Backstreet Boys agreed residency because of Britney Spears

Britney Spears persuaded Backstreet Boys to book a Las Vegas residency.

The ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’ group announced on Friday (09.23.16) they will be performing at the city’s The AXIS Theater at Planet Hollywood from March next year and they discussed the proposal with the ‘Piece of Me’ singer – whose own residency is staged at the same venue – before making a final decision.

Band member AJ McLean explained: "We’ve known Brit for years. Me and Kevin went to see her show earlier this year and right before it started she had me come up to her dressing room to take a selfie with us.

"We started talking and I was asking lots of questions [about her show], ‘How do you like this? Is it cool? Cause we’re trying to do the same thing.’

"She literally said, ‘This is the best job ever!’ She said that it’s hard work, but easy in the sense that you get to be with your family more than when you’re on tour, and have somewhat of a normal life."

AJ promised the ‘Larger Than Life’ concerts will be "mind blowing" and incorporate some of the most popular elements from the group’s past tours.

He told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "We’re hopefully going to have some of the biggest elements from all of our biggest tours, songs and shows.

"This whole city is about live shows and being over-the-top, so it’s going to be no-holds-barred. It will be the biggest show we’ve ever done in 24 years because it’s fricken Vegas – we gotta go big! We literally want people breathless as they leave."

And rather than focusing on their upcoming tenth album, the set will largely consist of the group’s biggest hits, as well as solo numbers and acoustic sets.

AJ, 38, even promised he and his bandmates might go topless.

He teased: "I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since before I was 30. So it could happen!"