-a-whistle image and irresistibly catchy songs have served the Boys well, making them No. 1 artists not only in the U.S. but in 25 other countries.

* The last hit, "I Want It That Way," gets even Backstreet haters humming along. Radio is loving their latest release, "Larger Than Life," which has cracked Billboard magazine's Top 40.

* The new album, "Millennium," set the record for the highest-ever first week of sales and then set it for the second week, then the third. Think of the title not so much as a name but as a prediction as to how long it's gonna stay on the charts.

* Worldwide sales since May for their current album: 14 million and counting. That's more than halfway to being the best-selling album of all time in just 150 days.

* Backstreet Boys has sold nearly 40 million albums worldwide during the past four years and is the best-selling act of 1999. "Millennium," still planted in the top 10, has passed 7 million units sold in the United States, according to SoundScan. The group's self-titled debut album has sold more than 9 million units domestically.

* They're also walking away with $30 million from their concert tour, and it's only that low because they kept prices relatively within the allowance range, at $30 to $40 a pop.

* In one of the largest record deals ever, the Boys has struck a new partnership agreement with its label, Jive Records, valued at about $60 million, sources said. The contract puts Backstreet Boys in the same financial stratum as such multimillion-dollar artists as Prince, Michael Jackson and the Rolling Stones.

* The five-album deal includes a significant amount of money up front for the group's next release, sources said. The follow-up to the best-selling "Millennium" album is slated for release in September, 2000.

* Jive's re-signing of Backstreet Boys puts an end to threats that the group -- one of the world's most popular -- might leave the label. Backstreet Boys, its management company the Firm and lawyers for both parties declined comment. Jive Records could not be reached for comment.

Creative control and an unusual partnership structure solidified the deal with the label, sources said. All parties agreed to cooperate in all creative areas involving the group.

The deal -- ostensibly a reworking of Backstreet Boys' original five-album pact with Jive -- calls for unprecedented artist rights for the band, sources said.

The band will receive "superstar" royalty rates of more than 20 percent, among the highest in the business, sources said.

Backstreet Boys and Jive will work together on licensing tracks and marketing plans. The group has entered negotiations for a major long-term sponsorship deal, sources said.

The new partnership ends a contentious period between the group and Jive. Backstreet Boys publicly threatened to bolt from the label last month amid allegations that Jive was in breach of its contract with the band.

Tensions were fueled when Jive signed top-selling group 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys' main competition in the pop world.

Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync were created by boy-band mogul Louis Pearlman and his Trans Continental Media empire.

Pearlman is suing Jive and 'N Sync for $150 million, claiming that Jive had no legal right to sign the band.

'N Sync members and their mothers have countersued for $25 million in damages.