Thing is, I'm guessing that the Beasties and Backstreets were essentially from the same places, generally speaking -- suburban, seeming to be "imposters" or imitators in what they were doing (hence "boyband" sticks to BSBs, NSync, etc. hearkening back to NKOTB, even though BSBs sounded very little like NKOTB and much more like, say, Boyz II Men -- Boyz right in the name yet they weren't a "boyband"). I can imagine a Rich Cronin taking great solace in the Beasties, especially when thrown into the Lou Pearlman universe of boyband construction -- aside from being popular among the demographic pretty generally they also offer someone like Cronin a way out of the biz world's baggage -- respect on his own terms. Which sounds like what he kind of wanted (out of the biz world's baggage) in the few interviews I've read of him (he did a big one with Howard Stern recently).