"I Want It That Way" is a song by American boy band Backstreet Boys. It was released on April 12, 1999, as the lead single from their third studio album, Millennium. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, while Martin and Kristian Lundin produced it. The pop ballad tells of a relationship strained by matters of emotional or physical distance. Critically, the song was met with positive reception, with many critics commending its catchiness, also calling it the pop ballad of the year. The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song and Record of the Year, and has been included in lists by Blender, MTV, Rolling Stone and VH1. In 2021, "I Want It That Way" was placed at number 240 on the revised list of Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "I Want It That Way" is the Backstreet Boys’ signature song, and commercially it reached the number-one spot in more than 25 countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight non-consecutive weeks, while it topped the Adult and Mainstream Top 40 charts. The song has been widely covered and parodied by a range of artists, including other boy bands such as JLS and One Direction, while its music video, directed by Wayne Isham, received famous parodies, including Blink-182 on their music video for "All the Small Things", Big Time Rush on their music video for "Like Nobody's Around", their music video for 'Worldwide', and the Wanted on their video for "Walks Like Rihanna". The original music video received four VMA nominations, winning Viewer's Choice. On November 13, 2021, "I Want It That Way" became the group's first music video to surpass 1 billion views on YouTube. Background and history After the success of their first two albums, Backstreet Boys (1996) and Backstreet's Back (1997), the band recorded their third studio album, during 1998 and 1999. When the members of the Backstreet Boys came to Stockholm in November 1998 for a two-week recording engagement, they were eventually presented the demo of "I Want It That Way", which at the time only consisted of the main chorus. Upon leaving Sweden on November 16 for a November 17 Oprah taping, vocals for the song had been completed in two days. Originally, "Larger Than