Backstreet Boys' first UK Number 1 was a long time in the making. Released this week in May 1999, the track was the US boyband's trailer for their third album and followed a string of hits (seven, to be exact) that, while popular, didn't quite have the muscle to take them all the way to the top.
The spell was finally broken with I Want It That Way, which soared to the top of the Official Singles Chart selling just shy of 94,000 copies - finishing 33,000 ahead of their closest competitor, Irish boyband Westlife with their debut single Swear It Again, which had been Number 1 the previous week.
Beyond the UK, it hit the top spot in more than 25 countries. IWITW was produced by Max Martin, who had been working with the band since their 1996
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