Who is Keith Harris? All about the musical director behind Backstreet Boys' Las Vegas Sphere residency 

American pop group Backstreet Boys announced their Las Vegas Sphere residency in February 2025, which commenced on July 11, 2025, and also added three finale shows to the run due to "overwhelming demand."

While fans of the band are aware of the talent in the pop group comprising Nick Carter, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson, the talent behind their Las Vegas Sphere residency is director Keith Harris.

According to Lewitt, Keith Harris is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, music director, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and touring drummer. Harris has produced chartbuster hits for artists such as Busta Rhymes, Madonna, Robin Thicke, Usher, Mary J. Blige, and others.

Keith Harris is also a musical director and has curated live shows for Fifth Harmony, Cheryl Cole, Meghan Trainor, and the Backstreet Boys. Harris is a Berklee College of Music graduate, holding a degree in music production and engineering.

During his interview with Berklee, the musical director shared that he went to the Curie Metro High School for the Performing & Technical Arts, where he learnt how to read music and write charts and arrangements.

Harris recalled that during his time at the Curie Metro High School for the Performing & Technical Arts, Studio Vision for sequencing was new, and that school had keyboards, V drums, and synthesizers. This made him develop a love for sequencing and programming in his junior and senior years, which progressed when he joined Berkley.

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More details about the Backstreet Boys' musical director Keith Harris explored in the wake of their Las Vegas Sphere residency

Keith Harris has been vocal about his journey and has often mentioned that he got his knack for rhythm from the church. In an interview with DNAinfo dated July 2015, the musical director admitted that he didn't have a music lesson until college and that he began playing drums at the age of 10.

In September 2020, Keith Harris reflected on how he curated the Backstreet Boys' DNA World Tour in 2019, with visuals that set the pop group's tour apart from others. In the video posted on the Keith Harris Experience YouTube channel, the musical director shared his thought process behind creating an experience for fans of the Backstreet Boys, stating:

"Being a music consumer and then being the person who makes the music to consume — it’s like, I don’t ever want to go to a show where I can’t vibe with the song that I really originally liked. A lot of times, music takes people to certain places of nostalgia."

He continued:

"Back in the '90s, man, I was in high school, listening in the car, and then I heard one of the Backstreet Boys' songs. You kind of want people to go back and feel those feelings again — and not make it too foreign or alien that they can't connect like they did, you know? So that’s what I said: I just try to find that happy medium between nostalgia, being current, and being excited."

In addition to talking about curating visual experiences on tours and the business of music, Keith Harris also gave a piece of advice to upcoming musicians during his DNAinfo interview.

He recommended that artists find a unique element to make themselves stand out, citing that there's already a Lil Wayne, Drake, John Legend, and Nicki Minaj, so budding musicians must portray something different. Harris said:

"Even if it’s just getting more education or going to another city, because just you being from somewhere else gives you an advantage because you have a different sound. Follow the “3 P’s,” Prayer, practice and patience."

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The ongoing Into the Millennium residency has made the Backstreet Boys "the very first POP ACT to take over Sphere Las Vegas." Moreover, the opening night of the residency, which commenced on July 11, 2025, witnessed members of the pop group getting overcome with emotion.

Edited by Bharath S