Stephen McNally, Mark Barry and Christian Burns of BBMak. John Lamparski/Getty Images
BBMak is back on the road this year as part of the Pop 2000 Tour, but things have changed a lot since their early years as a band — and that includes their tour rider.
“Well, there’s fruit now, there’s veggies,” Mark Barry exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting the band’s partnership with Bumble Bee. Christian Burns chimed in to confirm that assessment, adding, “It’s very different from 20 years ago. There’s fruit, there’s a veggie tray, chips and salsa. We have Bumble Bee stuff. We have the tuna, waters, towels, batteries.”
Barry, 45, explained that he and his bandmates take their well-being much more seriously than they used to, which means cutting back on unhealthy backstage snacks.
“We feel a lot leaner and [have] more energy throughout the day because we are mindful of the right choices that we’re making now,” he told Us. “We were having a few beers at the end of the shows and stuff like that. That accumulation of beers over the weeks of touring does take its toll on your body and you feel a little bit lethargic, but we’ve been having more water now and eating the right foods, and it’s made a big difference.”
Back in the day, the BBMak boys kicked back in their dressing room with a few Coronas and some chicken wings, but those days are (mostly) over.
BBMak performs at Virgin Megastore in Anaheim, California. Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
“Anything in moderation now,” Barry added. “We might have a few beers here and there, but more so now we’re on the health side of things a lot more than we were a few years back. It’s harder as you get older to physiologically look as best you can. because things slow down a bit. Your metabolism slows down a bit.”
Some of the healthy snacks the guys keep around are Bumble Bee’s Wild-Caught Tuna Pouches and the brand’s Snack on the Run! Tuna Salad Kits, which the band recently promoted in an ad that features a new take on their famous hit “Back Here.” In the new version — titled “Snack Meal, Baby” — BBMak sing lyrics like, “No more pizza rolls, nuts or ramen bowls, tuna’s what I’m craving for.”
The band was happy to revisit their 1999 hit for the commercial, which debuted earlier this summer. “[Bumble Bee] came up with the whole concept for the tune, and we were like, ‘That’s brilliant,’” said Burns. “We wouldn’t have changed a thing. They just nailed it.”
Fans hoping to hear the original “Back Here” can catch BBMak on the Pop 2000 Tour this summer with ’NSync’s Chris Kirkpatrick, Ryan Cabrera, LFO and O-Town. Burns, Barry and their bandmate Stephen McNally have been having a blast revisiting their boy band pasts with their fellow ’00s heartthrobs.
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“It’s been amazing,” Burns told Us. “To see them all now, reconnect with them and actually do a tour with them, it’s just so much fun. And they’re all super nice guys. We all get on so great. It’s just like one big family now.”
Backstage, the guys play games like Farkle — and, of course, swap tales from the TRL era.
“We do a lot of singing together,” said McNally. “We have a lot of fun. If we have the guitars, out we’ll jam. We play games and tell stories about the old days.”