Baylee Littrell Is Embracing Dad's ‘Backstreet Boys Legacy' With New Music

Baylee Littrell is embracing and following in his dad's pop music footsteps.

On Friday, June 12, Baylee, 23, who is the son of Backstreet Boys member Brian Littrell, released his new single, "So Be It," a bold, catchy track that has the singer gravitating back to the pop sound that shaped his childhood.

"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 exclusively tells Us. "I mean, that's why I'm doing pop music. I grew up on that and now it feels right. I feel like I'm a kid again, or I'll say a younger kid, and just feeling like I'm where I'm supposed to be, it's rejuvenating. I'm running towards something that you can't ever really run away from in the first place, and instead of resenting that or being scared of it, I'm accepting it, and 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."

Audiences were first introduced to Baylee's songwriting with "Hey Jesus," an original he performed during his run on season 23 of American Idol in 2025. Following his Top 20 elimination, Baylee wanted to "start fresh" as a country artist, but the experience turned into "a nightmare."

"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 L.A. 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,'" Baylee explains. "Then I came to find out it was 10 million times worse when I got to country [music] and was in Nashville. It was a nightmare. I met some amazing people, but most of it was really rough, and they didn't like me. I kind of also realized I was like, ‘Well, no wonder, you're supposed to be doing pop music.'"

Not only is Baylee releasing his own music, he's also got hundreds of songs written, which may end up on a future Backstreet Boys album.

"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 tells Us. "He's got a couple songs of mine that he loves, and even if they cut it as a demo, I would be so honored."

Baylee is preparing to release his upcoming album, due out later this year, which he describes as a "tribute to the guys" with his "own flare."

"It's going to be spicy and people aren't used to that with me," Baylee says. "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.'"

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 5:30 AM.