THEIR EUROPEAN DEBUT ALBUM IS BREAKING SALES RECORDS AROUND THE WORLD, BUT DON'T WORRY THAT THE BACKSTREET BOYS ARE DEVELOPING ANY SUPERSTAR RUDE 'TUDE. HERE THEY TELL BB HOW THEY STAY DOWN-TO-EARTH IN SPITE OF THEIR INCREDIBLE SUCCESS.

With their concerts selling out to thousands of screaming fans and their hit singles "Quit Playin' Games (With My Heart)" from their self-titled album (which hits U.S. record stores later this summer) blasting to the top of music charts around the world, the Backstreet Boys have every reason to act like spoiled music stars. You know what we mean: throwing temper tantrums, going on ego trips and demanding to be treated like royalty everywhere they go. By all accounts, however, the bandmates - Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Kevin Richardson-are still just as sweet and down-to-earth as they were when they were still a struggling, not-so-successful band from Orlando, Florida. How have the Backstreet Boys stopped fame from going straight to their heads? "Its been quite an adjustment," 17-year-old Nick admits. "But we have good family support and that helps us to keep our heads on our shoulders and our feet on the ground."

"WE'RE JUST LIKE AVERAGE JOES."

Ask any of Nick's bandmates, and they'll say the same thing: They turn to their families to keep them sane and realistic in the face of all their success. "Everywhere in the world, people know us and they know our music. But when we go home, we're just like average Joes," 24-year-old Kevin tells us. That's just fine with Kevin and the rest of the Backstreet Boys, who say they're relieved to have the time to forget about their busy, pressure-filled lives in the limelight and remember what it was like when they were just average Joes. "Going home, its grounding myself just one more time before I fly away to go somewhere else," 22-year-old Brian says of his parents, Jackie and Harold, and his big brother Harold, in Lexington, Kentucky. "That's why it's really good to go home to be with your family and the place that you grew up-because you can just kond of be normal again."

To the Backstreet Boys, being normal means having mom's home-cooked meals for dinner, pitching in with household chores and not having to worry about what they look like or what they say in front of fans, reporters and photographers. When Nick heads home to Tampa, Florida while the Backstreet Boys are on break, for example, his parents, Jane and Bob, treat him exactly the same as they treat Nick's younger siblings, B.J., Leslie, and twins Aaron and Angel. "I have to do a lot of baby-sitting and I have chores" says Nick. "You know, the usual things, washing dishes and taking out the garbage, that kind of stuff." Other music stars might resent having to help out around the house, thinking they should be pampered and treated like an honored guest when they return home. Nick, however, doesn't feel that way at all. "I really don't mind chores. I like it," he tells BB