Plus, get a first look at Baylee's new music video for 'Some Guys.'
Baylee Littrell's father is a Backstreet Boy and his mother is a manager, so it's not a surprise he's charting his own path in music. ET's Rachel Smith exclusively sat down with Baylee and his parents, Brian and Leighanne, as they opened up about the 18-year-old's talent and budding career.
"He has a God-given gift," Brian raved of his son, who released his debut album in 2019. "Obviously growing up around it and growing up on tour with us and his uncles with the Backstreet Boys, it's just all he really knows."
"To watch him mold into whatever he's going to be... that, I think, is the fun part," he added.
While Brian notes "a lot of people look at Baylee's opportunities are like, 'Well, his dad is famous,'" the teen has been working hard for his success. He started writing songs as a kid, and made his Broadway debut in the musical Disaster! when he was 13.
"I feel like at 18, I'm just now able to process Broadway and what an accomplishment it was," Baylee said of his performance in the show, which earned him a Drama Desk nomination in 2016. Since then, he's been pursuing his music career -- and forging his path in the notoriously difficult industry.
"We've had those talks over the years of, 'It isn't going to be easy. And it's not always fun,' but he's just a real true artist through and through," Brian expresses. "His mom and I are just super proud of him."
Baylee's mom, Leighanne, is also his manager, and mixing business with family just works for the Littrells.
"I've done it for him forever," Leighanne said of Brian. "I mean, gosh, I was his stylist, hair, make-up, I was his personal sounding board, just like all the [Backstreet Boys] wives are."
"And we're in a place now too where it's fantastic because we can have a disagreement, but it can be a business disagreement," Baylee explained, noting it doesn't impact their other relationship as mother and son.
As for the best advice he's gotten from his parents, Baylee says it's simple: "Just be myself."
"[It's about] never forgetting where I come from, and that's a thing we all forget way too much," he said. "And I think just being myself is exactly what this next record is, and what we are working on right now... it's just authentic Baylee for the first time, and it's very elating. I've never experienced anything like this before."
ET has an exclusive look at the music video for Baylee's new single, "Some Guys," which he teased is "very authentic."
"It's honestly not just documenting that performance in particular, but documenting how the last year has gone with the pandemic and how everything has been," he shared. "The time that we filmed this live music video, we were holding shows at half capacity and live streaming all at the same time, so we could have more people there and so people could see shows. So, when I look at this music video, I see a performance music video, but I also see that night what an outreach it was."
Get a first look at Baylee's "Some Guys" music video in the video player above.
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